News From The Paul Ricard Paddock #1

It’s home from home here in the south of France this weekend – clear skies and bright sunshine, with temperatures topping the twenties, and far too many bare knees in evidence. There are some legs that simply should not be exposed to public scrutiny.

Aside from the weather, the talk in the paddock has been heavily focused on the prospects for the Series, not only because the entry list for Round 1 stands at a rather disappointing 21, but also with a sizeable question mark over the venue for Round 2. Rumours persist that Zolder may be replaced, but with what? Speaking with a number of teams today, the plausibility of joining forces with the WEC at Spa poses several problems, not least for those who have cars entered in both championships, but with different drivers racing in each. With contractual obligations to maintain, amalgamating the two could create as many problems as it solved.

There is to be a meeting tomorrow evening, Saturday, between team managers and the European Le Mans Series organisers, when the Zolder question will be debated, and hopefully an announcement should follow before the weekend is over.

Any similar uncertainty, mooted of late, about the security of Donington Park in the ELMS calendar has been quashed today by Christopher Tate, managing director of the Leicestershire track, who has been at Paul Ricard to meet with Patrick Peter. He has confirmed that the paperwork has all been signed and the deal is sealed. A certain amount of work remains to be done, but Kevin Wheatcroft and the rest of the Donington board have been busy over the winter ensuring that everything will be in hand, not only to safeguard the presence of the ELMS in July, but also the World Superbikes in May.

This will come as good news to several of the drivers who’ve mentioned already today that Donington is the one track on the ELMS calendar that, as drivers, they’re really looking forward to. “I’m delighted that we’ll be racing at Donington,” said Warren Hughes (Murphy Prototypes). “It’s a fantastic track, and I can’t wait to experience it from the cockpit of a prototype. Having that inked in to the calendar is good news, but we still have a degree of uncertainty, and that’s not good for the Series. We need everything to be sorted, we need stability, and we don’t seem to have that at the moment.” His co-driver, Jody Firth, agreed. “We have drivers with sponsors who’ve backed them to do a particular programme. With the current situation, we have the possibility of some of that support being held back awaiting clarification of the situation. From our own point of view, we also have calendar clashes with the British GT Championship, so there’s a knock-on effect.” A definitive answer cannot come too soon.

Meanwhile, at a press conference not a million miles away from this Media Centre, the French Prime Minster, François Fillon, is announcing plans for the French Grand Prix to relocate to Le Castellet in 2013. Indeed, the man himself is visible from the window, inspecting the pitlane, not only confirming the rumours that surfaced earlier this week, but also raising more questions over the suitability of certain circuits to host major motor racing events. The HTTT at Le Castellet is undoubtedly one of the best equipped in the world, and would make a stunning venue for a Formula 1 race, but with a spectator enclosure limited to about three or four thousand people, just four modest grandstands, and no infrastructure to cope with an F1 crowd, one wonders whether this is a credible possibility. The thought of tens of thousands of fans negotiating the narrow country roads that lead to the circuit, complete with hairpin bends and precipitous drops, is just a recipe for chaos. Time will tell.

More news to come . . .