UK circuits are finally cleaning up their act

WE all love to watch bike racing. The noises, the smells, the atmosphere, the danger… it all adds up to a unique experience.

Sadly, though, regular race-goers could put a different interpretation on that description:

The noises are coming from disgruntled fans who are fed-up with paying £30 or £40 to see an event, and then being treated like a second-class citizen

The smells… well, if you’ve ever queued up for an hour to get in a toilet cubicle, you’ll know what we mean

The atmosphere can be one of frustration, especially if you’re stuck in a traffic jam for two hours and then have to watch the action behind a 10-deep human wall

And the danger comes when you try to negotiate the assault course of tents at 3am on an unlit campsite.

You can’t blame punters for feeling down-trodden when they see what other tracks in the world have to offer. Just look at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit or the new Lausitzring in Germany, which benefited from an injection of public cash, and you can’t help wondering what we’re missing.

But now, finally, the most influential people in British motorsport are waking up to the notion that things need to change for the better. And an announcement last week could make second-class facilities a thing of the past.

Octagon – the company which owns the World Superbike series as well as Brands Hatch, Cadwell

Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton, and which manages Silverstone – wants to give us the racing experience we all crave. And it is prepared to sink millions into improving the facilities across its portfolio.

Silverstone alone is getting £80 million to improve its

lot for bike racing, in a bid to stage a WSB round there next year.

Octagon chief executive Rob Bain said: ” A lack of investment in circuits across the board has gone on for the last 20 years. But, over the next five years, we are committed to putting our entire profit into the facilities at our circuits. ”

Silverstone has applied for planning permission to carry out the first phase of the update, which would include revamping Club corner into a sweeping, banked bend to emulate the famous Parabolica at Monza. More crucial for us is the work on spectator facilities, which is likely to include more hard standing areas for viewing, extra grandstands, more banking next to the track and improved parking areas.

Octagon hopes all that will be finished by 2003, with two further phases to follow.

As far as WSB followers are concerned, there are two main concerns Octagon has to address before Silverstone will find favour.

Adam Hobden edits the Ducati Sporting Club newsletter and has had plenty of letters from riders who have been to British Superbike races at the Northants venue. He said: ” Fans are too far away from the racing there because it’s essentially a track for cars. Getting into the place could also be a problem during a WSB round. We could learn a lot from Assen, where you turn off a dual-carriageway and straight into the circuit. ”

Silverstone is hoping its second and third phases of improvements will address these concerns.

The second phase would concentrate mainly on building a museum of British motorsport – to include bikes – but there would also be further improvements to access and parking.

Even better grandstands and public facilities will come in the third phase, along with more work on the International Circuit, which is currently used for bike racing.

Even the roads leading to the circuit are to be improved. A stretch of dual- carriageway from the M40 to the M1 is being built and it will go past the track, easing the traffic problems when it opens next year.

” That’s a great bonus, ” said Hobden. ” If people know they will be able to get in without missing the start of the racing, and won’t have to get stuck in so much traffic when they leave, going to a race meeting would be much more attractive. ”

Of course, Silverstone isn’t doing all these improvements for bike racing. As the home of the British Formula One GP, its owners had to make some drastic improvements following last year’s race, when April showers turned the place into a muddy field. At one point, ticket holders were told not to come to the race because they wouldn’t get in, and the whole affair almost saw the track lose this major money-spinning event.

Octagon tied up a deal with Silverstone’s owners, the British Racing Drivers Club (BDRC), last year, which gives it management rights until 2017. The deal was referred to the Competition Commission, which is due to deliver its report to the Department of Trade and Industry on August 6. If it is given the official stamp of approval, all the new plans will go ahead.

It would make sense for Octagon to run its WSB event at one of its own venues and it is looking likely that one of next year’s British meetings will be there rather than at Donington Park.

Bain said: ” We’d like to run a WSB round at Silverstone, if our changes can be finished in time. That would mean WSB at Brands and Silverstone, and the British Grand Prix at Donington Park, which makes a good geographical spread for everybody. ”

And it’s not just Silverstone which has ambitions to improve bike racing facilities in the UK. Donington Park wants in on the act, too. Last year, the circuit applied to change the track layout and internal roads and build new grandstands. But the council objected because it feared it would attract too much traffic. The planning application has since been held up by an environmental impact study.

Donington chief executive Robert Fearnall said: ” The redevelopment seems to have been well received. The objection relates to traffic and noise. Overall, it’s great for motorcycle racing that people are investing in upgrading facilities – it’s badly needed. ”

And good as the plans for Silverstone may sound, they could be nothing compared to what’s in store for Brands.

The Kent circuit is lined up for a major overhaul following the £80 million proposal laid out for Silverstone.

Despite the plans for Silverstone, Bain wants Brands to remain the hub of Octagon’s bike racing venues. He said: ” We are already starting work on a plan to improve facilities there. ”

He would not elaborate on what we can expect to see, adding: ” There are lots of options on the table – we have only just done the Silverstone plan and now we are starting on Brands.

” We’d like to play on the historic aspect of Brands and develop its place in bike history. We want to see Brands remain the Mecca for bikes. ”