Rockingham Motor Speedway

Rockingham Motor Speedway's Main Grandstand

Rockingham is the UK's most modern motorsport venue and Europe's fastest racing circuit, hosting corporate driving days, driver training, conferencing & exhibitions, vehicle manufacturing events, track days, testing, driving experiences and of course, motorsport.

Located in Northamptonshire, Rockingham falls under the control of two local authorities. The main entrance is in Corby but the actual track is situated in East Northamptonshire.

Centrally located, Rockingham is easily accessible from the A1, M1, A14, A43 and A6116 and is within easy reach of London and 30 minutes from Bedford.

The nearest train station is Corby, which is just two miles from the circuit and runs an hourly direct service to London St Pancras International.

History

It was opened by the Queen on 26 May 2001. Rockingham is Europe's fastest banked oval racing circuit, with the unbeaten lap record for the 1.47 miles (2.37 km) oval set at 24.719 seconds by Tony Kanaan in his Lola-Ford Champ Car on 22 September, 2001  – an average speed of 215.397 miles per hour (346.648 km/h). Rockingham is the first purpose-built banked oval in the UK since Brooklands in 1907. It has an all-seating capacity of 52,000, and has both an oval (North American style), and a road circuit (most common in European countries).

Structural characteristics

The length of the oval circuit is a total of 1.47 mi (2.37 km), and the length of the main road course is 1.94 mi (3.12 km). In total, there are fourteen configurations of track, which can be used for anything from touring cars to motorcycles to rally cars.

The site has seen declining crowds in the past few years and has been struggling to keep hold of some of its major events. However in 2008, a crowd in excess of 40,000 showed up for the BTCC event, a record for this event at Rockingham.

Events

• CART races were held at the track in 2001 and 2002, and were won by Gil de Ferran and Dario Franchitti respectively. The races were known as the Rockingham 500.

• On 12 December 2004, the first Stage Rally, the Rockingham Stages, was held at the venue. This was jointly promoted by Middlesex County Automobile Club and Thame Motorsport Club.

• After once in 2003 it has become a regular venue for the British Touring Car Championship since 2007.

• Rockingham plays host to many of the races in the Pickup Truck Racing series.

• Until 2008 it held VSR v8 trophy series (under the banner 'SCSA').

• The Learning Grid Rockingham Festival in the first week of July promotes science and engineering to school pupils.

• It is also the location where Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, 'Beat The Boys' contest is held.

Oval lap records

• Champ Car: 24.719s , Tony Kanaan (2001)
• Pickup Truck Racing: 39.887s, Steve Dance (2006)
• SCSA: 34.475s, Ben Collins (2003)

References

External links

• Rockingham.co.uk - Rockingham Motor Speedway official site
• Rockingham Speedway - Description and Gallery
• BBCi: Rockingham Motor Speedway
• Learning Grid Rockingham Festival
• Pickup Truck Racing
• Satellite image by Google Maps

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rockingham Motor Speedway

A panorama of Rockingham

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