Thruxton Circuit

Thruxton
Location Hampshire, England
Major events BTCC, Pickup Truck Racing, British F3, British Superbikes
Length 3.793 km (2.356 mi)
Turns 11
Lap record 1:01.96 (Earl Goddard, Fred Goddard Racing, 2000, EuroBOSS)

Thruxton Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England which hosts motorsport events including British Touring Cars and Formula 3 racing.

The circuit houses the headquarters of the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC).[1]

History

The site was originally constructed in 1942 as RAF Thruxton, a World War II airfield which was home to both the RAF and USAAF and was used for troop-carrying aircraft and gliders, including operations during the D-Day landings. Also, the paratroopers who took part in the successful Bruneval Raid (Operation Biting), in which German radar equipment was seized on the coast of France, took off from here.

The circuit, which follows the line of the airfield's perimeter road, was established in 1968. From 1950–1965, motorbike races had taken place on the runways and perimeter road.[2]

Motorsport activities

Racing at Thruxton

Owing to planning restrictions, the circuit can only run 12 days of motorsport each year. Currently, three are devoted to motorbike racing, with a weekend dedicated to the British Superbike Championship, Britain’s premier motorcycle racing category; with the third day being used for club racing. The remaining days are devoted to car racing with weekends being used for the TOCA British Touring Car Championship, the British Formula 3 and British GT package and the new for 2006 Dunlop Great and British Festival, which features rounds of the British Truck Racing Championship, the International Truck Racing Challenge as well as the staples of the festival, including the Radical endurance races. Two separate one day meetings are run for amateur championships of the BARC, one of which is entitled the ‘Thruxton Classic’, which features races for Classic Touring Cars, Classic Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000. The remaining day is allocated to other organising clubs, such as the 750 Motor Club and Historic Sports Car Club. Owing to the relative infrequency of race meetings, Thruxton continues to be a popular part of the motorsport calendar.

Medical and safety services

Thruxton has a fully equipped medical centre in line with Motor Sports Association standards.

The MSA circuit licence requires a minimum of two doctors and two rescue units for a race meeting. Most meetings are operated with three rescue units plus a medical car, along with ambulances and first aiders.

Points of interest

During race weekends, a radio commentary service entitled Radio Thruxton operates on the Medium Wave band on 1602 kHz. This has commentators at the key points of the track, namely, the aforementioned Chicane and Complex as well as a pit reporter, who conducts interviews with the race winners.

Outside of motor racing, the circuit offers a driving school for aspiring racing drivers, plus featured as the venue for BBC3’s series ‘Stars in Fast Cars’.

The "Thruxton" heritage

As a result of its racing associations, the name "Thruxton" has been used for:

Books

Bruce Grant-Braham has written two histories of the circuit describing car racing in the 1970s and 1980s:

Karting circuit

Next to the main Thruxton circuit is Thruxton Karting Circuit for aspiring drivers.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Contacts". BARC. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Circuit Facilities - History of Thruxton". Thruxton Motorsport Centre. Retrieved 18 November 2016.

Coordinates: 51°12′37″N 1°36′2″W / 51.21028°N 1.60056°W / 51.21028; -1.60056

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.