Palmer “delighted” at Brands WSB snub
Added on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Palmer “delighted” at Brands WSB snub
Motorsport Vision director Jonathan Palmer has declared himself “delighted” that Brands Hatch will not be hosting a round of this season’s World Superbikes Championship, claiming that he could not possibly have made the event viable.
Brands Hatch, usually one of the better selling venues on the WSB tour, was surprisingly dropped from the 2009 WSB calendar as the host of the British round with Donington Park, usually the venue for the European round, taking up the British event.
Many fans were left disappointed with the decision to drop the popular venue but Palmer, who’s company owns the circuit, claimed that fans would be unlikely to accept the increase in ticket prices required to fund the event due to the weakening of the pound and the increase in fees demanded from World Superbikes organisers – as much as double the amount charged in 2008.
“Frankly I am delighted that we don’t have World Superbikes at the moment,” Palmer told PA Sport. “Essentially I am a businessman and I don’t run things which are not economically viable.
“When we first had World Superbikes here after I took over it wasn’t viable. I told the promoters that and we discussed and agreed terms on which it could be run here. That continued until the end of last season when they wanted to double the fee.
“I told them that it wasn’t viable, the weakening pound made it less so and with the credit crunch as well it was a non starter. The public wouldn’t pay the increase in ticket prices we’d have to do to run it.”
Although Palmer has not ruled out a return for World Superbikes in the future, the former F1 driver insisted he is just as happy to focus on the British Superbike Championship, a series that MSV also promote.
“Whether or not the promoters will feel they want to come back to Brands Hatch on a basis that suits everyone I have no idea. It would be nice if they did. We’d like to have it and I know all the riders love racing here.
“We are going to have an event that hopefully will match the entertainment value here with British Superbikes. I think that will be even closer this year now Ducati aren’t racing. We will have a big following here anyway and I am perfectly happy with our schedule.”
