The unfulfilled promise of Rockingham Speedway

Rockingham Speedway

First car race 2001
Last car race 2018
Lap record 24.908sec, Jimmy Vasser, Lola B02/00, 2002

Rockingham, the first banked oval circuit to be built in Britain since the closure of Brooklands, was an ambitious project. Ten years in the planning, the circuit was opened by the Queen in 2001 on a British Steel brownfield site near Corby in Northamptonshire.

Many millions had been invested. The plan was to attract the Americans to come and race on a British oval, and there would be different circuits on the infield for other types of racing, testing and track days.

The ambitious dream of Rockingham becoming a European base for American oval racing was never realised in full, just two Champ Car races, and most of the events were for other national and international categories. Finances were a problem. The events attracted decent crowds but making the venture economically viable became a struggle.

There were 13 configurations of track which offered opportunities for almost any kind of racing from rally stages to touring cars and motorcycles. This arena was overlooked by the Rockingham Building which, together with grandstands, provided seating for 52,000 fans, offices, bars and catering.

The oval circuit, its unique selling point and one of only two speedways in Europe, was a 1.4-mile track 60ft wide and a banking angle of seven degrees. In 2001 the Champ Cars came to England for the first time and the Rockingham 500 was a round of the CART series season. The race was won, on the last lap, by Gil de Ferran in Team Penske’s Reynard. Champ Cars were back in ’02 when Dario Franchitti won, but this would be the last time the series came to Rockingham. Stock cars came in 2003, Pickup Truck Racing was there in 2009, and the circuit staged events for Formula 3, touring cars, Superbikes, Formula BMW and GT1. As a venue, it promised so much.

The final event came in November 2018, the meeting dubbed the Super Send-Off for Rockingham as a place to go racing.

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My top 3 tracks: Anthony Davidson

•  Silverstone Its high-speed corners smoothly flow into one another. It pushes modern Formula 1 cars to the limits of their aerodynamics. Racing in front of your home crowd is very hard to beat, especially at a place with so much history.
• Spa-Francorchamps This has always been one of my favourite circuits. It’s a real challenge in any kind of car thanks to the undulating corners. I’ve raced there in Formula Ford, F3, F1 and LMP1 and 2 sports cars and it’s a challenge in all of them.
• Bahrain I’ve consistently had good results here; it suits my driving style. The low grip surface is a tyre killer so you have to really think inside the car. There’s lots of heavy braking and tight corners so knowing where to carry the speed and where to be patient is key.