Snetterton revamp

Snetterton is to undergo a massive redevelopment which could lead to the return of high-level international racing to the venue.

Jonathan Palmer, whose MotorSport Vision company bought Snetterton, Brands Hatch, OuIton Park and Cadwell Park last winter, is planning to add at least one mile to the current circuit layout at the Norfolk venue.

The unpopular Russell chicane will make way for a new infield complex leading back onto the start-finish straight. Changes will also be made in between Riches and Sear. Crucially, the most challenging corners on the circuit, Riches, the Bomb Hole and Coram will remain unaltered.

Palmer hopes that the changes, which are subject to planning approval but which could create 500 jobs, will be ready in time for the 2007 season. Failing that he says it is “certain” that the revised Snetterton would be ready for ’08.

The original circuit, which ran on from Sear and parallel to the A11, will be the site of a planned new hotel, racing school and industrial units, and could well bring back much of the motorsport industry which has deserted the area since the early 1990s.

Snetterton hosted the first-ever European F2 round in 1967.