Silverstone squabble getting out of hand
19/04/2006 Considering they're fighting over a flat characterless piece of land that formerly served as an airfield, the battle of Silverstone appears to have as many twists and turns as the Nordschleife. Last week, British F3 champion turned property developer, Harry Stiller, announced his grand vision for the Northamptonshire track, having led a group of blazered rebels who threw out the massive redevelopment plan put forward by the board of the British Racing Drivers' Club, owners of the circuit. Stiller's vision which had the (moral) backing of Bernie Ecclestone would have seen the British Grand Prix circuit redeveloped without the lease being handed over to a third party, even though there was no mention of where the funding would come from. Now, in a bizarre twist, Mr Stiller has said he will postpone the Extraordinary General Meeting that he and his fellow rebels called for, if the BRDC will pay his legal fees. Talking to PA Sport, outgoing BRDC President, Jackie Stewart, said: "He suggested he would like the EGM postponed or put off. In return for doing that he would like us to pay his legal costs. "We do not wish to do so," he continued, "but it gives some idea of the kind of person we are dealing with. I am confused by his tactics. I rather suspect he's been told by Bernie that all the things he has said are not reality and he wants more time to pull together the proposal." Mr Stiller has since issued a statement claiming that the BRDC is deliberately misrepresenting his comments. However, as the squabble continues, British F1 fans are the ones caught in the middle, wondering if one again it is they who will suffer. |
