The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) is no longer under pressure to sell Silverstone following a year of profit from the British Grand Prix their president Derick Warwick says.
In an interview with Autosport.com Warwick explained the financial issues the club and circuit have had over the last five years:
“The last five years have been difficult for us. We’ve not made money,”
“That is why we almost had to close the doors in order to survive. We were unable to spend or do anything.
“Eighteen months ago, in particular, we would have bitten anybody’s arm off [to sell].
“There’s no doubt about that because we were in such a difficult situation, and not knowing a way out.
But with the club now in a better financial situation and the British Grand Prix making a profit for the first time last year things are looking up. It is now no longer a necessity to sell Silverstone.
“Now I don’t care if we do a deal or not. We’re still talking to two or three people and we’ve said ‘These are our terms’. It’s no longer about their terms.
“That gives you that added confidence you need to negotiate. I can only negotiate from strength. If I do so from weakness, then they will know straight away.
“But this is no longer a deal we need or have to do. There are now lots of options for us, which is the good thing.”
Warwick believes the turnaround in fortunes is mainly down to the new management system put in place spearheaded by Patrick Allen who became the BRDC managing director in January 2015. Patrick streamlined the running of the weekend to save costs and increase profit, using his extensive experience in sales and marketing he drove up sales for the British Grand Prix to their highest total in many years. He achieved this by adding extra exhibitions and events during the race weekend to make it entertaining for all to encourage all types of visitors.
“He came in with great credibility. He was very influential in turning around the image of the Co-op, so we knew he had a good CV.
“We knew he would do a good job, but we didn’t know how good a job.
“In the early days, some of the ticket pricing he did, he would admit now was wrong, so he’s learned as well. It’s a new world for him.
“But hey, he learns bloody quick, and the thing with Patrick, if he doesn’t quite get it right, he puts his hand up and puts things right.”
Saving Silverstone for the foreseeable future is great fo not only British fans but also British racing, had the BRDC had to sell the circuit it could have been the beginning of an irreversible decline in British Motorsport.
