Silverstone ‘Wing’ Unveiled at LinesMaker

Sil­ver­stone ‘Wing’ unveiled

Sil­ver­stone on Tues­day offi­cially opened its new £27million pit and pad­dock com­plex to now guar­an­tee the circuit’s place as one of the best in the world.

It was not so long ago that For­mula One supremo Bernie Eccle­stone described the Northamp­ton­shire venue as “a world event mas­querad­ing as a country fair.”

But in the wake of earn­ing a new con­tract to host the British Grand Prix in Decem­ber 2009, Sil­ver­stone has been transformed.

Last year Prince Andrew was on hand to unveil the first phase of the devel­op­ment which saw a revamp of the cir­cuit and the intro­duc­tion of the Arena complex.

Twelve months on and Sil­ver­stone now boasts the ‘Wing’ facil­ity that not only includes new pits and pad­dock, but also media and con­fer­ence suites, three large halls and an auditorium.

The build­ing is 390m in length and 30m at its high­est point, and has spent the last 18 months in construction.

In front of His Royal High­ness the Duke of Kent, British Rac­ing Dri­vers’ Club pres­i­dent Damon Hill and a host of motor sport greats includ­ing Sir Jackie Stew­art, Sir Stir­ling Moss, John Sur­tees, Nigel Mansell and John Wat­son, Sil­ver­stone can now claim to be a truly world-class venue.

Hill, also the 1996 world cham­pion and 22-times grand prix win­ner, said: “It’s very impor­tant for every­one we’ve man­aged to do this.

“We’ve had peo­ple putting up palaces around the world, so it’s fan­tas­tic we’ve got this facil­ity now, and it’s kept Britain at the fore­front of motor sport around the world.

Three-times F1 world cham­pion Stew­art said: “The race track was as good then as it is today. It’s still the favourite of GP drivers.

“But the facil­ity we are sit­ting in is extra­or­di­nary and it will now the lead the world.

“For­mula One can be proud of it. It’s amaz­ing we’ve been able to afford it, but the BRDC has done a great job.”

Mansell, the 1992 world cham­pion and three-times British GP win­ner, said: ““Sil­ver­stone is the best cir­cuit I know by a mile. It’s the best in the world for me, bar none.

“What the BRDC and the board have done is a fan­tas­tic job. Thank you very much to the BRDC.”

Derek War­wick, who com­peted in 147 grands prix, said: “The cir­cuit takes care of itself, but the facil­ity, this gives us the step we need to drive Sil­ver­stone forward.

“It is one of the biggest facil­i­ties in Eng­land, and we’re going to make the most of it.”

Sil­ver­stone, of course, is not just an F1 venue, but also now hosts the British rounds of MotoGP and the World Super­bike Championship.

Sur­tees, the only man to win world titles on two and four wheels, said: “Sil­ver­stone had a spell of being in the wilder­ness in terms of bik­ing, but with these facil­i­ties it has now world attention.”

Thirteen-times bike GP win­ner Randy Mamola, with two of those wins at Sil­ver­stone, said: “We now have a beau­ti­ful home because of the BRDC, and thank God for that.”

Although Eccle­stone was unable to attend, he sent a mes­sage of sup­port that read: “The new pit build­ing is a state of the art project.”

Typ­i­cally, he added: “It’s a shame it couldn’t have been done 10 years earlier.”

In offi­cially unveil­ing the plaque to declare the ‘Wing’ open, HRH the Duke of Kent said: “This is a tremen­dous day for Silverstone.

“So imag­ine what a great day it is for me as pres­i­dent in chief to be here for this important event.

“The fact it remains one of the most impor­tant cir­cuits, not just here, in Europe, but the world, is down to the ded­i­ca­tion of the BRDC.

“What a build­ing this is, and it will be cen­tral to the future of this cir­cuit. There’s no doubt the future looks very excit­ing and innovative.

“I am very con­fi­dent the Sil­ver­stone Wing will not just become the recog­nis­able face of Sil­ver­stone, but the cen­tre and piv­otal point of world motor sport.”

 

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