Currently reading: Jaguar Land Rover's Silverstone bid greeted favourably by BRDC members
A deal for Jaguar Land Rover to purchase the Northants racing circuit from the British Racing Drivers' Club is progressing

Jaguar Land Rover’s mooted purchase of Silverstone moved a step closer after the circuit’s current owner, the British Racing Driver’s Club (BRDC), reported a “favourable response” to the proposed deal from its members.

The BRDC has been in negotiations with JLR over a possible deal, which could provide the funding for further circuit improvements at the home of the British Grand Prix.

BRDC chairman John Grant presented the potential deal to the club’s members during a discussion forum on Wednesday. BRDC president Derek Warwick said the response was very positive from the members.

“The deal is definitely not done yet,” the ex-Formula 1 driver and world sportscar champion told Autosport.com.

“There’s still a lot of work to do to get the deal to where both sides are happy and more importantly what’s right for the BRDC and it’s members. Having said that, we are well down the road.

“We told the members to get a flavour of what they thought of the deal. The response was favourable so we will now set up an EGM for the members to vote and give the Board a mandate to proceed with the deal and continue with the negotiations with Jaguar Land Rover.

Why would JLR be interested in buying Silverstone?

The deal, if agreed, could help to bolster the long-term future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Kevin Turner

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xxxx 26 February 2016

Money

Who actually gets the money??
BertoniBertone 26 February 2016

Not so daft....

I don't think we should necessarily jump to doom & gloom mode just yet. How much does Jag spend on its set-up at the 'Ring each year ? It must be several million....and they have to share it with every other premium German manufacturer....and others. Porsche has Weissach. Ferrari: Fiorano. And neither are recognised as Grand Prix tracks. Plus, there's a nexus of engineering and automotive tech in the region. I think it's a good fit, has many cost-saving and developmental benefits. And have you seen interest rates ?? I suspect you could comfortably finance all, or a substantial part, of the yearly debt-servicing costs of buying Silverstone by not spending money at the 'Ring and Nardo each year. So, not such a silly idea at all perhaps ?....
k12479 26 February 2016

BertoniBertone wrote:

BertoniBertone wrote:

Weissach...Fiorano...Nardo...'Ring

The first three are not race tracks, they're test tracks and are designed to serve a very different purpose. The Nurburgring Nordschleife stopped being suitable as a race track a long time ago, besides, it gives manufacturers bragging rights like no other.

Greenracer 26 February 2016

Guess this will be another

Guess this will be another bit of England sold to overseas. Silverstone has been ruined anyway by F1 over the years. Just another grand prix venue where you need good eyesight to see the cars on the track, or good spectacles. All these run off areas make for poor car control.