Mallory on track
Published: 08th May 2008
Author: Words and photos by Pondo
British GP plans get thumbs up after open day
When the FIM made the official public announcement on January 26 that the British GP would move from the scheduled venue of Foxhill to a newly-built track at Mallory Park, the response - particularly on internet motocross forums - was vocal and largely unanimous. Hardly anyone was happy with it.
It seemed like the GP was being booted around from venue to venue - there was no continuity, no respect for the traditions of the sport and the circuits seemed to be turning more and more into outdoor supercross tracks. Behind the anonymity of an online username it was easy to be vitriolic and I’ll be the first to put my hand up and say that I was among the critics.
But event organisers RHL, led by Gareth Hockey, weathered the storm of protests and doggedly, patiently and with well-reasoned restraint went about arguing their case with Gareth even starting a weekly column in T+MX to keep everyone posted on the latest developments. In the face of some pretty spicy comments they explained why the event was at Mallory and even went as far as to invite suggestions from the MX-going public as to what they would like to see at the GP, what they wouldn’t like to see and how the whole thing could be made to work better.
This ‘consultation’ process came to a head in April when RHL threw open the doors of the Leicestershire circuit to the public. The day kicked off with a discussion about people’s wants and hopes for the GP – question number one, predictably enough, concerned beer and its adequate provision. But one thing remained constant throughout the conference - every question asked, every opinion offered, every request made was given serious consideration. In that room, as the organisers of the British Grand Prix sat with members of the public, changes were made to the organisation of the GP itself. It was an astonishingly open meeting.
Outside only a third of the track was marked and ready to be ridden (and the surface was far from the finished article) but between showers a handful of invited GP stars including Billy MacKenzie and Mike Brown turned laps along with members of the public and press. And despite the conditions the responses were generally positive - it’s definitely not the bland jump-fest of Donington.
Although the objective was to get thoughts and opinions from members of the general public, as a PR exercise it’s also been a great success. And far from being a purely commercial venture from an organisation concerned principally with lining their own pockets, the lengths that RHL have gone to to get the views of the motocross public onboard have shown how much they want this to work as a viable, long-term home for the British Grand Prix.