Forgotten Race Tracks - Rockingham Speedway - Corby Northamptonshire
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มี.ค. 2022
- #abandoned #racetracks #rockingham #corby
Corby seems to suffer one set back after another, the poor little thing. What seemed great at the start, just never really seemed to work out.
Rockingham Speedway was the dream of one man, Peter Davies. He wanted to bring NASCAR style racing to England and set about creating his perfect racetrack.
Things didn't go so well for Peter or the racetrack and that's what I've come to look at in this episode.
FULL ONBOARD RACING VIDEO -
• The LAST EVER race at ...
JOHN BARNES YT CHANNEL - / @jonbarnesracing
If like me, you enjoy motorsport, history and looking at pieces of tarmac... you'll love "Forgotten Race Tracks" where we take a look at some of the old and abandoned race tracks around England.
From Drag strips to Formula 1 circuits, in this short series, we'll be investigating what remains of Britain's motor racing history.
Twitter - / jonshenanigans
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I’ve been there to watch the BTCC several times and was amazed just how massive it was and how much seating there is. It’s beautiful and so sad to see it never succeeded.
Rockingham tended to produce good BTCC races. You could overtake there and there were several lines you could take into and out of some of the corners
I was fortunate enough to take part in one of the last meetings at Rockingham in 2018, a Citroen C1 race. I'd never been there before but soon got used to the circuit layout & found it quite challenging with a good variety of corners, straights & a couple of hairpins each with an abrupt change of camber / gradient. Such a shame that that this forward looking circuit has now closed, probably for good.
I'm hopeful one day it might re-open... maybe just as a one off...
I was there at the beginning of Rockingham, loved the place. Saw the Indy race won by Dario Franchitti. I knew in my heart it was going to struggle to be viable! The council would love to demolish it!
@@chunkybuster7203 Cinch UK - Planning to reopen it shortly.
I drove there at the last ever public track day in November 2018. I'm glad to see that it still stands. I can't imagine why people thought it was boring. There are plenty of old airfield tracks with no elevation changes. Rockingham had some brilliant challenging corners and of course the unique banking.
I did a lot of my motorsport timekeeper training at Rockingham, behind the scenes it was a hell of a facility that easily rivaled any other circuit (save for the new Silverstone race control). Every time I went it was gutting to see such a huge investment and barely any spectators to enjoy it.
I was a Spotter here back in the day, initially for the pickups, but also for the cars for their last 2 seasons and it's such a shame to see how it ended up. I used to refer to it as my home away from home, working on setups and racing on the Saturday, socialising til 3am, before rising before 7 and going for a walk/jog around the track and doing it all again for a 2nd day. I slept well on the Sunday night, I can tell ya. I met some fantastic people over the years and if it ever returns as a racing facility, i'll be at the front of the queue for tickets, just to be able to go stand at the back of the main stand and relive all the fond memories I have.
You be quiet, you'll be up in the spotters gantry where you belong! I might even buy you a new headset and radio.
@@RobCompton59 If we could go back there, I'd do it in a heartbeat, 7 cylinders or 8. It never felt the same after the cars were gone so I just hung up the gear, even though I could have continued with the trucks
Everyone used to stamp their feet in the stands along to Queen's "We will rock you" - One of my lasting memories of my dad is him stamping his feet deliberately out of time to put people off! The thing that killed the circuit off wasn't lack of races as such but the selling off of the land behind the circuit to build houses. They inevitably complained about the noise as has happened at Mallory Park, thus ending any serious race schedule.
Mallory had a cavalier attitude to their neighbours, exceeding their agreed track usage. It is no longer possible to move next to a racing facility and then complain about noise and make the facility close. The law protects the existing facility.
The new development didn’t really kill it off. There was always noise complaints, I remember hearing the cars from the next village over when I grew up. It just simply wasn’t popular enough to be profitable.
You should add Crystal Palace circuit to the list. Great video series. I am so sad I never experienced Rockingham Speedway, it looks like an excellent circuit, and 13 layouts is insane. Such a pity it could not be saved and that it never really gained enough popularity.
Crystal Palace race track would be a great video, l went there with my dad many years ago and walked the track, my dad raced at CP in the Britches Saloon Car Championship now BTCC
I went to the first Indy Car race held there in 2001. We sat for ages whilst they desparately tried to dry the track of the water that was seeping up through the tarmac, and we did eventually get a shortened race, shortened even further by the fact it was getting dark (and bloody cold as I recall). The track didn't work well though, because there was basically only a single racing line, so the demon overtake by Gil de Ferran to take the lead on the last lap was virtually the only racing overtake of the whole race. They fixed the water problem and the new surface made for better racing the next year, but I watched it on TV rather than driving halfway up the country for it. Quite frankly it always amazed me that anyone ever thought it would be financially viable in the first place - it was in the wrong location and was based around a style of racing that the UK had very little experience of. Yes, they managed to stagger on for a few extra years by making better use of the infield track, but it really was a bit of a white elephant from day 1.
This really does seem to be a metaphor for a country in terminal decline. Motorsport venues and live music venues, two pastimes close to my heart seem to be closing down left, right and centre. For sure, a sad state of affairs indeed. As you say, it could all have been so good if only...
On a more positive note, on the whole these videos do cheer my up with the quirky content and you style of delivery. Please keep up the good work.
Thanks for watching! Yeah... I used to be in "music" it's been on the shut down for years :(
Got to disagree with that sorry. Rockingham was poorly researched, planned and managed. The success of the Palmer run Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park etc group shows that well managed motorsport venues can be viable.
Motorsport venues are not, as far as I am aware, closing down right left and centre. The UK has more race circuits than any other country in Europe as far as I can tell. As far as Rockingham is concerned, they simply didn't judge the market right.
@@TheEulerID So you watch speedway? My local stadium, Loomer Road closed because the council ended to lease. Motocross tracks are particularly vulnerable to moaning from local residents. Our local track is having to restrict practice and race days because idiot who moved into a Barratt box estate several miles away are hassling the council about noise. These are the same idiots who moved in next to the Air Defence Helicopter School and then moan about the helicopters...
The local grass track has closed down for the same reason and their occasional meeting were packed with spectators.
Just because Brands Hatch and Silverstone haven't closed doesn't mean smaller venues at the grass roots level aren't. Get your facts straight before you go jumping to conclusions. Just because you're not aware doesn't mean it's not so.
I went to Rockingham many times to watch btcc,it was my favourite track because you could see the whole lap from the stands, but my best memory was being there the first meeting after David Leslie was killed in a plane crash in 2008, to show respect everybody made lots of noise,those aluminium stands really made a lot of noise ,made my spine tingle. Rip.
The spectator POV was great it seems!
Totally agree, the only track I've gone to with my son where he could see the whole race. We saw some great BTCC races there in the final years
Best memory of Rockingham is Rob Austin's first BTCC race win in 'Sherman'. Of all the circuits the BTCC visits Rockingham was probably the one I liked the least.
I've got the first ever programme in the loft. I come from Corby additional issues that plagued the Speedway was the noise it generated. Local residents from surrounding villages complained. Therefore the track was limited to how many events it could hold. When it first opened we used to get free tickets regularly to the track. The first events showcased 50 Cent, Sugarbabes, Daniel Beddingfield and a few others to help promote the venue. It's a shame as from a spectator's view it was a fantastic venue.
This vid leaves a small lump in the throat. Back around 2006-2007 BTCC held a media day and I sneaked off work to go for the day, plus I did my only ever single seater experience there in pouring rain. What about a series visiting the many current race circuits, your fun history will make a great series!!!! I'd be happy to help, though my wife and children say I'm more a hinderance if I'm honest :-)
I'd love to look at current day race tracks.. however they are a little difficult (expensive) to work with shall we say.
I did a two-seater oval experience there in 2004, life changing! I don't think you can go that fast anywhere else since.
Santa Pods 2 seater dragster.
This vid needs added to the "forgotten race tracks" playlist.
It's been a lovely series.
Sorted, thanks for letting me know and for watching!
I was part of the team that did the site invesigations and remedials for the land - amazing use of the land, but doubt it will get permission for anything else due to what's under the site from the old and long since gone industries there. Great vid too
I was at the last BTCC race their.. I liked that you could see the whole track.. but the massive empty grandstands did reduce the atmosphere.
What a FAB video, imo.
I am from across the pond and knew little/nothing of this place.
Sad story though.
Thanks for creating this.
☮
Cool video, remember going here when I was younger
Great video. About 10 years ago I had the opportunity to drive 3 laps of the circuit in my dream car, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The icon is me driving the green AM at Rockingham. A great day out even if I didn’t get anywhere near half the speed of the race cars!
I used to work for a large telecommunications company, and many years ago attended the final round of their “driver of the year” competition at Rockingham.
I did get to drive some nice cars, got a go on the skid pan (with a kicker plate at the entry), got a nice day out off work... oh and got to see a certain journalist with the initials VBH roll a hot hatch on one of the corners they were filming at.
I came 9th out of 12, but for a company with over 100,000 employees and over 7000 entrants that year I was happy with the outcome.
So sad that we keep losing these infrastructure elements, along with small local airports and branch railway lines.
I did a couple of bike track days at Rockingham. I'll always remember, on the first hairpin, a chap behind me slid off his brand new CBR 600RR. Happy times.
Had the events of September 11th and Alex Zanardi's horror crash at Lausitzring not happened, Champ Car would have potentially opened the door to the revival of high-level professional oval racing across Europe in the vein of the pre-World War I Grand Prix races at Brooklands and Montlhéry. Unfortunately, the attempt to establish a foothold in Europe following a decade of threats from the FIA regarding the staging of races in countries with Formula 1 races backfired.
ChampCar went bust. That's why it stopped. There was the "battle" between Champ Car (which was run by Gerry Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi) and IRL which saw CART file for bankruptcy in 2003, cancelling a number of events. They soldiered on in Chapter 11 until 2008 when they finally pulled the plug.
Rockingham had a 7 year contract with CART IIRC, and only two events took place, 2003 was cancelled, and Gerry Forsyth was kind enough to pay Rockingham compensation for the lost events. That stopped in 2005 and the rest is history. Nothing to do with the FIA at all, that was just speculation.
Me and two mates were the first to have a competitive lap of the track; on pushbikes, in the dark, before security could catch us Maybe they should have put a proper fence up...
Some errors in your vid.
The Ascars didn't "pull out of the venue" in 2002, they raced there until 2007 and were successful for a while (although due in part to unsustainable financial backing from the circuit as they tried to spend their way to making it a success).
The Pickups didn't stop racing there in 2003, they raced the oval multiple times a year, EVERY year, right up until it closed in 2018 (the penultimate meeting there was a Pickup meeting). Dunno where that factoid came from.
Technically Champcar didn't race there, CART did.
It's the only oval built IN THE UK since Brooklands (you missed the UK bit out). In fact it was the first purpose built racetrack of any kind built in the UK since Brooklands
You're almost correct in saying it never made a profit, the sad thing is that in it's last year of operation it DID make a profit. Yet was still offloaded as a car park instead of a going concern. But then it's success, or lack of, had little bearing on the reason for sale as the owner went bankrupt building an absurd 'posh' housing estate next door (in Corby ffs), Rockingham was collateral damage in the resulting bankruptcy fire sale.
The grandstands are/were due for demolition, but that only applies to the outer two stands (and was supposedly given permission 3 years ago, yet still they stand).
And the track is being used for car review vids by Cinch (who have bought the place), hence why it's now clear of cars and being given a tidy up (also has some massive Cinch branding on those supposedly demolition bound stands now)
Going by your last point I’m assuming it now means the tracks being driven on like a race track instead of used as a car park. Got any links to those car review videos?
@@joshmartin8731 "I’m assuming it now means the tracks being driven on like a race track instead of used as a car park"
Cinch bought it as a massive vehicle prep centre.
@@joshmartin8731 Not necessarily "as a race track", but certainly driven on. And no, I've not seen any of these vids, they will presumably accompany car ads on their site.
@@WKDPOWER Experiences and track days have operated at Rockingham this year, rumour has it that the owners (Cinch's parent) are considering re-opening the circuit.
Here's how it didn't make a profit - when big businesses buy something these days, what they do is set up a new company to buy that "thing", the new company borrows the money from the parent company and then has to pay that money back, or at least the interest on that "loan". That money is sourced from an offshore company, so the "interest" is paid back to that offshore company and therefore not subject to UK taxation.
When the circuit operated it made quite a reasonable gross profit, but that was wiped out by the interest payments, meaning it made a loss or broke even : and paid no corporation tax.
The last year, it made a net profit as part of the creative book keeping if you ask me.
CART/Champ Car - well, CART was the sanctioning body, The Champ Car World Series was the racing, so yes, Champ Car ran there, CART organised it.
Regarding the owner going bankrupt, another tangled web of companies. If you have time, and a wall for your post-it notes, plus a big pin board, pins, string, etc... you might be able to piece it all together. All the info in available on the Companies House website. Northants Rockingham Speedway Ltd is your starting point.
The grandstands that were deemed "unsafe", suddenly there's no business rates to pay on them. Amazing what a surveyors report can do.... MSV were buying the T1 and T4 stands, but the cost of dismantling them and moving them to Donington (where they were going to go) turned out more than building new ones. So they stay put. If you put the bolts back in that were removed to make them "unsafe", and get a new surveyors report, suddenly they'll be fine again. Or am I just been cyncical.... who knows.
The place could be a goldmine if run properly, and not the way UK circuits are generally operated. It's one hell of a venue, and unique in that from the main stand you can see pretty much all of the circuit. The inner paddock is too small though.
And a shorter version of the oval coming off T1 re-joining at T4 to make a sub-1 mile oval would open the doors to much more racing. Perfect then for the Euro-NASCAR circus that is not allowed to race on speedways of more than 1 mile under NASCAR sanctioning rules...
It's somewhat reassuring to know the track has an alternative use for the moment and that it could, theoretically, be revived and put back into operation as a racing circuit sometime in the future rather than be demolished and lost forever.
A very good point, unlike many others, this hasn't been lost to housing... yet.
@@AutoShenanigans Would they build a housing estate on that land? When I was working in Poole (Dorset) I rented a flat in Baiter Park (which was a site of an old gasworks). I was told we were not allowed to grow anything that could be eaten in the area.
@@simonkevnorris I think they will eventually, it's such a huge site and I can't see it making money with the way things are. Northamptonshire council are also keen to build houses, I hear because they need the residents/council tax income. The council went bust a couple of years back, I think due to some dodgy dealings.
@@AutoShenanigans I understand the need for more housing but not on 'brown sites'. I'm sure whatever is in the ground can't be good for anyone long term (like in Baiter Park) despite what the experts say.
@@simonkevnorris England population:
1938 - 39 million
1960 - 43 million
1980 - 45 million
1997 - 46millon
2020 - 58 million
After Blair opened the floodgates with more immigration since 1997 than between 1066 and 1996 it's difficult to keep up with the demand for housing. If you don't the people with only 1 passport can't afford to buy a house anywhere. They barely can as it is.
So sadly, thanks to Tony Blair, they're now eviscerating the few spots left, in a futile attempt to keep up.
Went to rockingham in 2017 and the scale of the facility was ridiculous such a shame it’s gone
Run out of race tracks? What about Aintree? Hosted the British Grand Prix back in the day
Great video and channel I didn’t know about this track. We have a speedway with the same name in America Rockingham speedway in Rockingham North Carolina and it is abandon but getting ready to be remodeled
I remember stood on top of the garages watching a Porsche race many years ago. Shame it’s gone to ruins now! 😔
Cracking series of videos have enjoyed them including the abandoned roads series also,
As for Rockingham was a brilliant track, I did show there and was about to do a good few laps there very good track, Last I heard it was used as storage for cars, you can see on the track where the cars where parked
Defo used for car storage..i was surprised to find it empty. A nice bonus if you ask me.
This is really saddening, I had no idea it had closed (possibly illustrates part of the problem it had :( )
Raced here a few times fantastic venue, bloody disgrace that it was decimated
Another great video, been to the site for all sorts of racing including cycling time trials. What a pity how this circuit ended up this way! A fucking car park 😢
It is a shame... at least it's still standing... for now.
There's a bit of abandoned dual carriageway right next to Rockingham, which is the exact bit of road you're filming from. They ought to incorporate that into the speedway by making a link road across the field at one end, and going through the giant car park at the other end. That would give Rockingham a straight about 3/4 mile long (just over a Km). As good as the Kemmel straight at Spa! Then you could feed straight back to the oval. THAT WOULD BE EPIC!!!
When my dad used to race his championship were the very first to race at Rockingham in a BARC race meeting. In that same race one of his fellow drivers "christened" the wall!
Watched quite a few events here over the years as I lived in Corby, then used the circuit for cycle racing, the inner track was OK but a nightmare in the rain
My father used to take me to Rockingham when I was young to watch the early ASCAR races. We watched CART there in 2002 and sat on the outside of turn one next to the barrier. The speed was unreal to 12 year-old me! Watched BTCC there, too, in 2004(?). I'll never forget walking up the stairwell to sit in the huge grandstand on the main straight - the footage doesn't do its height justice. Nothing quite like it in England. It was devoid of atmosphere, and I can only think that demolishing the oval and removing the uncovered grandstands would've made a big difference. Corby *is* depressing - not because it's necessary a bad town in itself, but more because it's a place that's been full of life, hope, identity, and promise in the past that's ultimately been dashed away.
Gutted this closed...was only an hour away and saw some good racing , as well as experience days...
A real shame but it never sold enough to pay for itself :(
Went there plenty of times when it was open as I’m local. Quality track with a decent view. The grandstand was always nuggets though!
Top Gear went there a few times back in the good old Clarkson days, I believe they shot some of the Alfa Romeo challenge there
Went to Rockingham a few times. Great atmosphere and experience. Sorely missed
I was there when Mansell lapped the oval in an Indycar, it was pretty special. I also saw Colin McRae drive in Ascar, good times. A shame it’s closed.
Hey I live in corby! I really miss when the speedway was open it was always really fun to go to. My mum actually works for them as it's still a company that exists but she's mostly a cleaner, If I'm correct there's talks of possibly re-opening it which would be good. It's a shame it's just wasted constantly.
With how popular track days are, I can't believe it isn't viable to reopen.
My dad worked up when it was known as the North bank for BSC.
I like this guy..Knows his stuff through great research i guess .Combined with a bit of character and humour..Have enjoyed the couple of videos i have watched so far during this near 40 deg weather outside..Back to my personal retired historic car projects tomorrow though at 70 years old..All in all i nice break watching these vids!
Well not THAT great research given the errors in it lol
Hasn't researched that well to be fair.
Back in early ‘04 I went to Rockingham for the dealer preview event for the then-new BMW 1250GS. Nearly all the dealer staff there had no interest in riding motorbikes, so I had the track almost to myself for several hours, bombing around on the demo fleet. Simon Pavey was a brand ambassador for BMW Motorrad in those days & it was good to have dinner with him. I don’t think anyone else there had any idea who he was. Such a shame the circuit/facility failed.
I used to do event stewarding there in the last 4 years of it’s racing use, usually I’d get my boss to put me in the grand stand so I could watch the racing all day but occasionally I’d be either patrolling the inner paddock or be on the vehicle tunnel, let me tell you when they used to come from the outer paddock via that tunnel the sounds as they inevitably revved it through there were just beautiful, gutted it closed as it was always my favourite venue to work at
I remember there was a lot local opposition to it. Sad to it closed, but keeping it open for track days etc isn’t economical as there is a huge cost with all the safety regs and msa bullshit, plus needing marshals and staff even if they are volunteers you need to get them.
I was at a supercar driving experience day for my birthday at Rockingham in 2018, I got to drive around part of the large oval in a Lamborghini Spyder reaching a speed of 150mph, at the time I wasn't aware that I was actually taking part in one of the last public events at the site, such a shame. I wish I was around to see a large-scale Nascar type events they held there, even if the stands wouldn't have been very lively.
Trust me, Corby was rough way before the steelworks closed. But these days Kettering makes it look good.
I used to go to a school called Corby business academy it’s still used to this day but not as often I could see that race track
Collected a few cars from there, it always seemed to be a car park with the odd motorsport event tacked on at the end of a week here and there. I remember when it opened a lot of businesses on the nearby industrial estates saying they would leave town amid fears of traffic chaos during events that would affect their distribution chains..........yeah like the M25 didn't cause them any delayed deliveries ever in it's history.
The rockingham circuit is sorely missed
Raced there in the day, it was a good track and a new experience having a wall on the main straight.
Unfortunately with the Priors Hall housing estate being developed in the mid 10’s it’s days we’re numbered. Who would of thought buying a house next to a race track would result in some weekends there being… races 😳
That didn't matter too much as the owners of that estate also owned Rockingham. Sadly that meant when those owners went bust building Priors Hall, Rockingham got taken down in the bankruptcy.
Talking of building race circuits on toxic ground, there was a proposal to build a race circuit just outside Yeovil on the Somerset-Dorset border. Plans were shelved when the area was found to have contained anthrax. Yes, anthrax. Proposed major developments on the land since have also been blocked due to this. Apparently the only appropriate place to build affordable housing in the area is on a flood plain filled with anthrax.
Hi John another forgotten race track is the Crystal Palace track in London parts of which are still visible and where the Italian job blew the bloody doors of…
It's been quite a few years since I did a track day, but I think Rockingham might have been my last (2013 or so) - I thoroughly enjoyed it as a track, shame it was so besieged with problems and eventually closed.
You haven't run out. There were a Formula 1 races held at Aintree in Liverpool. But now it only sees occasional, light use on less than half the original circuit.
Last visited in March 2021 collecting vehicles from the circuit itself, from City Auction Group. Was strange to see it as it's used now
Even city auction have left the circuit now
@@pixelpackingpiccys really? the last time I was there was April 2021. Has a different auction group taken over or is it not used at all now?
@@danielhindley8 it all moved to peterborough so as far as im aware there is no more car auctions at rockingham.
I used to go there to watch the ascar and pickup truck racing and the btcc. They renamed ascar Days of Thunder (after the film) and it got quite popular. The band Busted played at one meeting and there were 45k people there that day. The Darkness played there too and sponsored a car for a season. A regular driver in the ascar series was Ben Collins who later became known as the stig. What was pretty unique about Rockingham was that you could sit at the top of the stands and see the whole circuit, not just one small section, so you could watch the whole race, and also stand on the top of the pits and watch the teams at work during the race.
Same here stateside with local tracks. Insurance increases.
I did a sprint at Rockingham in a Westfield and started in reverse. Marshalls were over the moon….I also quoted an insurance policy for that location including the valley of the drums.
I was there helping a friend compete in uk time attack just before it closed and he holds the time attack clubman record
I was lucky enough to attend a track day at Rockingham in the week following the first race there. 3 hours to drive there, about 20 minutes of instruction, a drive round as a passenger in a Transit mini-bus, a few laps as the passenger of one of the pro drivers ( can't recall his name but there was a lovely, long scrape on one of the walls that he inflicted on race day 1), and finally just 8 minutes driving alone. Not a massive petrol head but I have to say doing 180+ in a 6.5 ltr car around a banked oval was pretty darn good.
This was the most local circuit to me and only about 40 minutes away so I attended many meetings there but we generally chose to travel a bit further to Donington or Snetterton and even down to Brands Hatch because those venues had great atmosphere, which I felt was always lacking at Rockingham.
As someone from Oundle, we are ashamed Corby exists. But would love NASCAR.
Did my junior ARDS test here in 2017, man I miss this place
Got one for you:
The DOnnington Heritage circuit. They still use it for some "supercar experience events" and such, but it's built out of the leftovers of the older, longer Donnington, including the original Melbourne hairpin.
I shall look into it, thanks for the heads up.
@@AutoShenanigans "East Midlands Heritage Circuit" is your search term
@@MazandJazz It doesn't look like I'll be able to "let myself in" so I've contacted the operators and maybe I can get access.
Thanks for the video. Shame it has closed to competition.
I was fortunate to see the Champ Car race there. It was a great oval, really quick, some Champ Car drivers said too quick as they were getting dizzy.
I have a challenge for you. There was a forgotten race track near Chelmsford called Boreham. It hosted a couple of races for F1 cars in the 1950's and would become an R&D centre for Ford. I would love to know if any of it remains. Thanks.
I grew up in Chelmsford and many of my dad's mates worked at Ford Boreham. The place where someone looked in the bonnet of a Mk1 Escort and thought "We could get a Twin Cam in there" and hence was born one of the greatest rally cars of all time. And the time someone said "I bet we can get a Cosworth DFV F1 engine in a transit" and they did (Although I think it actually ended up being a Rouse V8) and so was born Supervan 1. Or the time one of dad's friends borrowed an experimental FWD Escort (Mk3 or 4?), which happened to have an RS1700T engine cranking out something like 4 or 500 BHP via a transaxle gearbox to the rear wheels. Clutch was like a switch and the only way to get going was to rev into the powerband and light the rear end up.
All the above is very subject to the memory of a ten-year-old, but it certainly seemed like Fords let their engineers play with whatever they wanted and some spectacular stuff sometimes resulted.
@@offroad4600 Some great info David all I can remember about it was you looked for the telegraph pole with three white stripes on it for the turning from the main road. I went there once for a marshals training day and spotted an Escort Cosworth there before they were on general sale.
Max Wilson going backwards at 200mph, lighting the rear tires up is my enduring mental image of Rockingham.
Also those 2002-2002 CART liveries, first with the US lags post 9/11, and then the 2002 liveries to comply with the UK's ban on cigarette ads made for some of the best looking liveries. Team Green on the side of Franchitti's blue and silver 2002 Lola/honda instead of the Kool cigarette branding, and, come on. Team Saint George with then future GT hotshoe Darren Manning being great. 2003 was Brands Hatch and that had great liveries too.
My abiding memory of 2002 CART race was Franchitti finally, finally getting his irst oval win. It was known at that point Andretti was moving to the IRL, and then Dario broke his back. CART got column inches on the sports pages along with F1 for that brief time, then in the mid-late 2000s when Wheldon was winning races and titles.
Oh and, obligitary it showed up in sims... comment
It's in the original ToCA Race Driver (or regional versions, DTM/V8 Supercar Race Driver) Grid from Codies released early 2000s, if you want a game with the oval/infield in, or it got converted to a lot of games using rFactor's engine, though only the oval ever seemed to get converted instead of the road courses. Live For Speed has the track, IIRC it was signed just before the track closed.
Also since you did Rockingham, any chance you'd hop a ferry and do the Lausitzring, or as I call it, the German Pocono?
It's in such remarkable condition for being defunct for four years. I remember it opening. I didn't actually know it had closed!
Nice
Many tracks in the US host a variety of things other than racing to make money, like concerts & music festivals the tracks are so spacious. For example Daytona hosts large concerts such as the "Welcome To Rockville" festival Metallica was a headliner last year & also hosts a football "soccer" festival, Atlanta has the Imagine EDM festival, Charlotte hosts movie nights on the jumbotron. Maybe it's something they should've done with this track.
I went in the summer of 2002. A mate who was a mechanic got us free tickets via a parts supplier ( think it was a Brake manufacturer) I cant remember much about the racing as the girl my mate was seeing got stung by a wasp and went into Anaphylactic shock. She was fine after treatment at the tracks first aid post. Shame it went downhill as I remember that day being very busy.
I recall not so fondly that the infield paddock was often too small for the events being held so some competitors would be stuck in what may have been the Outer Hebrides for the amount of time it would take to get to & from assembly with any pit stop equipment required (god forbid you forgot anything). A certain c1 race I crewed at in the last year or so of Rockingham, they wanted an 'all competitors' photo in the pit lane which was rather gappy as those of us parked up in the outfield didn't have enough time to get back, tidy up, go do the photo op & then back to the outfield again to get prepped for the next race 🙄
That place was often downright dangerous in the wet too.
How about the "Aintree Circuit" it was a 'bona fide' grand Prix track (albeit in the 1950s), then it was reduced to 'time trials' where I spent some Saturdays as a 'track marshal' but after the 'Jockey Club' bought the horse racing course, it installed golf driving ranges inside what was left of the circuit and I believe the Motorsport stopped then.
I had the chance to drive a mini cooper around the track brilliant experience
Rockingham was a good circuit, probably in the wrong country! Great video as usual
Thanks for watching as always. I think you might be right on that!
Should have made it more attractive being central.
Great Video as always mate, never realised Rockingham had shut and never realised it is quite the modern racetrack.
Yeh it's probay the most 'recent' track we've seen built. Thanks for watching!
I watched BTCC here - shameful to let such an impressive circuit go to waste
I raced there twice.... Both times on a bicycle 😂 the second of which was the Rockingham Duathlon and we had been told that the venue was due to close shortly after ... Such a shame
We went to the first CART race in 2001. Took bloody ages to get there cos none of us had satnav and the signposts for the circuit sent us on about a 5 mile detour at about 3mph, and then when we got there the race was delayed whilst a big truck dawdled round the track drying it. Then when the race finally started, the cars were unbelievably loud, so much so that we were about 10 yards from a tannoy speaker and couldn't hear a bloody word of the commentary 😂 still, cracking race though, and lots of people still talking about Alex Zanardi's horrific crash the week before. A shame it's closed down now
I played into shreds on "TOTAL IMERSION RACING" on my PlayStation 2 !
I remember an f3 car flipping right in front of us at the first chicane in 2002/03ish, she climbed out of there just fine, think it was Katherine legg but don't quote me on that
It was indeed the lady that you mention... And thankfully walked away unscathed
Plenty of old race circuits that you need to add to this series.
Would love to hear any suggestions.
@@AutoShenanigans Seeing as you are up north, you have ingilston and charter hall close by.
This is criminal, so sad to see it in that state 😭
It was the best race track the country has ever produced. Sadly missed in the uk motorsport community
It's certainly one of only a handful of purpose built tracks... Most are old airfields which isn't quite the same.
Pretty certain it was the first meeting that we went to there - probably more stoppage time than actual racing - and Busted playing to their fans from the back of a truck behind the stands!
One of the major issue was the track was not a true oval...so the Nascars couldn't formally use it...on the first opening when they had invited the Nascar's, the queue was all the way back to the A14
I'm a member of a slot car club based not too far from there, Rockingham Slot Car Club. We created an oval track at the club because of our proximity to Rockingham Speedway, but, mysteriously, like Rockingham Speedway, we always had technical difficulties with it, and haven't raced on it since, you guessed it, 2018. Unlike the real thing however, we've been working on correcting the problems with the oval, with the intention of bringing it back into service.
The full oval is not used much, but part of it is uesd at the Rockingham circuit all the time for races and manufacturers and motoring journalists testing cars. Besides what's the fun in just steering left a bit.
I think "Cinch" own it now and use it for reviews etc
Maye it's just the name considering that the Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina (NASCAR homelands) is facing similar issues & is now getting a load of money to renovate it. Although if rumours are to be believed NASCAR is wanting to run some international events in the near future so if the grandstands stay up it may a potential venue for it to see it's true intended racecar
What a bloody shame. It still looks good after four years of closure. It would be absolutely criminal if it was destroyed.
It's still used and maintained, however with the car industry not doing so well, large assets are usually the first thing to be sold off.
This is down the road from me they now use it for a yard for building materials
Just going to leave this here but when the btcc raced here the racing was brilliant!
You know I totally missed out :( Would love to have gone.
@@AutoShenanigans I was there for the meeting in 2003... everyone singing We will Rock You and banging feet on the grandstands was an *amazing* atmosphere. Can't really comment on the racing considering it was twenty years ago, but the view from the main grandstand over the whole arena was amazing.
Was there for the 1st Champ car race, bought the Snap-on Rockingham box, with free t-shirt and baseball cap, for the all inclusive tickets, my Snap-on dealer chartered a minibus for his customers that bought the boxes, was a great day and I thought it had a lot of potential.
As a big fan of NASCAR, Champ and Indycar, I felt the track had a lot of potential, unfortunately, the ASCAR and pickup series just didn't seem to grip the fans in the same way, I tried watching them, but just didn't seem to have the same draw for some reason, I'm sure it wasn't from lack of anything from the organisers or teams etc, but didn't always seem to have large grids and from memory, very short races in comparison to American oval racing.
Still got the snap on rockingham box?
@@AutoShenanigans Needed a bigger box, so was traded in a year later. Outgrew the t-shirt and the cap finally wore out a couple of years ago.
Seems to me the owners should open it up to other companies for go-karting, race experience days, corporate events, rally schools, that sort of thing. Even if that doesn't make it profitable it would keep the track alive and offset its costs. Just sitting there doing sweet FA is simply pointless.
John, I was in my youth a track marshal, for the Seven Oaks and district car racing club, The Original owners of Brands hatch race circuit, So 20yrs later, I live in north Cambridgeshire, And I have a career change, I'm driving HGV for a living multi drop around East Numpton as our office used to call it, I did one drop @ the site so I looked around, but having growed upt in Inglind, I cudn't c the traction
Such a shame, i remember being handed a brochure when it first opened saying it was my birthday present and I loved it. Went back the next year and the numbers were so dire their was hardly a race. Think there was only 3 ASCARS! After that I remember going to a couple of car shows with concerts and all the BTCC events. They were one of the dullest rounds but it was my closest so I didn’t care. Such a shame to see it abandoned, got some brilliant memories there.
I'm not sure what went wrong but it never seemed to draw enough people despite it's capacity :(
I went to every oval race there, and there was never any with just three cars.
@@WKDPOWER welll there was, I remember it clearly. In the ASCAR formula as they were known. Must have been one of the last times they raced I’m guessing as when we went the following year they had been removed from the schedule.
@@FullContactGames Oh they were certainly in a dire state in their last year. With only 10 starters, and two races in a day, it only took a couple of incidents in race one to end up with only 5 or 6 left for race 2.