Stewart faces fight to keep presidency of BRDC

Published on Thursday 12 May 2005 01:38

SIR Jackie Stewart faces the toughest battle of his career today as he attempts to hang on to the reins of the British Racing Drivers’ Club. The three-time world champion faces an extraordinary general meeting which has been convened specifically to vote on whether Stewart should be removed as president and board member.

That vote is the culmination of a bitter power struggle behind the scenes at the BRDC, who own Silverstone and run the British Grand Prix. The campaign against Stewart is led by former chairman Ray Bellm, who was sacked earlier this year. He argues the BRDC need better business sense and greater transparency but Stewart, who during his career in the industry has been on the board of companies such as Ford, Rolex and Moet et Chandon, feels the attack is a personal one.

He said: "It is a campaign specifically to remove me as president. It’s a campaign aimed totally at my credibility and integrity, a very vicious campaign started with two or three people and then networked."

For his part, Bellm insists "there is no vendetta against Jackie" and claims the issue is only over how the BRDC is run. The former sportscar racer believes the only way to make Silverstone financially viable is to modernise the BRDC, allowing them to pursue their dream of a turning the circuit into a leisure park. "It is a ground-up revolt. A members’ revolution," he said.

Stewart faces two separate motions, one to remove him as president and another to remove him as a board member.