History of Rockingham

Claimed as one of Europe’s fastest racing circuits, Rockingham built an extensive history in the 16 years before it entered administration, this article tells you everything there is to know about the now inactive circuit.

(Image credit to Aero England)

Rockingham Motor Speedway was constructed in 1999 and the opening meeting took place in May 2001. The Speedway was built as a banked oval with the intention of bringing American oval racing across the Atlantic for the first time. This included NASCAR Stock Cars and CART Indycars.

As a track, Rockingham had 13 configurations each of which could be used for different purposes - touring cars, motorcycles, rally cars. The oval circuit was 2.380km (1.479 mi) in length and comprised 4 distinct corners.

It is Europe’s fastest banked oval racing circuit with the unofficial lap record having been set by Tony Kanaan in his Lola B01/00 Champ Car in 2001 with a 0:24.719.

Rockingham also hosted The Rockingham Stages - the first Stage Rally at the venue in 2004 and rapidly grew to be one of the favourite events on the British stage rally calendar. The Rockingham Stages was the last competitive motorsport event to be held at the Speedway.

Between 2001-2007, Rockingham had organised and funded American-style Stockcar racing which was originally known as ASCAR (Anglo-American Stock Car Racing) and then had the name changed to “Days of Thunder” before then being changed again to SCSA (Stock Car Speed Association). The series then re-branded to the MAC Tools V8 Trophy for the final season in 2007.

Rockingham Motor Speedway was operational 356 days a year and the majority of events weren’t actually motorsport competitions. The events ranged from manufacturer product launches to dealer training, track days and testing and experience days.

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