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way up to £120 per minute for the
Silverstone GP circuit. That means
a full hour’s lunch break has a value
of up to £7000.
So how can clubs even hope to balance
the books? Well, the simple answer is to
have full, or near full, grids for all the
races. But that is easier said than done
because support for each category can
grow or shrink with equal rapidity.
When clubs are booking track time in
October, gauging just how strong entries
will be up to a year later is a challenge.
To show how delicate the financial
balancing act really is, consider a major
club such as the BRSCC being one entry
per race down compared to the previous
season. At an average of £300 per entry
for 10 races across 30 race meetings, that
comes to an annual total of £90,000
– an amount that is easily the difference
between a decent profit on the season
and a dangerous loss.
Increasingly, clubs are eager to take on
guest races for their meetings, and this
is commonly done on a straight fee basis
– the promoter or organiser of the guest
series will buy an amount of track time
for a set figure and then take on the risk
of how many competitor entry fees they
will get. A typical one-race slot at an
average meeting will be priced in the
region of £5000, and if the promoter can
pull in 30 entries for a suitable entry fee
they will do well. Meanwhile, the
organising club has a guaranteed chunk
of income for that event.
Clubs are effectively forced to use
every available minute for qualifying and
racing, and cannot afford to build any
slack into timetables. The gaps between
sessions have to be kept to an absolute
minimum and clear-up after incidents
will be done against a ticking clock.
Lengthy tyre wall rebuilds are a big
concern and lunch breaks for the
marshals will always be under pressure.
Equally under strain is a small grid.
No one wants to see fewer than 10 cars
start a race, and this is something that
organisers worked harder on than ever
during 2012. After all, a grid of fewer
than 20 entries is probably losing cash.
Perhaps the one positive from all
this is that further amalgamation and
grid sharing would be good news for
participants, spectators, marshals
and organising clubs alike.
Mallory Park is
relatively cheap
Silverstone GP hire
comes at a premium
NatioNal focus
the cost of racing
WHY TRACK
COSTS DIFFER
A glance at our table of track hire
fees shows vast discrepancies
between venues, but there are good
reasons for this.
Just as the organising clubs need
to balance their books, so circuits
need to make sure their operations
are financially viable, and the cost
of hiring their facilities will vary
according to factors such as how many
days a year they can operate for, the
overheads associated with that (such
as staff and security), and the costs of
rent and rates to run the site (which
vary with location).
The prestige of a particular venue
will also make a difference (the Brands
Hatch Grand Prix circuit will always be
able to charge more than Mallory Park,
for example), and the rate can climb if
an organiser wants the circuit to
provide extra services, such as
marshals and equipment.
Thruxton manager Pat Blakeney
says this makes it very difficult to
compare venues. “What you see is
what you get at Thruxton – we try
to avoid too many add-ons,” says
Blakeney. “We’re very limited – we
only have 12 days a year, which is only
seven race meetings. And we’ve still
got rent and rates to pay for a circuit
that’s sitting there for 65 per cent of
the time doing nothing.
“What you can do outside of race
meetings makes a difference. We’ve
got 12 race days a year and four test
days, which have to be during school
holidays. One of these is taken up by
British Superbikes, another by TOCA,
which leaves us with just two days
for general testing.
“To put things in perspective,”
continues Blakeney, “our kart track
turns over nearly as much as the
circuit, but that’s operational seven
days a week, 52 weeks a year.”
TRACK HIRE COSTS BY VENUE
Mallory Park £10,000 (2011)
Lydden £10,200 (2013)
Cadwell Park £12,000 (2011)
Donington Park £20,000 (2011)
Silverstone National £20,000 (2011)
Castle Combe £23,000 (2013)
Thruxton £30,000 (2013)
Brands Hatch GP £33,000 (2011)
Silverstone GP £40,000 (2011)
NB: Figures are basic hire for a single
day’s use (including VAT). Not all
circuits responded to requests in time
for our press deadlines.
January 17 2013 autosport.com 87