Lydden Hill revamp plans

[Distracted]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120826

Must admit it would be nice to have more facilities! I have a feeling they'll be turned down (or at least not allowed to do everything that they want) so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[BertMk2]

The biggest thing they need to do is resurface the tarmac, it's utterly ruined and destroys tyres. They also need to get more club racing back at the venue (and they'll need the resurface before that can happen). The other big thing is something that everyone mentions - toilets!

Good to see that there are plans for the venues future though - and diversifying will certainly help the income stream. It'll be interesting to see how much they can get through the planning side of things.

[Pozi]

Having read some of the previous council reports I imagine it will be a tough sell to get agreement from the planning committee.

Unfortunately like most motor racing circuits the NIMBY brigade do their utmost to stop any development citing noise, pollution, scaring the fluffy kittens etc.

[zefarelly]

Last time I raced there I shredded a set of tyres and lost a windscreen, so resurfacing and kerbs would be welcome.

[chunder]

They are simply trying to put a 60's era race track in terms of facilities into the modern era.

If you read the article they are not looking to extend the use of the facility for motorsport, more to make more use of the venue for non noise days, a good idea really.

The pace has a nice feel to it as it is now but is really lacking compared to just about every racetrack in the country for this sort of motorsport. It has a lot of things going for it, the view, the ease of access relatively.

One thing they should really look at doing is encouraging some Benelux of French series to come over, as theya re so close to the ports.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by chunder

They are simply trying to put a 60's era race track in terms of facilities into the modern era.

If you read the article they are not looking to extend the use of the facility for motorsport, more to make more use of the venue for non noise days, a good idea really.

The pace has a nice feel to it as it is now but is really lacking compared to just about every racetrack in the country for this sort of motorsport. It has a lot of things going for it, the view, the ease of access relatively.

One thing they should really look at doing is encouraging some Benelux of French series to come over, as theya re so close to the ports.

On the whole I agree - the circuits facilities are currently way behind the times, this in part a legacy of the fact that until Pat took over the circuit was operated on a lease and the owners had no interest in investing in the facilities so it just didn't happen.

Now that Pat owns the circuit outright it is worth putting the investment in - in the expectation that the return will be greater. As you say diversifying into more quiet events increases the number of days the circuit can generate income so has to be a good idea and building some industrial units / workshops that will have rent paying businesses again makes good sense.

The improved access / egress plans should help smooth the path for some of the other changes I'd have thought - they make good sense and will help with traffic issues into and out of the venue.

If they can run more track days as 'quiet' events then maybe that will encourage them to run more race meetings? But as mentioned above if clubs are going to organise more meetings at Lydden they'll want to see the track surface improved - some championships are avoiding Lydden because of the surface (it's unpopular with drivers as tyres are ruined quickly). Or do track days provide more income than a race meeting?

[chunder]

I would imagine, like most tracks these days, track dyas make them most of their money.

I would guess it is a fairly even split between track days, drift events and actualy race events. there are no more race meetings really, they make no money whatsoever and Pat will bankroll rallycross events I would imagine.

Plus you have to factor in the Top gear events, they will be paying a preumium to hire that place.