Silverstone director Patrick Allen suspended

The truth of one day is not the same as the next: last January, Derek Warwick, the president of the BRDC, was praising Patrick Allen, the new circuit director: « He arrived with great credibility. He was instrumental in changing Co-op’s image. So we knew he had a good resume and would do a good job. We just didn’t know how good a job he would do. »

But since then the situation has changed significantly, as the same Patrick Allen is now suspended from his duties. A spokesperson for the club that owns the circuit confirmed to The Telegraph that Patrick Allen had been suspended but declined to detail the reason. According to information provided by the English newspaper, the reason is that the executive was deemed too close to Lawrence Tolinson, who has made a bid to acquire the circuit for a period of 249 years. Indeed, Patrick Allen previously held the position of commercial director within the LNT group, owned by the same businessman.

This offer comes into conflict with the one submitted by the Jaguar Land Rover group, which wanted to turn the British circuit into a testing center for the development of its upcoming vehicles while offering its customers the opportunity to drive on one of the most famous circuits in the world.

But such a scenario would pose problems for other manufacturers, including Porsche, which would have a clause in its contract with the circuit that another manufacturer is not allowed to use this track more than 45 days a year.

The next BRDC meeting, scheduled for September 28th, is expected to be turbulent as the advocates of the different solutions will be at the same discussion table.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr