Silverstone: no problems with new date

Due to the scheduling nightmare caused by the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Silverstone's date has been shifted from July 16 to June 11, leaving organisers a whole month less to get the event sorted.

However, Silverstone's managing director Richard Phillips has made it clear that there will be no problems with the new date, and claimed that the circuit had already been preparing for a revised calendar slot.

"Next year's football World Cup in Germany has always been at the back of our minds during the planning process for the 2006 British Grand Prix," he said. "We were hoping to keep our traditional date in July, but we are also realistic.

"Time differences and TV schedules around the World Cup were always going to be taken into consideration, so we're not entirely surprised that a number of circuits have had to change dates.

"We have an extremely professional and experienced team here at Silverstone and getting the circuit ready for a British Grand Prix on 11 June will not be a problem. The football World Cup has not just crept up on us - we had prepared for a possible change of date."

Phillips also believes that the date change will have no impact on ticket sales for next year's race - which he hopes will be a sell-out.

"We are coming off the back of an extremely exciting Formula One season and tickets for next year's British Grand Prix have been selling extremely well.

"We have been really pleased with the number of fans who have made the most of our Early Booking Offer and booked their seats on the most popular sections of the circuit, and are confident that, even with the date moving forward to 11 June, the event will sell-out for a third successive year.

"The five year deal between the BRDC (British Racing Drivers' Club) and FOM has given us the security to plan for the long term, and the guarantee of Formula One racing at Silverstone until at least 2009 enabled us to start selling tickets much earlier than in previous years."