The Thruxton Circuit is a motor-racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, about 30 miles north of

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. It has hosted motorsport events including the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

, British GT Championship,

British Formula One Championship The British Formula One Championship, often abbreviated to British F1, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in the United Kingdom. It was often referred to as the Aurora AFX Formula One series due to the Aurora company's sponsorship o ...

British Formula Three The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

, and GB3 Championship. It is often referred to as the "Fastest Circuit in the UK" where drivers can reach speeds of over and has earned the reputation of being a true driver's track. To illustrate this,

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formul ...

drove his Williams

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

car around the circuit at an average speed of in 1993. The site also houses the headquarters of the

British Automobile Racing Club The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) is one of the biggest organising clubs for auto racing in the United Kingdom. History The Cyclecar Club was formed in 1912, running races for the small and light motorbike powered vehicles at Brooklands ...

(BARC).

History

The site was originally constructed in 1942 as RAF Thruxton, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

airfield which was home to both the RAF and

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

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 to 1965, motorbike races had taken place on the runways and perimeter road.

Motorsport activities

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. 250px, Reema Juffali in her F4 car at Thruxton in April 2019 The remaining days are devoted to car racing with weekends being used for the TOCA

, the British

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

and British GT Championship package and the 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 titled 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.

Lap records

The all-time outright unofficial track record is 57.6 seconds, set by

in a Williams FW15C, during a demonstration run in 1993. The official race lap records at the Thruxton Circuit are listed as:

Medical and safety services

Thruxton has a 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 called Radio Thruxton operates in the FM band on 87.7 MHz. This has commentators at key points of the track 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. It has featured as the venue for BBC3's 2005 series ''

Stars in Fast Cars ''Stars in Fast Cars'' is a motoring-themed celebrity game show, in which celebrities compete in motoring challenges, including recreating movie stunts and racing modified armchairs. The series was first broadcast on BBC Three, in 2005, and repe ...

''.

The "Thruxton" heritage

As a result of its racing associations, the name "Thruxton" has been used for: * Triumph Thruxton, a series of café racer motorcycles *

Velocette Thruxton The Velocette Thruxton was a sporting motorcycle produced by Velocette between 1965 and 1971. Revealed at the 1964 Earls Court Show, it was the final development of Velocette's antiquated pushrod single, the Venom. Sometimes referred to as the ...

, a sport motorcycle * Thruxton handlebars, a type of motorcycle handlebar that is shaped to provide a clip-on-type handlebar position, but which clamps on top of the

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

rather than onto the fork stanchions. Thruxton handlebars are also known as "Ace 'bars" or "Clubman 'bars".

Thruxton Hospitality Centre

The Thruxton Hospitality Centre was opened in June 2018 by

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over t ...

and

Murray Walker Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 2 ...

. The £2million flagship building is the latest addition to the circuit, forming part of the track's modernisation project. The new building is a 1415m² facility with more than ten conference and function rooms as well as hospitality suites, a restaurant and bar, an exhibition space and catering facilities. A first floor terrace and balcony provides a view of the first-corner and across the venue.

Driving experiences

Aside from hosting major motor racing events, Thruxton Motorsport Centre offers driving experiences. Next to the main circuit is the long Thruxton Karting Circuit.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , list1 = {{British motor racing circuits {{BTCC Circuits {{British Superbike Championship circuits {{FIM EWC circuits {{BOSS GP circuits {{International Formula 3000 circuits {{European Formula Two circuits Motorsport venues in England Sports venues in Hampshire