Donington Park acquired by Motor Sport Vision

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Jonathan Palmer's Motor Sport Vision business has finalised a deal to acquire Donington Park race track, and will also lease the Donington Park Estate from the Wheatcroft family for an initial 21-year period.

Donington Park hosts the British round of the World Superbike championship, as well as events in British Superbikes (BSB) and the British Touring Car Championship. The Estate as a whole includes the Donington Park Grand Prix collection and hosts the Download music festival.

MSV already owns Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park and Bedford Aerodrome race tracks in the UK, and has been linked to a possible purchase of Silverstone from the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC).

Donington not interested in hosting British GP

Donington Park last week rejected suggestions that it might be in the running to take over the British Grand Prix if Silverstone opts to terminate its existing contract with the FIA and FOM to host the event.

MSV currently holds the commercial and running rights for BSB, as well as the BRDC British Formula 3 championship.

“I am thrilled that MSV has now acquired the Donington circuit business,” said Palmer, himself a former Formula One driver and also father of current Renault F1 driver Jolyon Palmer.

"Donington has incredible history, being the first permanent road circuit in the country and the only circuit upon which the mighty pre-war Auto Unions and Mercedes Grand Prix cars raced in the 1930s," he said.

“Donington is a good British circuit that deserves further investment, energy and expertise in order to make it truly outstanding, and MSV will provide this.

"We plan a great new era for Donington, with some exciting new events and much enhanced quality of experience for all of its customers, whether spectators, competitors and track day participants, together with even better value.

"Donington has had a turbulent time over the last ten years, though thankfully Kevin Wheatcroft and his team have now recovered the damage done by the previous owner of the business."

The deal will still need formal approval from the regulatory authorities before it can be finalised.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.