Formula One news

Donington owner Tom Wheatcroft dies

Tom Wheatcroft, the owner of Donington Park, passed away on Saturday morning after suffering a long illness. The man after whom the current start/finish straight is named after purchased the venue in the 1970s and was 87 years old at the time of his death.

With Donington having lost out this week on its chance to host the British Grand Prix next year, site owner Wheatcroft was no longer an active part of the management at the Leiscestershire track, which is run by Simon Gillett's Donington Ventures Leisure Limited (DVLL).

Having been a supporter of motorsport for his entire life, Wheatcroft visited pre-war Donington to follow the progress of some of the earliest Grand Prix cars before the inaugeration of the World Championship in 1950. In 1971, the Englishman purchased the venue following success in the construction industry.

Donington has long been recognised as a circuit on which every corner represents a passing opportunity and has hosted many classic races during the reign of Wheatcroft, not least the stunning drivers of Nigel Mansell in Round 12 of the 1998 British Touring Car Championship and Ayrton Senna's climb to victory in a wet European Grand Prix of 1993, the track's only ever Formula One race.

The Wheatcroft & Son company was in the news in April of this year when announcing that DVLL owed no less than £2.47 billion in unpaid rent, a matter which was later rectified between the two parties.

GPUpdate.net wishes to pass on its own condolences to the family and friends of Tom Wheatcroft.

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