City streets to be track for national motor race

Jul 31 2007 By Neil Connor, Chief Reporter

Birmingham is preparing to stage high-speed street racing which could act as a precursor for a relaunched Super Prix, The Birmingham Post can reveal.

Leisure chiefs from Birmingham last week attended the Isle of Man Rally with a view to setting up a similar event in the city.

The visit, by city council and Advantage West Midlands officials, comes after the organisers of the British Rally Championship signalled their intention to bring a rally event to Birmingham next year.

The Birmingham Post understands Millennium Point could be used as the main pit-stop area, with cars being directed through the Bullring.

Organisers are hoping to secure television screening to showcase the Eastside district and the central shopping area, with the iconic Selfridges building providing a striking backdrop to the racing.

It is not yet known whether the event would be part of the British Rally Championship calendar but Birmingham could stage a 'shakedown', a pre-race day that allows teams and crews a final chance to test their cars for a competition stage.

It is hoped the event will be staged next June and if successful council leaders would consider re-launching a Super Prix-style race soon after.

The original Super Prix saw Formula 3000 cars reach speeds of up to 120 mph on a 2.5-mile circuit around the city centre and High-gate on August Bank Holiday weekends.

It was launched in 1986 following parliamentary legislation and gave Birmingham the unique privilege of being the only place in mainland Britain allowed to stage racing events on public streets.

However, it was scrapped in 1990 following political squabbles and financial concerns.

An Advantage West Midlands spokesman yesterday said: "We have been working with the motor sport agencies and the local authorities to try to boost the profile of the motoring industry in the West Midlands.

"We have done some work with Birmingham City Council at the Isle of Man Rally with a view to seeing what the city council would like to do with regards to setting up an event in the city centre."

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: "The trip to the Isle of Man was an opportunity to experience first hand a rally championship event with a view to possibly holding a similar event in the future."

Three years ago the council explored resurrecting the Super Prix and held "detailed" talks with Warwickshire-based events management firm Quintus Showplace.

Martin Hone, who conceived the Super Prix, said the latest venture would inject "glamour" into the profile of the city.

His company, International Festival Services, has organised a string of prestigious race events and he told The Post: "I love Birmingham and I have always been very proud to be a Brummie. But let's be honest, Birmingham is not a glamorous place.

"There has been a lot of development in the city centre which has helped but the city still does not have that style and glamour that a race would bring in.

"It is nice to see all these new buildings in Birmingham city centre, but a really good way to show them off is to have a street race that is watched by 200,000 people on the roads and millions more on television."

B ritish Rally Championship manager Mark Taylor said Birmingham would receive a major economic boost but it would need "massive investment" to realise its ambition.

"The officials from Birmingham came to the Isle of Man to witness a British Rally Championship event.

"They wanted to see how one of our events is run and were interested in road closures and the wider infrastructure issues of these type of events," he said.

"They wanted to see the type of people they would be dealing with if they set up something similar in Birmingham. But is is going to take a massive investment."

This year's Isle of Man rally was watched by an estimated worldwide TV audience of 547 million viewers, and the organisers have already reported making a £6 million profit.