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Intel on MacHits

Billionaire Swoops For Saab

January 8
Tycoon Bernie Ecclestone has a better chance of bringing it back from the brink than Spyker.
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The Independent

Ecclestone's £11m demand puts future of British GP at risk

Britain, the home of Formula One racing and birthplace of the current and numerous former world champions, faces the serious prospect of losing its Grand Prix after Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's billionaire commercial rights holder, embarked on a typical game of financial brinkmanship with the owners of Silverstone, the only circuit now capable of staging the race.
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F1-Live.com

No 'sentiment' as Ecclestone saves British GP

Bernie Ecclestone insists he is taking a financial hit by agreeing a new deal for the British Grand Prix...  
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B.B.C. NEWS No Donington GP, says Ecclestone

F1 commercial rights holders Bernie Ecclestone says there will be no British Grand Prix at Donington Park next year.
10/29/09
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B.B.C. NEWS Ecclestone sends Donington threat

Donington is running out of time to ensure it hosts the 2010 British Grand Prix, according to F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
09/26/09
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B.B.C. NEWS British GP facing final deadline

Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone says the fate of the British Grand Prix will be decided at a meeting on 9 December.
11/22/09
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The Independent Ecclestone excited by Alonso switch

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes Fernando Alonso's Ferrari switch has set the stage for a vintage year for the sport next season.
10/01/09
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The Independent Force India missed chance says...

Force India should have chosen an Indian driver to replace Giancarlo Fisichella when the Italian switched to Ferrari to help boost the build up for the nation's inaugural...
09/09/09
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cbc.ca Ecclestone urges Briatore to appeal...

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone urged Renault team principal Flavio Briatore to appeal his life ban from Formula One for organizing Nelson Piquet Jr.'s crash at the 2008...
09/24/09
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F1 Complete

Ecclestone: "We don't need British GP"

Oct.24 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone insists he is prepared to scrub Britain's name from the 2010 calendar if Silverstone does not want to pay the going rate for its formula one race.
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F1-Live.com

F1 doesn't need British GP - Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone insists he is prepared to scrub Britain's name from the 2010 calendar if Silverstone does not want to pay the going rate for its Formula One race...  
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The Independent F1'S Ecclestone joins bid to buy Saab

Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to take over struggling Swedish car maker Saab, it emerged today.
01/08/10
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The Independent F1's Ecclestone joins bid to buy Saab

Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone is part of a bid to take over struggling Swedish car maker Saab, it emerged today.
01/08/10
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The Independent Ecclestone seeking Silverstone deal

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has declared an end to Donington Park's ambitious plans to host the British Grand Prix and offered Silverstone the chance to keep the...
10/27/09
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Times Online - Business Ecclestone aims to make Saab a...

Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One tycoon, believes that Saab should become a leading motor sport brand as he prepares to bid for the ailing Swedish carmaker.
01/09/10
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F1 Complete Ecclestone: "Button deserves to be...

Oct.20 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday gave his seal of approval to formula one's new world champion Jenson Button.
10/20/09
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The Independent Silverstone can make fortune says...

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is happy that a deal has been struck to keep top-level racing at Silverstone but admits he could have staged a race elsewhere for a lot...
12/08/09
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guardian.co.uk

Hill hails Silverstone grand prix deal

• BRDC president says track is 'place for all motorsport'• Details of 17-year agreement remain unclearThe protracted negotiations to secure the future of the British grand prix ended in success yesterday when the British Racing Drivers' Club secured a 17-year deal to stage the race at the wartime RAF airfield which has been at the core of motorsport for the past 60 years."The title of Silverstone as 'the home of British motorsport' has come true," said Damon Hill, the BRDC president, who won the 1996 Formula One world championship when driving for Williams. "It is a place for all motorsport. Everybody in the BRDC loves motorsport and we are looking forward to the Moto GP as well as the British GP."It is not easy to enter into a contract of this magnitude and you have to take on a lot of responsibility but the BRDC wanted this relationship to continue. Everyone was well aware that the British grand prix was not just a sporting event but the dynamo of the industry in this country. Losing it would have been damaging and perhaps there would have been no coming back."Hill's delight was echoed later in the morning when Gordon Brown appeared at the BRDC's annual awards lunch to present Jenson Button with the Richard Seaman Trophy, in memory of the British Mercedes driver who was killed in the 1939 Belgian grand prix."This puts Britain at the centre of world racing for 17 years to come," said the prime minister.The details of the contract are sketchy. As is the way with race promoters' contracts signed with Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire Formula One commercial rights holder, the intricacies of the financial details are strictly confidential and have left the motor racing fraternity clutching at straws."We are satisfied with the deal and confident that Silverstone can turn a profit under its terms," said Robert Brooks, the BRDC chairman. However, he would not be drawn into discussing speculation that the starting cost for the 17-year deal was around $21m (£12.775m) for the 2010 race. Nor would he say whether the crucial annual financial escalator had been reduced from its previous level of 10%, though the figure of 5% was reported yesterday."I can't talk about things like that," he said, though Silverstone was reported to have bought the rights at a starting price of £11m.What is clear, however, is that there is a break point which can let Silverstone relinquish its obligations after 10 years. That serves as a reminder that Formula One can be a challenging business when there is no bottomless pit of government money available to buttress any financial shortfall. Nor is it clear whether there is any cash penalty payable in the event of Silverstone exercising its get-out clause.Yet Silverstone remains hopeful that it can pack in a capacity 90,000 crowd year after year, tapping into the soul of fanatical British fans at a time when they have the last two Formula One world champions, in Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, to entertain them.Silverstone made a profit of only £662,000 last year and that is a surplus which could be wiped off the balance sheet at a stroke, should the FIA, motor sport's governing body, require improvements to the Northamptonshire circuit – such as kerbing or wider run-off areas – in the interests of safety.The saga behind cementing the British grand prix's position on the 2010 international calendar has been a lurid one but entirely in keeping with the tortuous and unpredictable relationship which has existed between Ecclestone and the BRDC for two decades now. After weeks of telling the BRDC to sign up or bow out of Formula One, and despite the distractions caused by the failure of Donington Park to live up to its commitment to take on the grand prix contract, Ecclestone said he was happy a deal had been done with Silverstone."This will ensure that Britain will remain on the Formula One calendar for many years to come, which is something I have personally always wanted to see happen," said Ecclestone. He could not resist a parting shot, however. "It's been a long and tiring nonsense," he was reported as saying. "They could have done this whole thing months and months ago."This time, however, the crucial difference is that the minimum 10-year deal at least gives Silverstone leeway to earn some money, plough investment back into the circuit and build a pit and paddock complex that is more to Ecclestone's taste, and facilities closer to those provided by tracks like Bahrain, China and Abu Dhabi.More importantly it has saved Silverstone as a shrine to Formula One, something for which future generations of fans will come to be grateful.British grand prixSilverstoneFormula OneMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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The Independent

Ecclestone sets Silverstone December deadline

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has set Silverstone a December deadline to keep next year's British Grand Prix on the calendar.
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cbc.ca Ecclestone optimistic F1 will return...

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone says a deal is close for the return of a Canadian Grand Prix.
09/22/09
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guardian.co.uk Ecclestone: Briatore treated harshly

• Briatore handled the situation badly, says Ecclestone• Former Renault boss warned not to go to civil courtBernie Ecclestone believes the lifetime ban handed to the former...
09/24/09
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F1-Live.com Ecclestone tips Button to take title...

Wearing his hat as F1's commercial ringleader, Bernie Ecclestone's dream outcome to this year's title contest is a repeat of 2008, when the world championship was still...
10/14/09
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F1 Complete Ecclestone thinks Button will secure...

Oct.14 (GMM) Wearing his hat as F1's commercial ringleader, Bernie Ecclestone's dream outcome to this year's title contest is a repeat of 2008, when the world...
10/14/09
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B.B.C. NEWS F1 boss urges Silverstone to sign

F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone insists he would be "very upset" not to see a British GP in 2010, but that he will not cut a cheap deal for Silverstone.
10/30/09
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Times Online - Business Bernie Ecclestone makes joint bid for...

Bernie Ecclestone, the Forumla 1 tycoon, is making a joint bid to take control of Saab, the Swedish car maker owned by America's General Motors (GM)
01/08/10
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