Not quite. They forced Bernie to back down on amound of compound interest being paid. Bernie's tried to make it look as if it was all his idea but I think you'll find that wasn't necessarily the case.

James Allen says £12m rising to £16.8 by 2015, that's a 7% compound escalator. Then a break clause for 2019.

Are those correct? Or does the escalator change after 2015?

It should be 5% and not 7%.

If you want to see the cars in person it's the easiest way to do it for most of the UK.

Hill mentions in the Q&A on the Autosport website that as the facilities improve, people will still (in his opinion) be prepared to pay higher prices for it (knowing what British motorsport fans are like, he's probably right, we almost always sell out Silverstone, and if you look at any sport, if you move somewhere with better facilities/improve your facilities you do pay more for that, and people in this country do seem to be prepared to pay extra for improved quality/facilities).

In some respects I am very happy that the British GP has been saved. Along with other posters, I am concerned that Silverstone has bitten off a little too much. We will just have to trust the deal makers at the BRDC. There was some talk if Silverstone 'twinning' with the Abu Dhabi circuit to provide services, training and consultancy. Maybe some funding will come from this kind of association.

Now can we have a rescue package for Donington please Bernie? You have contributed to an act of wanton vandalism that has robbed local club racing of its Wembley, how about a cash donation that will help rescue the circuit? Donington cannot even make money from its GP Collection. It is 'closed until further notice'. Thank you Bernie.

No it's not : Go to Goodwood Festival of Speed and see the cars, the drivers and all the guys working on them from a distance of less than 5m - and see them in action on the hill.

You also see a selection of other machinery old and new that you simply will never see anywhere else in the world.

And because it's not run by Bernie, you can easily afford a ticket.

As for the GP, watch it on TV - you always know what's going on and you see all the action close up.

Prices have gone up a fair bit, like a lot of things did in the UK from 2004-2009. However with the tax rises and borrowing cost hikes that are coming next year, I'm not sure people are going to be able to fork out half a grand to go to a motor race.

Happy to hear this at last. Bernie says he's happy. Is he happy at the roundabout way its comeabout? Did Doningtons finances falling through help Silverstone get a better deal in the end or was Bernie really willing to pull it? I hope Damon and the BRDC got what they were asking for monetarily.

Hill mentions in the Q&A on the Autosport website that as the facilities improve, people will still (in his opinion) be prepared to pay higher prices for it (knowing what British motorsport fans are like, he's probably right, we almost always sell out Silverstone, and if you look at any sport, if you move somewhere with better facilities/improve your facilities you do pay more for that, and people in this country do seem to be prepared to pay extra for improved quality/facilities).

Do you really think it was Bernie rather than a greedy Simon Gillett that caused the whole fiasco.
Heres a clue if SG had not got greedy do you think Donnington would be in the mess its in now?
I suggest its your clear bias rather than any sort of fact that makes you post such a silly comment.
But its great my local track has secured the rights to the British GP and for atleast 10 years with the right to extend to 17.
And for the bashers of the cvc looks like a deal was cut as the escalator is down from 7 to 5%.
I still think thats steep far too steep but it shows in the end they were more intrested in keeping the BGP than making the maximum amount of money which of course would have been to sell the spot on the calendar to a government back race in some far off country.

As it's a 17 year deal I would really like to know what is in the agreement after 2012.

Has Bernie ensured that the BRDC can't host a re-named FOTA series if the teams decide to walk away from FOM ?

I hope not.

Has anyone actually asked the fans if they want to pay more? Personally I'm happy with the current facilities and would rather see the costs stay down.

That's all good and well, but we know that Bernie has had it in for Silverstone for many years, and he'll have insisted on improved facilities.

I don't think they would have put pen to paper if they thought it would leave them in trouble.

In other words, little change. The 17 year deal may sound like security but I would queston who has the security - the BRDC or Bernie? Isn't it obvious that this a deal which is a no-lose for BE? If they fall over in the pursuit of escalating fees, he still has all the options, the BRDC are toast.

The fees start at ridiculous level and get worse and the income potential is marginal. I wish them well, I really do, but it can't be assumed the British GP is safe. For 2010 it is, beyond that, we are likely to be having similar conversations.

If Bernie had done proper due diligence it would have been obvious the Gillett could not fund the GP. It's not a hindsight thing either, as many of us questioned the finances from the moment it was announced.

I would have said "I don't think they would sign if there was no chance they could break even"!

This (BRDC) is an organisation which exists primarily to see motorsport flourish - there's nothing wrong with that. But I see trouble ahead with arguments like

ticket prices are prohibitive for the average British family
the British Government need to be supporting this event in it's hour of greatest peril
Bernie is milking the sport for his own greed

In other words, little change. The 17 year deal may sound like security but I would queston who has the security - the BRDC or Bernie? Isn't it obvious that this a deal which is a no-lose for BE? If they fall over in the pursuit of escalating fees, he still has all the options, the BRDC are toast.

The fees start at ridiculous level and get worse and the income potential is marginal. I wish them well, I really do, but it can't be assumed the British GP is safe. For 2010 it is, beyond that, we are likely to be having similar conversations.

...Deadlines appear to mean little to Ecclestone perhaps because, having total dominion over grand prix racing, he can do what he likes. He controls not just the venues but the world championship calendar. If he wants to allocate Silverstone a race for a waterlogged April weekend, as in 2000, which caused untold but utterly predictable inconvenience to tens of thousands, he can just go ahead.

And it could happen again. The 2010 race is fixed in the calendar for the date on which the World Cup final is due to be played – an unmissable appointment with the television for many people who would not want to take the risk of extricating themselves from Silverstone's car parks in time for the kick-off. The date of the match in Johannesburg was established a considerable time before Ecclestone sat down with next year's Formula One diary, and it would have been easy to plan around it. Perhaps the date can still be changed. As things stand, however, it could be another bargaining chip.

Amid the general mood of rejoicing, no one was giving much thought to that at the BRDC lunch. But there has already been collateral damage from Ecclestone's decision to give a long-term deal for the grand prix to Donington Park and then withdraw it when – again, very predictably – the promoters failed to raise the money for essential improvements.

A partially excavated Donington now lies unusable even to the local racers who held their meetings there. So the sum total of British tracks has effectively been reduced by one – unless a saviour comes up with the million quid or so required to restore the circuit to its earlier state. In the present economic conditions, that may be asking the impossible. As for Silverstone, it is hard to put much credence in the suggestion that Ecclestone's attitude was softened by the prompting of Jean Todt, the newly elected president of the FIA, the international motor sport federation, who is said to have emphasised the historical importance of the British grand prix. Todt is to the tradition and romance of motor sport as Kate Moss is to cream buns.

The whole farrago is irresistibly reminiscent of the events of almost a decade ago, when Ecclestone tried to double Silverstone's race fee. Turned down by the BRDC, he gave Nicola Foulston, the owner of Brands Hatch, a 16-year deal to hold the grand prix. On the strength of that contract she sold her company to Octagon, a US-based leisure group, and left for a new life in Switzerland with a cheque for £30m.

When it proved predictably – sorry to keep using the word – impossible to redevelop the Kentish circuit, Octagon discovered that even agreeing a deal for them to run the race at Silverstone would not be a paying proposition. With a contract to honour, it was forced into an exit strategy that cost it a further fortune – £27m to the BRDC and $90m to Ecclestone's Formula One Administration.

Britain's legion of motor racing enthusiasts will be celebrating yesterday's good news. But the BRDC would be wise to remember that, for Bernie Ecclestone, one deal is always just a step on the path to another.

OMG, THEY ARE MICKEY MOUSING THE SILVERSTONE TRACK!!!!!!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80477

No their not.

read between the lines, they say they will use the INFIELD section. do you know how twisty infields are?

Weren't they planning those changes at least 5 years ago.

Weren't they planning those changes at least 5 years ago.

read between the lines, they say they will use the INFIELD section. do you know how twisty infields are?

These days the numbers are nowhere near as good.

read between the lines, they say they will use the INFIELD section. do you know how twisty infields are?

The time will come, like five years after?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80489

Just under 6500 tickets sold in 24 hours. That's pretty good going considering it's coming upto christmas and there's been uncertainty for so long.