Donington Park Boss Sued Over Unpaid Rent?

Each day seems to bring even more bad news of the future host (if eventually accepted by the International Automobile Federation) of the British Grand Prix. The Donington Park owners seem even more unlikely to follow through on the Formula 1 project in time, as media reports in Great Britain show that Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd – the company that owns the track – has increasing debts.

The latest news concerning Simon Gillett's project came from the Daily Telegraph, whose reporters found out that Wheatcroft & Son Ltd – the company owned by Donington Park founder Tom Wheatcroft, who is also president of DVLL – are considering suing Gillett over alleged unpaid rent.

The information was disclosed solely by the aforementioned source, as Wheatcroft & Son Ltd did neither confirm nor deny the news. However, this would be a third consecutive blow to Gillett's plans to secure the hosting of the 2010 British Grand Prix in only one week.

According to the same source, security firm McKenzie Arnold have also decided to pull back all their staff from Donington Park as a result of unpaid fees dating back to August 2008. However, it was not revealed whether McKenzie Arnold will eventually sue DVLL over their debt.

Earlier this week, it emerged that DVLL has a “net debt of £66.7 million in their latest accounts filed at Companies House”. Although Gillett has denied the accusations, arguing that the company is yet to file their financial papers for 2008, it seems the debt dates back to the papers filed in late December 2007.

Simon Gillett is expected to elucidate all these question marks in March, when he announced a press conference to release all the information on the financial package for the 2010 British Grand Prix.