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Ahhh-anyway its not MotoGp.I didnt listen properly so I just watched the TV news-what actully was said theyve "lost" MGp already and now this year it seems that "Because of the lack of funds there will be no MOTORBIKE racing this season at Donington Park as the circuit will have to close????

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The big practical problem at the moment is that due to the incompetent way they designed and built that tunnel they put in for construction traffic, there is currently no run-off at Redgate. As in anybody leaving the track at Redgate proceeds immediately hits a concrete bridge parapet where there used to be a much visited gravel trap. As a result, both the ACU and the MSA have denied the circuit a safety certificate until the problem is fixed and there is no racing going on there at all at present.

Obviously, this is mind-blowing incompetence all round, since presumably if anybody with half a clue had looked at the plans before the diggers moved in, those plans would have been rejected out of hand.

Presumably this can be fixed, at vast unplanned expense. Or it could be if the lessee of the circuit had any money. But since they apparently can't afford the outstanding rent, currently have next to no income due to all racing being cancelled, and are in the process of being booted out of the place by the Wheatcrofts, it's very hard to work out when this work might be started or who would pay for it. And very hard to work out how eejits who apparently blithely dug up the circuit without clearing their construction tunnel design with anybody who has ever raced anything at Donington Park could be trusted to successfully build a garden shed, let alone a world class racing circuit.

Anyway, until this major civil engineering work is done, there won't be so much as a club race at Donny, on two wheels or four. Given that it's the end of April now, if you make some intelligent assumptions about how long the problem might take to sort out from when a civil engineer first fires up his CAD workstation, and allow sufficient time for the pending legal wrangling to unwind, I'd say we'd be lucky if Donny was back in operation as a racing circuit by this time next year, if ever. Being pessimistic, in the current economic climate it may end up as a storage park for unsold cars...

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Ken Haylock
http://www.cix.co.uk/~kwh

"Ride what you like, how you like, as often as you like; but always take responsibilty for your actions." - Anonymous Zen Guru

"Obviously all I'll care about is if it's good for wheelies (i.e. fluffs up my meagre skills), and what free gift they give on the launch." - Anonymous Moto-Journalism Guru

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Or try the story on our home page even....

www.superbike.co.uk/news/Donington_WSB_BSB_MotoGP_2009_all_on_dont_panic_news_281493.html

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Strange, I thought this forum was the oracle of truth.

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FBB

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Go here...

http://www.donington-park.co.uk/business-opportunities/business-news?news_id=613&archive=no

...and you'll see some of the facts aren't quite right there Ken. I know it's Donington's own website and you may be cynical of that but certainly looks like the track is affected in a different place. I was confused when I read Redgate. I couldn't imagine where a tunnel would be on the corner to cause a problem.

Looks like the issue is with the existing large tunnel entrance under (the entry to) Coppice don't you think?

Also seems that bike racing won't be affected only a handful of car events just at the mo.

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Yes, I can't work out where you'd put a tunnel at Redgate either! Sorry, brain fade... but my understanding is that the ACU has also refused the circuit a safety certificate as well, for exactly the same reasons, so I'm not sure why you say that bikes aren't affected... it'll be good news if the solutions really are in hand, though!

Edit: Trackdays are OK because it's a well known fact that whereas a racer lowsiding his bike would be killed if he slid off the track and hit a lump of solid concrete, trackday riders will simply bounce off. Err...

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Ken Haylock
http://www.cix.co.uk/~kwh

"Ride what you like, how you like, as often as you like; but always take responsibilty for your actions." - Anonymous Zen Guru

"Obviously all I'll care about is if it's good for wheelies (i.e. fluffs up my meagre skills), and what free gift they give on the launch." - Anonymous Moto-Journalism Guru




Edited by KwH (27/04/2009 20:53)

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