Donington Boss: Fans will pay for Formula One’s move to Donington

The new home of the British Grand Prix will be funded by the motor racing public in a bid to make it 'the people's race' under plans revealed yesterday by the boss of Donington Park.

Simon Gillett, the track's chief executive officer, insisted there was no mystery benefactor funding the majority of the £100million planned rebuild of the East Midlands circuit in time for its first staging of the race in 2010.

Instead, Donington will be financed in the same way as the new Wembley Stadium, using a debenture scheme promoted by outside parties, including a leading British bank and a global leader in sports international development, a subsidiary of a major sports marketing and management agency, who are funding 14 other similar projects.

The truth is that the £30m Gillett insists Donington needs to redevelop the circuit and stage the race will be raised following the Wembley model.

The other £70m is for the perimeter extras, such as a hotel and a shopping mall, which, Gillett says, will be funded by the outlets.

'We're following almost exactly the same model that succeeded with Wembley Stadium,' said Gillett. 'That probably includes the prices of the debentures. For example, a Club membership at Wembley costs £6,000 for a one-off license and a Corinthian membership £20,000, with an annual season ticket. We'll be producing a similar scheme and getting to work selling the debentures in the next few weeks.' Mail Online