Thruxton Circuit
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| Location | Hampshire, England |
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| Major events | BTCC, Pickup Truck Racing, British F3, British Superbikes |
| Website | https://thruxtonracing.co.uk/ |
| Length | 3.793 km (2.356 miles) |
| Turns | 11 |
| Race lap record | 1:01.96 (Earl Goddard, Fred Goddard Racing, 2000, EuroBOSS) |
Thruxton Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England which is host of a number of motorsport events including British Touring Cars and Formula 3 racing.
Thruxton Circuit was originally constructed in 1940 as RAF Thruxton: a World War II airfield which was home to both the RAF and USAAF and was used for troop-carrying aircraft and gliders, including operations during the D-Day landings. Also, the paratroopers who took part in the successful Bruneval Raid (Operation Biting) in which German radar equipment was seized on the coast of France, took off from here.
The circuit has been used to host motor racing events since 1950; with the circuit initially being used to host motorcycle races from 1950 and motor racing since 1952.
Motorsport activities
Owing to planning restrictions, the circuit can only run 12 days of motorsport each year. Currently, three are devoted to motorbike racing, with a weekend dedicated to the British Superbike Championship, Britain’s premier motorcycle racing category; with the third day being used for club racing. The remaining days are devoted to car racing with weekends being used for the TOCA British Touring Car Championship, the British Formula 3 and British GT package and the new for 2006 Dunlop Great and British Festival, which features rounds of the British Truck Racing Championship, the International Truck Racing Challenge as well as the staples of the festival, including the Radical endurance races. Two separate one day meetings are run for amateur championships of the BARC, one of which is entitled the ‘Thruxton Classic’, which features races for Classic Touring Cars, Classic Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000. The remaining day is allocated to other organising clubs, such as the 750 Motor Club and Historic Sports Car Club. Owing to the relative infrequency of race meetings, Thruxton continues to be a popular part of the motorsport calendar.
Medical and safety services
Thruxton has a fully equipped medical centre in line with Motor Sports Association standards.
The MSA circuit licence requires a minimum of two doctors and two rescue units for a race meeting. Most meetings are operated with three rescue units plus a medical car, along with ambulances and first aiders.
Points of interest
During race weekends, a radio commentary service entitled Radio Thruxton operates on the Medium Wave band on 1602 kHz. This has commentators at the key points of the track, namely, the aforementioned Chicane and Complex as well as a pit reporter, who conducts interviews with the race winners.
Outside of motor racing, the circuit offers a driving school for aspiring racing drivers, plus featured as the venue for BBC3’s series ‘Stars in Fast Cars’.
The "Thruxton" heritage
As a result of its racing associations, the name "Thruxton" has been used for:
- Triumph Thruxton, a series of café racer motorcycles
- Velocette Thruxton, a sport motorcycle
- Thruxton handlebars, a type of motorcycle handlebar that is shaped to provide a clip-on-type handlebar position, but which clamps on top of the yoke rather than onto the fork stanchions. Thruxton handlebars are also known as "Ace 'bars" or "Clubman 'bars".
Books
Bruce Grant-Braham has written two histories of the circuit describing car racing in the 1970s and 1980s:
- "Motor Racing at Thruxton in the 1970s - Those Were The Days", published by Veloce Publishing Ltd.
- "Motor Racing at Thruxton in the 1980s - Those Were The Days", published by Veloce Publishing Ltd.
Karting circuit
Next to the main Thruxton circuit is Thruxton Karting Circuit for aspiring drivers.