Plans to be unveiled for a London Grand Prix

PLANS will be unveiled tonight for a London Grand Prix, taking in famous sights of the capital - and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has offered to pay.

BERNIE Ecclestone made London an offer last night that the city might not be able to refuse. The billionaire entrepreneur, who has ruled Formula One for 40 years, broke the habit of a lifetime and offered to pay for what could be the biggest and richest motor race in the world.

Plans will be unveiled tonight for a London Grand Prix, a race that will take in the most famous sights of the capital with F1 cars racing towards the gates of Buckingham Palace then around landmarks like Nelson's Column and Piccadilly Circus.

The event would be watched by 120,000 people in grandstands along a three-mile route and tens of millions more on global television.

Mr Ecclestone has wanted a race in the capital for years but has been thwarted by political indecision and restrictions on the taxpayers' purse. But marketing experts predict that a London race would not only repay the 35 million-pound ($54 million) staging cost, but generate a minimum of 100 million pounds ($154 million) in takings from spectators and tourists over the three days of the grand prix weekend.

Nigel Currie, director of BrandRapport, a leading sports marketing agency, said: "Maybe it would be two or three times that (100 million pounds). It could be a commercial bonanza for Formula One and London. A successful London Olympics will show that there is an appetite for big events and bringing a grand prix to the people on their doorstep will attract massive attention."

What started as a speculative mission, organised by Santander, the Spanish bank that sponsors next weekend's British Grand Prix, quickly grabbed the attention of Mr Ecclestone when he was shown the potential London Grand Prix route, which has also been seen by The Times.

A company called International Transport Solutions has put forward plans for a London Grand Prix to be run around the Olympic Park to the London Legacy Corporation, but Mr Ecclestone said he was not familiar with its history or finances.

Another plan commissioned by Santander from Populous, the architects behind the Olympic Stadium and the redevelopment of the Silverstone circuit, is close to the proposals that Mr Ecclestone had drawn up eight years ago after Formula One staged a demonstration run down Regent Street. That event attracted about 500,000 people but Ken Livingstone, the then mayor, blanched at the potential cost.

Current London Mayor Boris Johnson might believe that a race paid for and promoted by Mr Ecclestone would be too good to miss. Mr Johnson's office did not comment.

Mr Ecclestone said: "With the way things are, maybe we would front it and put the money up for it. If we got the okay and everything was fine, I think we could do that ... It would be fantastic, good for London, good for England - a lot better than the Olympics."

The Populous study is the most thorough yet into the feasibility of staging a London Grand Prix, right down to examining the safety of 27,000 trees in the Royal Parks along the route.

John Rhodes, assistant principal at Populous, said it would take five days to erect the equipment for racing and three to dismantle it, although London could follow the precedent of other street races. "Roads in Singapore and Monaco close down for the events and then open again each evening," he said. "The route is fairly enclosed so it would not affect London too much."