World Cup hits British Grand Prix ticket sales

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) Next month's British Formula One Grand Prix is unlikely to sell out because ticket sales have been hit by the soccer World Cup, organisers said today.

''Ticket sales are slightly behind where we were at this time last year, and that is 100 percent due to public interest in the football World Cup,'' said Silverstone Circuits managing director Richard Phillips in a statement.

''The public's attention has been diverted away from the British Grand Prix, but we'll still have a huge crowd on June 11. It's unlikely the event will sell out, but we'll be extremely close.'' This year's race at Silverstone clashes with England's opening Group B match against Paraguay in Frankfurt, which takes place on the same Saturday as qualifying.

Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, a home race for Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso, is a 130,000 sellout.

REUTERS DH BD2031