Track
Thruxton Circuit, Racing Circuit
Andover, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
Thruxton Motorsport Centre, Thruxton Circuit, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8PN
Upcoming meetings
- Jul24–25
Circuit
Thruxton Circuit sits in the Hampshire countryside near the village of Thruxton, roughly 30 miles north of Southampton, and is widely promoted as the fastest racing circuit in the United Kingdom. The site began as RAF Thruxton, a wartime airfield built in the early 1940s that served RAF and USAAF squadrons and played a role in glider operations during the D-Day landings. Motorcycle racing took to the runways and perimeter roads from 1950, with cars following in 1952, but deteriorating runway surfaces ended four-wheeled racing in the mid-1950s. The circuit was revived in its modern form in 1968 when the British Automobile Racing Club, displaced by Goodwood's closure, laid out a course following the airfield perimeter road. Its flowing high-speed corners quickly earned a reputation, with Church Corner long regarded as the quickest corner in Britain. From 1968 to 1984 Thruxton hosted the European Formula Two Championship as an Easter fixture, with Jochen Rindt taking the inaugural win and the Jochen Rindt Trophy later commemorating him. Planning restrictions limit the venue to just twelve days of motorsport each year. Today its headline meetings are rounds of the British Touring Car Championship and the British Superbike Championship. The site also houses the headquarters of the British Automobile Racing Club and remains an active airfield.
Operated by: BARC (British Automobile Racing Club)
The only layout at Thruxton. A near-oval ex-airfield circuit with only two heavy braking zones (Campbell and Club Chicane), making it deceptively challenging. Church Corner is one of the fastest corners in the UK. Damon Hill lapped in a Williams at an average of 147mph in 1993.
