LONDON, 8 September 2004 — The owners of the Silverstone circuit have made an offer to promote the British Formula One Grand Prix for the next three years despite the likelihood they will lose money on the deal. The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) said in a statement yesterday they had submitted an offer to Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management to secure the race for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

“This offer has been made on terms that do not create a profit, and carry inherent commercial risk, for the BRDC,” the statement said. “However in the interests of maintaining the British Grand Prix in the United Kingdom we are prepared as a club to make our contribution.” Formula One’s commercial supremo Ecclestone holds the rights to promote the event after being paid by advertising giant Interpublic to take them back. He has said he will not promote the race himself, setting instead a September deadline for an interested party to come forward.

Failing that, with an unprecedented 19 races already competing for space on the 2005 calendar, the British Grand Prix was in danger of being cancelled. Ecclestone has been strongly critical of the BRDC and Silverstone’s outdated facilities, comparing the circuit to an old house and the grand prix to a country fair masquerading as a world event.

The BRDC gave no financial details but Ecclestone said in July that any agreement to promote the British race would have to be on the same commercial terms already in place for the two grands prix in Germany. “What we want is for Silverstone to bring that circuit up to 2004, not 1996 or before that even,” he said last week.

Michelin Sound the All-Clear for Monza

Formula One tire-makers Michelin believe high-speed blowouts at the last Belgian Grand Prix and in recent Monza tests were due to sharp kerbs and human error. “We are very confident that we don’t have a problem,” spokesman Andy Pope said before Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, the last European race of the season and the fastest on the calendar.

Michelin teams suffered a series of failures at Spa-Francorchamps on Aug. 29, with BAR boss David Richards and his British driver Jenson Button calling for an urgent investigation before Monza.

Cars hit speeds in excess of 340kph at the circuit near Milan. Toyota’s French driver Olivier Panis crashed in testing there last week when a rear tire deflated suddenly, while Renault’s Italian Jarno Trulli was called in by his team when a similar problem became apparent.