Silverstone prepared for new date

Silverstone prepared for British Grand Prix’s provisional new date - 9 to 11 June, 2006

Silverstone moved quickly today to confirm that it was fully prepared for the FIA’s decision to change the date of the 2006 FORMULA 1™ Foster’s British Grand Prix to 9-11 June*.

The announcement follows today’s World Motor Sport Council meeting in Rome, where the preliminary calendar for next year’s FIA Formula One World Championship was issued. Silverstone joins a host of other circuits on the calendar who have been moved from their traditional dates to minimise the impact of any potential TV scheduling clashes with next year’s football World Cup in Germany.

However, Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, and his team had already anticipated a possible move and, with this in mind, had started preparing for the 2006 British Grand Prix accordingly.

Phillips commented, “Next year’s football World Cup in Germany has always been at the back of our minds during the planning process for the 2006 British Grand Prix. We were hoping to keep our traditional date in July, but we are also realistic."

"Time differences and TV schedules around the World Cup were always going to be taken into consideration, so we’re not entirely surprised that a number of circuits have had to change dates.”

Phillips was also keen to stress that bringing the event forward by a month would not have an impact on Silverstone’s planning of the event, “We have an extremely professional and experienced team here at Silverstone and getting the circuit ready for a British Grand Prix on 11 June will not be a problem. The football World Cup has not just crept up on us – we had prepared for a possible change of date.”

"From a ticket point of view the circuit is still confident that, as in 2004 and 2005, next year’s British Grand Prix will also be a sell-out. Tickets went on sale on 6 September, three months earlier than in previous years, and both the BRDC and Silverstone are delighted with the level of public support." Phillips added.

“We are coming off the back of an extremely exciting Formula One season and tickets for next year’s British Grand Prix have been selling extremely well. We have been really pleased with the number of fans who have made the most of our Early Booking Offer and booked their seats on the most popular sections of the circuit, and are confident that, even with the date moving forward to 11 June, the event will sell-out for a third successive year."

"The five year deal between the BRDC (British Racing Drivers’ Club) and FOM has given us the security to plan for the long term, and the guarantee of Formula One racing at Silverstone until at least 2009 enabled us to start selling tickets much earlier than in previous years.”

-ji-