Showing posts sorted by relevance for query silverstone. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query silverstone. Sort by date Show all posts

Sunday, 2 September 2018

AI catches more fallout from Silverstone track ‘disaster’… and gags a journalist

Readers would be forgiven for thinking we’ve suddenly gone motorsport mad!

We should of course be posting about Aggregate Industries' protracted struggle to get its act together at Straitgate Farm, but the company’s recent trouble in the world of motorsport provides a distracting interlude – and a reminder to those ready to trust AI to deliver the goods: be it tarmac to racing circuits, hauliers using mobile phones whilst driving on motorways, or excavators digging up an East Devon farm with an unorthodox untested seasonal working scheme where a Grade I manor house and 25 other homes are wholly reliant on the groundwater for their drinking water supplies.

Anyway, rest assured that normal service will be resumed shortly. In the meantime, back to Silverstone.

Last time we posted on this matter, we wondered if AI had grasped the severity of the Silverstone track debacle. From the company's interaction with a journalist this week, it’s now clear that they have.

Silverstone was the track that in February promised "should be very close to the perfect surface for a racing circuit" with:
high performance asphalt from Aggregate Industries which will not only help with the grip on the track, but also water drainage and speed – making those fast corners even faster!
After the 2018 MotoGP British Grand Prix was cancelled, when the newly laid high performance asphalt failed to drain properly, AI must have been desperate for a 'good news' story – in an attempt to bury all the bad publicity. You can imagine the scene at AI HQ after the bank holiday weekend:
Quick, find me a good news story! What do you mean there aren’t any? Give The Wildlife Trusts a call – come up with something, anything, to greenwash this shitstorm!
And hey presto, a couple of days later, the company – whose business model is reliant on digging up the UK countryside – announced "a new 3-year partnership with The Wildlife Trusts". In reality, it wasn’t much of a story, and hardly a new partnership – when AI has already "proudly worked with The Wildlife Trusts for the past ten years" – but the construction press, who have stayed largely quiet about AI’s troubles at Silverstone, couldn’t regurgitate the company’s press release fast enough.


In the world of motorsport, however, partnerships with Wildlife Trusts are hardly going to cut it – with the furore over Silverstone refusing to die down, and the company attracting even more unwelcome attention.

AI has at least now confirmed – to Crash.net – that it is helping Silverstone with their enquiries:
We are working in close partnership with Silverstone and will be conducting a full review of the track resurfacing over the next few days to better understand the issues caused by the extremely wet conditions on Sunday. We will continue to make resources available to assist our client during this difficult period.
But you can already sense the lawyers limbering up during this difficult period. In the language of an unscrupulous builder:
Not our fault gov, t’was the ‘eavens, an act of the Almighty, and anyways the T&Cs don’t say nothin' about rain!
And what a legal tussle there might be, when so many commentators don't agree that the issues were "caused by the extremely wet conditions"; Race Director Mike Webb for one:
Silverstone previously hosted torrentially wet MotoGP races in 2011 and 2015, prompting Race Director Mike Webb to conclude this year's problems were "a direct result of the [new] track surface."
Naturally, there has been a range of other comments in the motorsport press:

In MotoGP.com, "Silverstone surface to blame for British GP cancellation", the Grand Prix Safety Officer is quoted as saying:
We will wait to see the outcome [of the investigation]... but for sure they will need a new asphalt.
Clearly the first cause for the cancellation of the UK GP was the resurfacing of the circuit.
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta says MotoGP's future at Silverstone is not in doubt so long as it undergoes another track resurface, after the current tarmac forced the cancellation of the British GP.
When MotoGP action commenced at the weekend, Marc Marquez – not a rider who normally complains – confirmed the fears by saying after first free practice: "If the people who resurfaced the track got some money after, they have to think about it."
The 2018 MotoGP British Grand Prix will forever appear as a blank mark in the record books, after a botched resurfacing job meant persistent rain on Sunday rendered the Silverstone track impossible to safely race on, forcing a complete cancellation of a grand prix motorcycle race programme for the first time since the snowed-off 1980 Austrian GP.
Giacomo Agostini, 15-time world champion, referred to the cancellation of the British Grand Prix "a gaffe”.
“That's how it is - he explains - Silverstone is an historic track, they can't make this kind of bad impression. It rains and you cannot race? In England?"
Ago, who has significant experience as a constructor, goes on to point the finger at the firm that carried out the work.
"I think the customer who put the resurfacing out to tender and those who didn't resurface the track correctly were both at fault."
"We raced here in worse weather in 2015 with no problems," one senior factory person commented to me, their face signalling a combination of frustration and disgust. The word which cropped up again and again was "disaster", in English, in Spanish, in Italian, in every language spoken in the paddock. And the blame was laid entirely at the door of the circuit, or at the door of the contractor responsible for the resurfacing, who were brought in by the circuit.
As renowned circuit designer Jarno Zaffelli told Italian website Corsedimoto, there are no simple answers. The circuit, the contractor, and the senior staff who signed off on this contract should all consider their positions. Somebody needs to take responsibility for what started off as a minor cock up, but turned out to be a massive systemic failure. After all, what is the point of a circuit in the UK if it can't handle a little rain during the weekend?
However, with Motor Sport Magazine – where Mat Oxley had said much the same as a host of other commentators in "MotoGP Mutterings: 2018 British Grand Prix" – AI took umbrage, let the lawyers loose, sparked another Twitter storm, and prompted Motor Sport to post:
On 28 August 2018, we published an article entitled "MotoGP Mutterings: 2018 British Grand Prix" on this website. This article contained inaccurate statements about Aggregate Industries and these have now been retracted.
This was followed by a string of tweets from the author to his 30k followers:







Here is Mat Oxley in that subsequent interview – carefully avoiding any mention of AI and asphalt – spelling out the dangers of aquaplaning on a bike at 180mph, spelling out that if the race had taken place "there was a good chance we would have lost several riders".



So, really, what is the point of AI's heavy-handed action? Is the gagging of a TT winner and experienced motorsport journalist really going to help the company's reputation? Because every petrolhead and his dog is blaming the track – a track that AI very publicly boasted was laid by them, with material that AI very publicly boasted was suitable for the job. Can it gag all critical comment on Twitter, Facebook, chatrooms, blogs, and from drivers and riders too?



As for the fans, getting any refund when insurance companies are involved – insurance companies who will obviously be pointing to the new track and not just the weather – is likely to be protracted.

EDIT 3.9.18 Further responses from Mat Oxley:





Here's the full thread, and the rest of Mat Oxley's "collated comments".

EDIT 10.9.18 Further to the retraction by Motor Sport Magazine, Mat Oxley has revisited the issue:


It’s clear that his new article Silverstone: the aftermath has indeed been carefully scrutinised by Motor Sport Magazine’s legal advisers:
It is too early to know the results of that investigation, which is being jointly carried out by Silverstone and Aggregate Industries, the company responsible for resurfacing the race track in February this year. It is therefore impossible to apportion blame for what is undoubtedly one of the worst days in British motorcycle racing.
However, Mat Oxley has spoken to riders involved in the cancelled event, one of whom likened the track to a "big swimming pool... the problem was everywhere...", and another who said "there was too much water everywhere... there wasn’t a worst part of the track because it was all the same."

The article also speaks about earlier problems with the new surface:
I have subsequently discovered that the British MotoGP weekend wasn’t the first time bike racers had run into aquaplaning issues on Silverstone’s new surface. Bemsee staged a club race meeting in April, where riders rode in similar conditions.
On the question of who pays:
Silverstone has announced that it will inform fans about refunds within the next week. To a large extent who pays for that refund – which could be run into the millions – will depend on the findings of the investigation. It is fair to say that the completion of that investigation is being awaited with bated breath by all concerned.
The full article can be found here.
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Friday, 31 July 2020

Aggregate Industries must surely wish Tarmac would stop talking about Silverstone

It must be both embarrassing and galling for Aggregate Industries to watch competitor Tarmac crow about the "record-breaking asphalt surface" it laid at the Silverstone motor racing circuit.

How different it could have been for the so-called "racing circuit experts" from Aggregate Industries. If only it had gone right. If only riders hadn’t been injured when they aquaplaned off the company’s new asphalt at 150mph. If only races hadn’t had to be cancelled. If only the company hadn’t gagged a motorsport journalist. If only it hadn’t been such a PR nightmare. If only all this hadn't happened.

Tarmac, it will be remembered, stepped in last year to save the world-famous motorsport venue, removing and relaying the asphalt surface that had been put down by Aggregate Industries and that had caused so many problems.

This weekend sees a crowdless Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Tarmac has been making the most of its Silverstone rescue mission, this week calling for people to Sign up for the Tarmac ‘Surfacing Silverstone’ webinar.

‘Surfacing Silverstone – Key learnings and reflections one year on’ will provide the inside track on the installation of the iconic Northamptonshire racing circuit’s latest record-breaking asphalt surface.
Tarmac’s technical manager, Tim Smith, will be joined by special guest Stuart Pringle, Silverstone managing director, to explain how the project team worked round the clock to lay a bespoke and highly durable asphalt solution at the world-famous venue.
The session will discuss how Tarmac were able to meet the project’s exacting specification requirements, as well as the cutting-edge technology and processes used to complete the project on time.
This included a UK-first roll out of 3D GPS-guided planing – used to remove the previous track surface and adjust gradients with millimetre precision – running three paving machines in echelon to eliminate joints across the width of the track, and digital paving technology to guarantee quality during the laying and compaction of the asphalt.
Talk about rubbing salt into poor Aggregate Industries’ wounds. But its problems go further.

Tarmac intends to leverage its success with Silverstone beyond the world of motor sport:
The team will also reflect on key learnings from the project and how the techniques used could offer practical solutions and improvements in the way that major road projects are carried out in future.
Perhaps they hope that others will now be crying out for Tarmac's expertise, wanting road surfaces as good as the one laid at Silverstone.

What future now for Aggregate Industries in the motor racing world? Last year, the company was relegated to 20 tonnes of track repairs at Goodwood.

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Friday, 30 August 2019

Tarmac's new surface at Silverstone ‘close to perfect’

Since we posted AI’s “racing circuit experts” relegated to 20 tonnes of track repairs at Goodwood, the MotoGP has taken place at Silverstone.

As readers will know – and all the fun and games can be relived here for any who don't – Silverstone had to be resurfaced this year, following the mayhem and misery that ensued last year when the track was resurfaced by Aggregate Industries.

Riders were complimentary about Tarmac's new surface:



The aggregates press has already been making hay – Bayston Hill takes the chequered flag and MotoGP riders praise Silverstone track surface:
Silverstone's new surface staged yet another weekend of high-octane action with the 2019 GoPro British Grand Prix MotoGP event witnessing incredible racing, huge crowds and lap records smashed in every class.
It was immediately clear riders were happy with the bespoke track surface laid by new contractors Tarmac, and lap times were fast from the first free-practice session on Friday morning.
Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez said: ‘As soon as I went out, I felt like it was another track. I enjoyed riding it a lot more and, I think, so did everyone else. Last year we complained, but this year we have to say congratulations to the circuit because they did a great job.’
Silverstone’s managing director, Stuart Pringle, was quoted as saying:
The success of this weekend’s MotoGP racing, the incredible lap times, the atmosphere, and the great racing are testament to the incredible hard work by the Silverstone team.
The work we have done on the new track surface has allowed us to rebuild trust with the fans. We know they endured the most miserable of days last year, but we have demonstrated today, Silverstone is back to being a world-class track.
This sudden interest in motor sport by the aggregates press is in stark contrast to last year, when the same writers remained completely silent in the face of the chaos and disaster that followed Aggregate Industries' new asphalt.

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Tuesday, 8 January 2019

Is AI dragging its feet over Silverstone?

Last year, the British MotoGP at Silverstone was cancelled when its new track failed to cope with a rainy weekend in August; suffering readers will know that we have posted on this issue previously. Fingers were pointed at Aggregate Industries, whose "racing circuit experts" were responsible for resurfacing the track just months before.


AI became rather sensitive about the whole issue after a backlash on social media – even threatening a respected motorsport journalist with legal action – but said it would provide some answers:
We are working in close partnership with Silverstone and will be conducting a full review of the track resurfacing over the next few days to better understand the issues caused by the extremely wet conditions on Sunday. We will continue to make resources available to assist our client during this difficult period.
Journalists were told this "review" would be published 6 weeks after the event, as Motor Sport Magazine made clear when it recently posted about the Top 12 MotoGP moments of 2018:
What a mess. What an embarrassment. On Saturday Tito Rabat had to abandon ship at around 170mph due to aquaplaning and ended up with his right femur broken into four pieces. On Sunday tens of thousands of fans waited for hours in the rain and didn’t a see a wheel turn in anger. We were told that the results of a joint investigation into the debacle by Silverstone and Aggregate Industries (who resurfaced the track for 2018) would be published six weeks after the event. It is now four months after the event. Astonishing.
Of course, if it had been discovered that AI’s new tarmac was in some way blameless, the company would surely have shouted about it at the earliest opportunity. The fact that it hasn’t would infer the reverse. So, here's something for AI: 10 tips for delivering bad news. One of the tips? "Don't delay... Bad news delayed is bad news compounded."


EDIT 10.1.19 If any further confirmation were needed that Aggregate Industries’ resurfacing of Silverstone last year was not fit for purpose, RaceFans.net reports "Silverstone plans another resurfacing before British GP":
RaceFans understands the track owners are determined to resurface the track ahead of Moto GP’s return this year. Silverstone’s managing director Stuart Pringle told RaceFans he "hopes" the job will be completed before the F1 weekend begins on July 12th.
The question of who will pay for laying another new surface rests on the ongoing investigation into the cancellation of the Moto GP race.
"We are still awaiting the final outcome of the investigation," said Pringle. "We are closer to the end than the beginning."
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Monday, 27 August 2018

AI secures global publicity – in the world of motorsport

Aggregate Industries resurfaced the Silverstone circuit earlier in the year in a multi-million pound deal. The company was not shy of promoting the fact on social media:




But the crowing has backfired – big time.

In July, Lewis Hamilton slammed the new surface as "wasted money, which could've gone to much better use":

It's bumpier than the Nordschleife, which is 100 years old. It's rattling your freaking eyeballs out of your brain.
Apart from that it's fantastic but jeez, they need to hire someone better. I don't know how you could do such a bad job in layering the track.
But this weekend, publicity for AI got a whole lot worse.

Silverstone’s new asphalt was branded a 'disaster' by MotoGP riders after the opening day of the British Grand Prix. There was chaos as rider after rider came off in the rain during practice on Saturday, with the bumpy surface being blamed for water retention and aquaplaning. One rider suffered a badly broken leg. British MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow – who apparently gave AI a 👍 in the tweet above – told the Independent:
We’ve seen today that it’s worse than last year, even though the track’s been resurfaced... I have no idea why but there’s a lot of bumps on the track.
Other MotoGP riders were also "very critical about the new Silverstone tarmac".

Remedial work on the surface was undertaken overnight, but to no avail. The track couldn't handle the British weather, and on Sunday:









A record attendance of 122,000 fans, who had patiently waited hours for the race to start, were left disappointed and angry. According to the BBC – "British Grand Prix: MotoGP boss blames new Silverstone track for cancellation" – Silverstone's management will launch an investigation:
We will be reviewing all the data we have on the track and gathering more, and together with the contractor, Aggregate Industries, a full investigation will be carried out.
The Twittersphere played host to thousands of angry fans; angry at AI, and looking for refunds.




Meanwhile, jokers on Twitter thought AI should stick to driveways in future, or swimming pools. The company attracted a variety of memes; here's a small assortment for your enjoyment:





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Monday, 8 October 2018

AI’s Silverstone debacle ongoing

Readers may be bored sick of this subject (or have developed a new interest in motor sport??), but Aggregate Industries’ asphalt at Silverstone is still the subject of rumblings.

Whilst AI touts the benefits of different coloured asphalts elsewhere (and yes, many will argue that "black asphalt [is] no longer always sufficient to meet the brief"), journalists are still following the Silverstone story, albeit wary of AI’s previous legal threats:
The future of the British GP is in doubt after Dorna’s top boss confirmed to MCN that, following last month’s rain-lashed debacle, Silverstone is not currently licensed to hold a MotoGP race and needs to make significant changes to regain FIM homologation for 2019.
Silverstone is apparently working closely with AI to understand what went wrong; its boss reckons:
I don’t think it’ll go to court. I’m in daily contact with them and they just want it to be right.
Others are not so sure:
… there could still be a fly in the ointment if legal action does ensue. Perennially struggling with finances, it’s unlikely that Silverstone can afford another full resurfacing for the second time in 12 months out of their own pocket without support from the contractor.
The cost of a new track is reputed to be 6-7 million euros.

Meanwhile, it rained again at Silverstone over the weekend, "nothing torrential or anything", and another race was cancelled.

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Monday, 10 September 2018

More drainage issues on AI’s asphalt at Silverstone

After the track problems at Silverstone at the end of August for the British Grand Prix MotoGP – with Aggregate Industries' newly laid asphalt failing to drain properly, causing bikes to aquaplane, riders to be injured, the race to be cancelled, and a PR nightmare (both before and after the company threatened a journalist with legal action) – this weekend saw the circuit host the British Superbike Championship. The event was run on a shorter track:
The decision to use the shorter National Circuit rather than the full Grand Prix circuit has been taken to put aside potential concerns following the unfortunate decision taken to cancel the GoPro British Grand Prix MotoGP™ races in last weekend’s wet weather.
But even before the race started there were problems:



Further confirmation, if any were needed, that all is not well with AI's newly resurfaced track.

But warnings had been on the cards for some time, not only from Lewis Hamilton, but also from Dunlop:
The week before the Grand Prix of the Motorcycling World Championship, Silverstone's 6 hours were held at Silverstone. During this car racing event, Dunlop has already warned Daily Sports Car of the existence of a problem: "In general there is less degradation, but in water conditions there is no real drain right now. The water stays on the surface."
If AI was not directly to blame for all this, then you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" – the experts referred to in AI's tweet below – would have known, from the track gradient at least, that drainage might be an issue; you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" would have known that standing water was neither good for cars nor bikes travelling at over 150 mph; you might have thought that AI's "racing circuit experts" would have at least made sure that the track was fit for purpose. And perhaps they did. Perhaps AI's "racing circuit experts" will manage to apportion the blame to another party entirely? Who knows?

What is clear is that this checkered episode may have some way to run yet.


EDIT 10.9.18 The post AI catches more fallout from Silverstone track ‘disaster’... and gags a journalist has been updated to include further comment from Mat Oxley – the motorsport journalist threatened with legal action by AI – and a link to his article posted by Motor Sport Magazine today.
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Sunday, 12 June 2022

Aggregate Industries sued for £8m after botched Silverstone resurfacing

In the same week we learnt that Aggregate Industries is to appeal Devon County Council's decision to refuse a quarry at Straitgate Farm, we also learnt that the company is to be sued for £8m. Some might call that karma. 

Aggregate Industries’ disastrous resurfacing of Silverstone in 2018, and the humiliating public relations nightmare that followed, was the subject of various posts on this blog. It now transpires that Silverstone is suing Aggregate Industries, the self-titled “racing circuit experts”, for £8m in damages: 

We all no doubt wish Silverstone the best of luck.
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Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Silverstone to be resurfaced again – this time by Tarmac

Silverstone is clearly wanting to avoid a repeat of last year’s fiasco – when its track was resurfaced by Aggregate Industries, and races were subsequently cancelled. Readers will be all too aware of the fun and games that ensued – covered in way too much detail on this blog.

Next month, the track will be resurfaced again – this time by Tarmac, who will be "working closely with Dromo, an Italian circuit consultant company" – at a reported cost of up to £5m. Silverstone will hope these parties really are racing circuit experts.


It’s unlikely they’ll make a worse job, judging by Lewis Hamilton’s comments about last year’s resurfacing:
The people they hired did the worst job ever. It’s the bumpiest track I’ve ever experienced
Have the lawyers left the scene yet? Seemingly not, according to Silverstone's MD Stuart Pringle:
We are considering the options available to us as regards last year’s resurfacing
Why Tarmac? In another interview:
In the end, Aggregate decided they didn’t want to do it and they stepped back, so we’ve gone with Tarmac.
The journalist that AI tried to gag, Mat Oxley, writing in Motor Sport Magazine, quotes hopeful Mr Pringle as saying:
Dromo has very exacting standards and Tarmac are well up for this – they are very aware that the eyes of the world are on them. Dromo’s Jarno Zaffelli has a very precise methodology and his approach to the design of the asphalt mix is very scientific. Tarmac want to get it right and even they are learning from Dromo.
To me, the big deal is that Dromo are involved. They know what they are doing
with the obvious inference that somebody else didn't.




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Monday, 13 May 2019

Don’t always trust the minerals press to tell the whole story

Take the Silverstone debacle. Tarmac gear up for Silverstone resurfacing, says Agg-Net – "a specialist publishing and exhibition company that serves the quarrying, recycling and natural stone industries":
This essential track maintenance work will take place over 20 days between 10–30 June and will see a bespoke and highly durable asphalt solution laid that has been specifically designed to withstand the high demands and stresses of vehicles competing in professional racing series.
And indeed Tarmac has been called in by our premier motor racing venue – as we posted in Silverstone to be resurfaced again – this time by Tarmac.

But you mustn’t always trust the minerals press to give the whole story.

Because, bizarrely, Agg-Net’s article manages to entirely avoid mentioning Aggregate Industries. They avoid mentioning that AI resurfaced Silverstone only last year, or that AI suffered a PR nightmare when riders aquaplaned off its new asphalt at 150mph and sustained serious injuries and races had to be cancelled, or that AI tried to gag a journalist over the affair, or that AI’s promised investigation into what went wrong has still not been made public, or that Tarmac has only been called in to redo AI’s malfunctioning work. Funny that.

But we’re being a bit harsh on Agg-Net. Because, as in too much journalism today, Agg-Net has simply rehashed a press release. Whose? Tarmac’s.

How very decent of Tarmac – as a competitor – not to make the most of AI’s troubles. Other construction journalists have been less kind:

It will be the second time in two years that Silverstone has been resurfaced. The surface laid by Aggregate Industries last year has come in for criticism for its performance in wet weather.
The circuit was relaid by Aggregate Industries before the season began last year but complaints about the surface by drivers led to the cancellation of the MotoGP race.
Aggregate Industries - who carried out the initial resurfacing project before last season’s race - launched a full review of its work after race promoter Dorna was forced to cancel the race for the first time since 1980 after the start was delayed by six hours as repeated efforts were made to clear standing water. It had to refund 56,000 ticket holders.

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Thursday, 6 September 2018

If AI had wanted to contain its Silverstone PR nightmare – it’s not working

We posted a few days ago that Aggregate Industries has taken legal action against journalist Mat Oxley following his take on the Silverstone track debacle.

How qualified is Mat Oxley to comment? According to the Silverstone web site last month:
Mat Oxley is one of the most experienced, trusted and respected journalists in the MotoGP paddock. A former Motor Cycle News (MCN) GP Reporter, Mat has raced around the world and claimed an Isle of Man TT win along with multiple TT podium finishes. He’s been working in the Grand Prix paddock for more than 30 years and his contacts within the racing teams are among the best in the world.
But if AI had hoped that legal action would contain this PR catastrophe, it's done quite the reverse.

AI's heavy-handed response has now been picked up by the motorsport press. Italian GPOne.com, which "reaches 450,000 motorcycle racing enthusiasts", reports:
In the meantime, Aggregate Industries, the company responsible for having resurfaced the Silverstone track, has decided to take legal action against British journalist Mat Oxley and paper MCN (Motor Cycle News). The reasons are not clear as, like all the media present at the event, they did nothing more than report the normal run of events.
Meanwhile, AI's nightmare on Twitter continues; here are a few of the humorous tweets:






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Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Has AI failed to grasp the severity of the Silverstone track debacle?



Twitter users have been speculating on the fallout at Aggregate Industries following the cancellation of the British Grand Prix MotoGP event at Silverstone on Sunday – as "a direct result" of the new track surface laid by the company earlier in the year – with comments like: "People should be losing their jobs over this!!" and "Oh to be a fly on the wall at @AggregateUK this fine day" etc.

You might have expected – if you were a fly on the wall – that all hands would have been on deck at the company’s Asphalt Division on the first morning back to work after the Silverstone fiasco – in an attempt to stem the company’s global PR disaster. But perhaps AI hasn’t quite grasped the severity of the situation – if this tweet, by the Business Manager at Aggregate Industries Express Asphalt (Midlands) no less, is anything to go by.

Not phased by the tidal wave of criticism and ridicule on Twitter, and with no words of apology to 122,000 MotoGP fans, or to riders injured after aquaplaning off the track, he found time during his frantic schedule to take to social media and tweet:


Which is surprising, when others are still tweeting things like this:



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Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Silverstone latest

We’ve previously posted about Aggregate Industries’ troubles at Silverstone, how the British MotoGP was cancelled last year when the company's track resurfacing work proved unfit for purpose, unable to cope with the English weather.

Now, according to Silverstone, "essential track maintenance" will be undertaken in June. It’s unclear who will be footing the bill, or whether AI’s "racing circuit experts" will be involved again.

Clearly the motorsport public have not yet forgotten the episode.

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Friday, 2 November 2018

AI continues to receive the public’s help following its Silverstone troubles

Readers hooked on motorsport news will be no doubt be delighted to know that Aggregate Industries – the company whose "racing circuit experts" resurfaced the UK’s premier racing track at Silverstone, which then refused to drain properly, leading to cancelled races, riders aquaplaning off their bikes at 180mph, journalists being gagged and a PR nightmare – continues to receive helpful comments and suggestions on social media, even for projects beyond the racing world:


What prompted this outrush of concern? Mat Oxley tweeting to his 30k followers probably helped. Perhaps AI will think twice next time, before threatening journalists with legal action.
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Tuesday, 20 August 2019

AI’s ‘racing circuit experts’ relegated to 20 tonnes of track repairs at Goodwood

This coming weekend, Silverstone hosts the MotoGP. Since last year’s debacle – when Aggregate Industries resurfaced the track in a multi-million pound deal, when it subsequently suffered a PR nightmare after riders aquaplaned off its new asphalt at 150mph and sustained serious injuries, when races had to be cancelled, when the company attempted to gag a motorsport journalist – the track has been resurfaced, this time by Tarmac. We've already posted far too many times about this subject.

Plainly, the Silverstone job proved too much for Aggregate Industries' "racing circuit experts". Since then, they have been relegated to laying 20 tonnes of asphalt for track repairs at Goodwood – as this recent bit of back-slapping PR tells:


The expert teams worked around the clock to supply and lay 20 tonnes of the 10mm asphalt, which was used to resurface a patch on the track ready for the event.
Aggregate Industries obviously has some catching up to do in the motorsport department, and will no doubt cling to anything to claw its way back. With regard to those 20 tonnes (one truck-load or two?), someone at Goodwood said:
We will definitely bear Supreme in mind when resurfacing is required in future.
Which was charitable, although is bearing in mind a bit like don’t call us, we’ll call you?
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Sunday, 14 October 2018

Gosh! Another race cancelled at Silverstone

The embarrassment continues for Aggregate Industries and its "racing circuit experts", after another race was cancelled at Silverstone today. Readers will be all too aware that AI resurfaced this track earlier in the year. Since then it has caused nothing but problems. Another Twitter storm now awaits @AggregateUK social media handlers. Here's a tweet from Mat Oxley – the journalist AI gagged:

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