Jan.6 (GMM) The son of the late Tom Wheatcroft has vowed to get Donington Park back up and running.
The track became unusable when works to get it ready to host the 2010 British grand prix stopped when the leaseholder and promoter Simon Gillett’s company failed to secure sufficient funding.
Gillett’s company has now collapsed, with the operation of the circuit returning to the Wheatcroft family. Tom Wheatcroft died at the end of October.
“I can reassure people we are doing everything we can to get things back to normal at Donington Park,” Kevin Wheatcroft, Tom Wheatcroft’s son, told the Derby Telegraph.
He explained that some parts of the circuit have already been reopened, including the museum, cafe and race control office.
Wheatcroft said the cost of repairing the sections of the track that were dug up during the abandoned F1 renovations will be about 600,000 pounds sterling.
“We want to get the place operational again,” he added, revealing that the family wants to find a new leaseholder to run the circuit.
“Hopefully we can get up and running again as soon as possible.
“It’s too big a job for us and we want to identify someone who can take it forward. There are no shortage of people interested and we have found 12 potential buyers for the lease in just 12 days,” said Wheatcroft.