Silverstone race track sold for a fraction of investment

Silverstone, the historic race track, is to be sold for a little over £10 million after the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) announced its plans to distance itself from the track. The final sale price is significantly less than the investment put into the track over the years, suggesting that the buyer could have managed to get a bargain.

The BRDC is a group of around 800 senior motorsport figures and includes Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. It took the lease on Silverstone in 1952 when it bought it from the Royal Automobile Club. In 1971 it went on to buy the freehold on the site from the Ministry of Defence.

However, the track recorded a net loss of £3.3 million in 2012, prompting the BRDC to take action to distance itself from the circuit. The terms of a deal were agreed in August when a conditional binding agreement to sell Silverstone Circuits Ltd was signed. The deal covers the sale of the track, along with a separate lease of 467 track-related land.

No information on who the buyer is or what the exact price of the sale will be, is available. But reports from The Independent made it clear that the final sale price will be significantly less than the investment spent by BRDC on building new pits and a paddock complex two years ago, as the latest accounts filed show that the track, plant and machinery have an assigned value of £10.8 million.

However, the investment proved necessary to land the British Grand Prix contract, as a letter from outgoing BRDC chairman, Stuart Rolt, to members explained: “In fact, had the money not been spent to build The Wing and improve the circuit, there would have been no 17-year F1 contract, the circuit would have had no value, and the BRDC would not have been able to secure such a successful deal with Mepc, who were attracted by the on-going value of the Silverstone brand.”

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