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| Keywords: aintree racecourse aintreeracecourse british grand prix britishgrandprix diamond anniversary diamondanniversary project 365 project365 outdoor Today was the British Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton, and disappointingly held once again at Silverstone. I've got a bit of a downer on Silverstone, but I think it's justified. All the major investment in British Motor Racing seems to have gone into Silverstone and I think we've been backing the wrong horse. I think the root cause of the problem with British Motor Racing circuits goes back to the group who probably had the biggest influence on the international prowess of British racing - and that would be the Luftwaffe. In response to advancing German technologies we bred a generation of utterly superb aeronautical engineers who were left largely twiddling their thumbs when the war ended. What we also got was an absolute shed load of redundant airfields, and with very, very few exceptions if you show me a British motor racing circuit I'll show you a former airfield. And there's the rub. For very sound military reasons airfields are almost universally a) Flat b) In the arsehole of nowhere This means that almost all of our British motor racing circuits have no gradient, and that doesn't make for memorable circuits. They also have terrible travel links so the traffic management for huge events like Grand Prix is nightmarish. There is an exception however - Donington Park. It's a wonderful circuit. It has gradient. I've actually had the privilege of driving it and it's spectacular. It's also yards from the M1. And why don't we have the British Grand Prix there? I do not know. I've also realised only today why I have such a problem with Lewis Hamilton, and take no pride in his achievements. It's because he's American. He's not of course. He was born in Britain and lived in Britain until he got rich and pissed off to Geneva. But in his actions, his behaviour, his speech...he's American, and that's irritating. So my photo today takes us back sixty years as we celebrate a diamond anniversary. Sixty years ago, in 1955, (Sir) Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix. He's the most British of British racing drivers, and about the only thing he has in common with Lewis Hamilton is that they both did it in a Mercedes! Best of all, he did it not at Silverstone, or Donington, or Brands, but right here on our doorstep - at Aintree. Today was the British Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton, and disappointingly held once again at Silverstone. I've got a bit of a downer on Silverstone, but I think it's justified. All the major investment in British Motor Racing seems to have gone into Silverstone and I think we've been backing the wrong horse. I think the root cause of the problem with British Motor Racing circuits goes back to the group who probably had the biggest influence on the international prowess of British racing - and that would be the Luftwaffe. In response to advancing German technologies we bred a generation of utterly superb aeronautical engineers who were left largely twiddling their thumbs when the war ended. What we also got was an absolute shed load of redundant airfields, and with very, very few exceptions if you show me a British motor racing circuit I'll show you a former airfield. And there's the rub. For very sound military reasons airfields are almost universally a) Flat b) In the arsehole of nowhere This means that almost all of our British motor racing circuits have no gradient, and that doesn't make for memorable circuits. They also have terrible travel links so the traffic management for huge events like Grand Prix is nightmarish. There is an exception however - Donington Park. It's a wonderful circuit. It has gradient. I've actually had the privilege of driving it and it's spectacular. It's also yards from the M1. And why don't we have the British Grand Prix there? I do not know. I've also realised only today why I have such a problem with Lewis Hamilton, and take no pride in his achievements. It's because he's American. He's not of course. He was born in Britain and lived in Britain until he got rich and pissed off to Geneva. But in his actions, his behaviour, his speech...he's American, and that's irritating. So my photo today takes us back sixty years as we celebrate a diamond anniversary. Sixty years ago, in 1955, (Sir) Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix. He's the most British of British racing drivers, and about the only thing he has in common with Lewis Hamilton is that they both did it in a Mercedes! Best of all, he did it not at Silverstone, or Donington, or Brands, but right here on our doorstep - at Aintree. | ||||
