Croft Circuit

Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over 2 miles long and is based on the lands of an airfield, but has long since moved on from being a basic airfield circuit. The circuit holds meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbike and Pickup Truck Racing race series.

History

The first records of racing at Croft date back to the 1920s, but it was after World War 2 that Croft circuit became a significant motor-sport venue.

At the beginning of World War II an airfield named RAF Croft was built on the site now occupied by the circuit. Croft Aerodrome as it was known, was mainly used as a bomber base, it was home to a number of different aircraft, including; Wellington, Lancaster, Whitley, Stirling and Halifax.

There were a number of notorious accidents mainly involving returning bombers missing their runway, one bomber made it all the way back from Germany only to crash into a tree at Atley Hill, about 4 miles away, all the crew were killed. The Dead stump of the tree survived as a grim memorial on Atley Hill until it was grubbed out by the landowner in the mid 1990s.

Croft Aerodrome was home to a number of squadrons including 419 Squadron from Canada. The platforms at the nearby Eryholme railway station were often crowded with airmen and ground crew during the war years. The verges along the public access road to Croft Aerodrome were used to store racks of bombs and other military equipment, a fascinating attraction to local children at the time.

At the end of hostilities the aerodrome was abandoned by the RAF, it is still possible to see some military era buildings and structures surviving on nearby farmland, though most of the major structures such as hangars have been demolished and used as hardcore in the nearby villages of North Cowton, Dalton-on-Tees and Croft-on-Tees.

In 1947 businessman and councillor John Neasham acquired the lease to the land and formed Darlington and District Aero Club. However, the club folded after only 5 years and the airfield fell into disuse.

Motorists began using the land as an unofficial play area and then in 1962 Bruce Ropner and fellow enthusiasts bought half the venue at public auction, completing a track on the site in July 1964. The first meeting on 3 August 1964 attracted a crowd of between 30,000 and 50,000 people.

Over the years the circuit has played host to many famous names and has hosted national and international meetings. However, slowly attention focussed on circuits in the south of England such as Brands Hatch and Silverstone and in late 1967 Croft began hosting rallycross instead of tarmac based events. Croft held the FIA Inter-Nations cup events of 1987 and 1990.

With the attention brought by rallycross the decision was taken to reintroduce tarmac racing and became a popular host of motorcycle and car racing.

In 1997 the circuit underwent a major transformation – the circuit was extended to 2.127 miles and new pits, paddock complex, control tower and spectator areas were constructed.

British Touring Cars and British Superbikes soon came to the circuit and they are now a regular feature on the calendar.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

[ Anything to add? Spotted an error? Click here to improve this entry ]

Why not add your own photos?

Croft Circuit official website
wikipedia entry
British Superbikes website
Pickup Truck Racing website

[ Anything to add? Spotted an error? Click here to improve this entry ]