THE LEASE for troubled motor racing circuit Donington Park is going back to its landlords, following a month-long struggle to find a new operator.
The future of the East Midlands complex is to be decided by owners Wheatcroft & Son Limited, following the news Donington Ventures Leisure Limited (DVLL) had fallen into administration earlier this year. The company held a 150-year lease on the track.
Administrator Nigel Price, a partner at business recovery specialists Begbies Traynor, said:
“We have not managed to sell the lease and we have handed it back to the landlords. Although there have been many interested parties and detailed and lengthy negotiations, ultimately it has not been possible to do a deal.”
He added: “DVLL had a 17-year contract with Formula One Administration to host the British Grand Prix round of the Formula One World Motor Racing Championship but this was finally lost at the end of November and some parties withdrew. However, there was still serious interest in the circuit as a national track, although the onerous terms of the lease meant that a deal could not be done in the relatively short timescale available to us.”
The circuit's remaining staff have now been made redundant.
Further update re Donington:
Donington Park owner Kevin Wheatcroft hopes to find a buyer for the lease by the end of January.
The lease on the Leicestershire circuit went back to the Wheatcroft family last month when the leaseholder Donington Ventures Leisure Limited went bust.
Wheatcroft told BBC Radio Leicester: "I'm hoping towards the end of January we'll be able to pin someone down as being the future of Donington.
"We've had interested parties and now have a shortlist of about 14."
He added: "We have to whittle through that and see what is the best business plan and the best financial direction available to us."
The previous leaseholder DVLL won a 17-year contract to host the Formula One British Grand Prix but failed to raise enough backing to turn Donington into a state-of-the-art facility.
DVLL went out of business in November and Kevin Wheatcroft , son of circuit founder Tom, resumed control on 24 December after administrators failed to find new leaseholders.
Some work had already been done to convert the track but it was stopped part way through, meaning the venue is unable to host any events in its current condition.
The British F1 Grand Prix went to Silverstone instead, while Donington has also lost the right to host the 2010 British Superbike Championship, which had been a regular fixture at the circuit.
"Sadly everyone knows the direction things went in and I'm desperate not to repeat that," Wheatcroft added.
"That's the reason why we need to make absolutely sure that who we choose to take Donington forward is the right decision."
MOTORSPORT VISON RACING (MSVR) boss Jonathan Palmer has said his group has not ruled out adding troubled Donington Park circuit to the company's portfolio.
Speaking at the AUTOSPORT International show on Thursday this week, Palmer said he was not yet involved but was keeping a close eye on events, with a view to adding Donington to MSVR's existing venues of Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park and Cadwell Park.
Recently, Donington Park fell into administration following the collapse of its bid to host the British F1 Grand Prix. The circuit's owners are now looking to sell the lease to the venue in the hope of getting the historic circuit back on track. (Can't believe you went for that one - Ed).
“I’d love to have Donington as part of the MSV group but I’m really not sure what Kevin Wheatcroft’s plans are for the circuit yet,” said Palmer.
“I’ve not been up there, but we’ll certainly be monitoring the situation and if they were interested in selling or leasing we’d certainly put a case forward, but it’s pretty early days for that yet.”
tbh, I'd rather Palmer wasn't involved.
While he's doing good things at some circuit, it can't be good for one person to have control over too large a slice of the British racing scene.
We don't want a UK version of Bernie Ecclestone.
Just been reading my new issue of VisorDown, and theres an article on the future of Donnington Park, says estimates of the cost to put the track back into usable condition at between £600,000 and £2 mil. We shall have to wait and see. I hope it will be able to host the WSB round in August
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