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British GP lifeline talk 'premature'

Speculation that the British Grand Prix could be on the verge of being saved thanks to last-minute government intervention has been dismissed as 'premature' by one of the key figures involved in the crisis

Reports on Wednesday suggested that an incentives package put together by government body, the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA), could be announced on Friday that would help save the British GP from being dropped off the 2005 calendar.

But speaking exclusively to autosport.com, BRDC chief executive Alex Hooton said that he was not expecting such swift progress to be made - although he confirmed that talks were ongoing with EMDA.

"We are talking with government and part of government in this context is EMDA," he said. "We are having constructive discussions, but I am totally unaware of any impending announcement - particularly on Friday.

"The discussions are constructive but certainly not concluded, and even if they were concluded one doesn't know if that would be enough to sort the deal. So there are ongoing discussions, genuinely positive, and you cannot say the thing has been resolved."

When asked whether he was more optimistic about the chances of Silverstone returning to the calendar following the latest discussions than he had been when he found out the race had been dropped, he said: "I don't know. Most of what I said last Thursday and Friday was pretty pessimistic. I wouldn't say I am less pessimistic because it is still very much alive. We are still talking and I suppose that must be a good sign."

Speculation of the EMDA deal comes less than one week after Sports Minister Richard Caborn insisted that there was no chance of central government stepping in. It is not known whether he has been directly involved in the latest moves, however.

A source close to Caborn, speaking to the Press Association on Wednesday, said: "He is now much more confident that a deal can be delivered than he was last week. The two sides have been back in useful negotiations and they both know the grand prix is too big to drop for both of them.

"Although it is not 100 percent yet, he has high hopes there will be an announcement before the end of the week."

Although the price difference between what the BRDC is willing to pay to secure next year's race and what Ecclestone wants is around £1.5 million, Hooton has also made it clear that it would be wrong to claim the issue can be solved with just that amount of money.

There are also major differences of opinion between future financial terms of the contract, which escalates in price each year, and the length of the deal. Hooton said the real crux of the problem could be as much as £30 million.

"As far as the pure contract is concerned, it is deceptive to say that it is just £1.5 million," he said. "It is not a £1.5 million problem to save the British GP. You have got the escalator, and you have got the term of the contract as being critical issues.

"Last week Bernie was clearly saying he wanted a seven-year deal which made it completely unaffordable to us - and I think I have already said that if we entered into that contract at current performance levels we would probably lose £30 million over the duration of the contract.

"The £1.5 million is the start point but there are other elements that need to be looked at to bring it back to something manageable."

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