British GP bosses want July date for 2007

Silverstone has sold just 72,000 out of its maximum allocation of 85,000 so far and, although the June 9-11 weekend's clash with England's opening soccer World Cup game with Paraguay has had an impact, it is the shift of date that organisers think has actually hurt them more.

Circuit boss Richard Phillips said on Tuesday that he has asked Ecclestone if the event could return to its traditional mid-July event in 2007 because of what has happened this year.

"I have asked Bernie if we can go back to July and we haven't had a response yet," he said. "July would be our preference because it is our traditional date.

"The April date a few years ago threw everything out and this June date has done the same. It would be great to go back to July, but I'm sure he won't be telling me that just yet."

Phillips' belief about the date factor has stemmed from the fact that ticket sales have shown a similar selling pattern to previous years - which makes him believe many fans are not aware of the race date moving forward by four weeks.

"It is the June date that has caught us out this year," he explained. "The profile for selling tickets has been exactly the same as previous years compared to when we started the European rounds.

"When we started that we started to increase our communications with the public and ticket sales have moved much, much better and much, much faster, so we are much happier than we were six weeks ago. So it is definitely the date and people do not understand that it is in June.

He added: "Last year we had an amazing year. I went around the track during the race and had a look at the people and I wasn't totally happy with the comfort levels, so this year we have moved back the size of the crowd.

"A capacity crowd at Silverstone now is 85,000 and this year we are on about 72,000. We are not that far off. In fact we are doing amazingly well and compared to other circuits we are doing fantastically well.

"In the next couple of weeks we would expect quite a lot of those tickets back but whether we will get to a sell out is still debateable."

Former world champion Damon Hill, who is president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, backed claims that the race date shift was the major factor.

"It is very simply that the date is earlier - and most people think it is later," he said. "And it is clashing with the World Cup."