Donington Park has announced, via its website, its plans for redevelopment ready for the 2010 British Grand Prix and confirmed that they have been submitted to North West Leicestershire District Council.
It has also described the news that chief operating officer Lee Gill has quit the company as part of “a planned re-structuring”.
There is currently no opportunity to view the plans on the council’s website, although it does reserve the right to keep material confidential if it wishes. And, given the fact the news has broken at 8pm on a Friday, they may well subsequently appear.
On the circuit website there is a track plan, drawings of various facilities and this statement:
Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd submitted plans for the first phase of the re-development of Donington Park with North West Leicestershire District Council on Friday 5th September.
The Parkland circuit faces massive re-development in preparation for the British Formula One Grand Prix that will be staged at the circuit in 2010. An agreement was signed between Donington Park Leisure and the FIA in July to stage the British Grand Prix for ten years, starting in 2010.
“The submission of these plans heralds the start of a massive re-development project and a new era for Donington Park. It’s an incredibly exciting time for everybody involved,” explained the circuit’s Chief Executive Officer Simon Gillett. “We are delighted with the plans and when the work is completed we will have a facility that will be the pride of World Championship motorsport.”
The 2009 programme of major events at Donington including the British Motorcycle Grand Prix and the World Superbike Championship will be unaffected by the re-development.
Donington Park will not be issuing any more releases or making any comment about the re-development until the North West Leicestershire District Council announces their decision on planning in early November.
For an analysis of the circuit changes, see this Autosport article, and for a slightly easier-to-understand redrawn version of the new circuit layout see Manipe F1 here.