..........with record crowds at British Grand Prix

Silverstone Circuits Limited, the organiser and promoter of the 2005 FORMULA 1™ Foster’s British Grand Prix, has confirmed that the event was one of the most successful Grand Prix held  at  the  Northamptonshire  based  circuit  in  recent  years,  despite  the  tragic  events  in London on Thursday (7 July). 2005 provided a sell-out crowd for the second year running with 100,000 fans attending the race on Sunday 10th July.  

A  total crowd figure of 200,000 attended over all three days of the event,  with  18,000 fans staying behind after the last race of the day for the ultimate finale - the Grand Prix Party. The 2005 figure is 5,000 up on last year, with Saturday boasting a record attendance of 65,000.  

The crowd on Friday matched that of 2004 at 35,000.    Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, commented: “It has been a fantastic weekend for Silverstone.  We didn’t get a British winner, but the sunny weather and superb  crowd  made  it  a  truly  memorable  British  Grand  Prix  -  we  could  not  have  asked  for more.    “I would specifically like to thank all the fans who joined us at Silverstone and helped make it one of the most successful British Grand Prix in recent years. After the events in London on Thursday we were delighted that the fans were able to enjoy the event in a safe environment.

I would also like to thank them for their co-operation and patience with the increased security measures.” From an organisational point of view the event has been hailed as one of the most successful in recent history. It appears Bernie Ecclestone was also impressed with the show Silverstone was putting on: “I'm terribly disappointed with the whole place again because I mean we've lost the whole atmosphere at Silverstone. I think we should dig up all the car parks and put the mud back, block the roads up and things so at least we get the old atmosphere again. I'm missing it now - I've got nothing to say except they did a bloody good job”. While Juan Pablo Montoya took his first victory of the season, British drivers Jenson Button and David Coulthard finished 5th and 13th respectively. Despite a relatively disappointing race for the British contingent, both drivers joined their home crowd for the post-race celebrations at the 2005 Grand Prix Party.  

Situated for the third year running on the inside of the circuit, the party was free of charge to all race day ticket holders. Tony Jardine hosted the evening’s entertainment and was joined on stage by the legendary Jools Holland and a number of F1 drivers and personalities that also  included  Jarno  Trulli,  Christiam  Klien,  Christijan  Albers,  Patrick  Friesacher,  Gils  de Ferran, Nick Fry, Sir Jackie Stewart, Murray Walker and Johnny Herbert.  

Commenting on the Grand Prix Party, Phillips added: “Silverstone is determined to add value to  the  fans’  British  Grand  Prix  experience  and  the  post-race  Grand  Prix  Party  helps  us  to achieve this. I would like to thank the drivers for putting aside their time to join us on stage and to the fans who donated money to a collection in aid of the friends and families effected by the events in London.” Speaking about the future of Silverstone and the British Grand Prix, Phillips said: “Following the  five  year  deal  that  was  struck  earlier  in  the  year  between  the  BRDC  and  the  FIA,  the immediate future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone has been secured. We now have the stability and confidence to move forward and develop the site.

“We’ve put on a fantastic event this weekend, which gives us a solid platform to build on.” In addition to compliments from Bernie, there was further good news for the circuit after a fans survey, conducted by the FIA, resulted in Silverstone being voted as the fans’ third favourite circuit in the world. Supporters of Formula One showed their backing of Silverstone in a comprehensive survey undertaken by independent research specialists - 49 per cent of the 93,000 fans that took part in the FIA / AMD Formula One Survey said their interest in Formula One would decrease if Silverstone was removed from the calendar.

Fans  in  180  countries  worldwide  responded  to  the  survey  in  which  only  Monaco  and  Spa came out ahead of Silverstone. Phillips concluded: “I am very fortunate to have one of the best teams in the world working for me  here  at  Silverstone.  We  are  extremely  proud  to  have  hosted  such  a  successful  event. We’ll  take  a  couple  of  days  to  reflect  on  a  great  weekend  and  then  it’ll  be  straight  into planning for the 2006 British Grand Prix.”