DECEMBER 12, 2005

Poor old Silverstone

One has to feel a little sorry for the British Grand Prix. First of all it has been kicked off its traditional date because the French wanted it, having been kicked out of their traditional date by the United States Grand Prix, and now the soccer World Cup draw has made life all the more difficult.

One has to feel a little sorry for the British Grand Prix. First of all it has been kicked off its traditional date because the French wanted it, having been kicked out of their traditional date by the United States Grand Prix, and now the soccer World Cup draw has made life all the more difficult with Germany, one of the favourites to win, playing on Friday, England playing its first game on the Saturday, along with Argentina, another strong team and both Holland and Portugal playing on race day. It remains to be seen whether or not this will have any effect on the attendance but it may dissuade some spectators for going for the whole weekend.

The Silverstone circuit is looking on the bright side.

"What an unbelievable weekend of sport," commented Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited. "The British Grand Prix is one of the biggest and most spectacular events on the UK sporting calendar, so with England's opening game of the football World Cup scheduled to take place on the Saturday, sports fans are in for a real treat.

"If last year's F1 season is anything to go by we'll have a fantastic British Grand Prix on the 11 June, in front of another sell out crowd. The main thing is we've avoided the later rounds of the World Cup, when England will hopefully be through to the knock-out stages.

Tickets are on sale at the moment and selling well as fans have the chance to buy tickets as Christmas presents for a knock-down price of $174.