Saulnier (Magny-Cours): “Everything will depend on the behavior of the French”

What is the situation in Nièvre?

Administratively, the Burgundy Franche-Comté region remains classified in the red zone although, in fact, the situation could be green at the department level. The reception capacity in the intensive care unit of Nevers hospital is good, for example. Being in red does not change anything regarding the deconfinement of May 11, but it could be a little boring later, when it comes to ruling on the reopening of bars and restaurants. We had a video conference with my colleagues from Le Mans, Paul-Ricard, Vigeant, etc. It appears that what will penalize us the most is above all this ban on travel beyond 100 km. Concerning Magny-Cours, 99% of our customers on the Grand Prix track come from beyond this limit. So, although we will be able to resume activity under certain conditions, while respecting the health protocols established by the State and by the French automobile and motorcycle federations, we just risk not having any customers...

How will this work in practice for your circuit?

There will be a three-stage reopening. From Monday May 11, some of the staff assigned to the maintenance of the track and green spaces will be back at work because, during this period of confinement, nature has reclaimed its rights. From May 18, we will restart activity on the Club track, widely used by Technopôle companies: Mygale, Oreca, Ligier, Yvan Muller Racing, etc. For them, it is a work tool and we are not bothered by the 100 km problem. These will be professional drives without public gatherings, around ten people at most to take care of the car. Finally, regarding the Grand Prix track, the resumption is scheduled for June 2, subject to the evolution of the pandemic. There are then moving “dead lines” linked to the resumption of competitions behind closed doors from August 1, and competitions with public reception from September 1.

So we can be reasonably optimistic about competitions being held at Magny-Cours in September?

This is the timeline at the moment. Everything will depend on the evolution of the pandemic and future government decisions. And above all the behavior of the French; this is what will make the deconfinement a success or not. I won't hide the fact that I'm very worried about summer and the holidays coming. I'm crossing my fingers that we don't go into another period of confinement in September because, then, there will be monstrous damage on the economic and social levels. And not just in motorsport.