Days after a beautiful coating of snow turned the 800 acres of Silverstone into a gigantic Christmas card, you would think those dedicated people who have devoted their lives to making it work would be standing at the office windows admiring the view. Those who braved the journeys in.

Not quite. Their beautiful new stretch of tarmac, their future livelihood, is what they want to gaze at.

You see, it lis very difficult to make money from racing circuits. To people who see motorsport as a multi-billion pound sport, or fans already buying their 2018 passes, that statement will be taken with a large pinch of salt.

But it is largely true and Silverstone is a classic example. So their decision to spend £2m, or maybe more, on resurfacing their 3.6 mile Grand Prix circuit could be seen as an act of foolishness or bravery. What is certain is that Managing Director Stuart Pringle was certainly sticking his neck out in persuading the British Racing Drivers Club board to shell out.

And it was largely the persuasion, coercion, call it what you like of MotoGP safety officer Franco Uncini which persuaded him to do it rather than patching uneven sections which might have sufficed. And so, over the last month, the track was torn up and some 20,000 tons of steaming hot asphalt poured onto it in two coverings.

Such a major resurfacing had not taken place since 1996 and Pringle said:“We wanted to demonstrate to Dorna, and to MotoGP fans, that we really want motorcycle racing here. The state of the circuit was much more difficult for bikes than cars and the BRDC are very keen to make it a success “

So Silverstone are putting their money where their mouth is but is it true that racing circuits don’t make money? Well, not all of them and Motor Sports Vision which has five UK circuits, having recently taken over Donington, is a prime example. It also invests in its properties and fans turning up to the Leicestershire circuit will see major improvements, particularly in the paddock area. What sets MSV apart is that none of it’s circuits, except Donington with WorldSBK, holds a world championship event. It also controls/owns its content, ie the British Superbike Championship.

It is the buying in of “content” which makes racing unaffordable, without state aid, at many of the world’s great circuits. And Britain is the only country in the world where world championship events are not subsided, in one form or another. The opening round of WorldSBK at one of the world’s great circuits, Phillip Island, would not take place without support from the state of Victoria. Neither would MotoGP at the same circuit or F1 in Melbourne.

It could also be said that many circuits are not run as efficiently or commercially they might be and Silverstone has history in this respect. That is almost certainly the view of the new owners of Formula 1 who are currently going into battle not only with Silverstone, who have given them notice (another ballsy act ), but some of the others who object to paying them something like 15 to 20 million quid for bringing the circus to town.

But then racing is a risky business all round. Look at the money that was lost in Wales. According to the Sunday Times efforts are still being made to recover £32m owed to unsecured creditors and £13m owed to Santander and the Welsh government is to be “reprofiled” whatever that means. And now, of course, we have had the unfortunate postponement of the Welsh Road Races, due in August, but called off because someone, somewhere didn’t do their homework in respect of circuit permission. Let’s hope the Irish circuit doesn’t hit similar problems which beset either of the Welsh efforts

But racing isn’t about losers. It’s about winners. The question is: Who are they?