Rockingham Speedway (UK) The Final Curtain Falls

Me and my fellow Drone Seeker captured this famous race track about a week ago. This is my short version. Please check out Owen's excellent version here.    • Rockingham Speedway  
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Rockingham Speedway, Corby, Northamptonshire, UK once attracted crowds in their thousands to come and watch some amazing races.
That the first purpose-built banked oval built in the UK since Brooklands in 1907 could be shuttered as a venue after just 17 years is almost as hard to comprehend as the circuit existing in the first place.

Built on a disused British Steel quarry site in Corby, Rockingham was conceived as an American-style high-speed oval test track, with a bold plan to attract the US-based CART Champ Car World Series for Indy-style machines. It took ten years of planning before the £70 million venue was built in 23 months.
t opened in 2001, with the first CART race held there on 22 September 2001. It was a troubled start: water seeping through the track surface delayed running, and the 500km race was eventually shortened to 300km due to time constraints.

The race itself was largely processional, with the 1.5-mile oval's tight, low-banked turns not conducive to side-by-side racing, although it was enlivened by Gil de Ferran overtaking future McLaren Automotive test driver Kenny Bräck at the final turn to snatch the win (pictured below). The CART World Series returned in 2002, with Brit Dario Franchitti taking victory.
But despite producing some good racing, the circuit doesn’t hold as much appeal for drivers or spectators as other venues. It doesn't, for example, have the history of Silverstone (located just 40 miles away), the flowing challenge of Oulton Park or the elevation changes of Brands Hatch.

That’s perhaps because it lacks in atmosphere: it’s as flat, featureless and glamorous as you’d expect an old British Steel quarry located next to an industrial estate in Corby to be.

To host a crowd of 55,000-plus, the venue has five big grandstands, although two of them haven’t been open since the last CART race. They probably contain seats that have never been sat in. Due to safety concerns related to subsidence, only the main grandstand has been in use this year.

With 2019 events for both the British Touring Car Championship and GT series having been cancelled already, and no activity planned for the year ahead, it very much looks like England is about to loose one of its most dramatic and diverse racing venues in many years.

Filmed using the Mavic 2 pro