Scots welcome £27m 'Wing'posted in F118 | 05 | 2011
SCOTS SIR JACKIE STEWART, David Coulthard and Lewis Williamson were amongst the drivers who attended the official opening of the stunning new pits and conference complex at Silverstone. The £27 million complex — designed by the architects Populous, the company behind the London 2012 London Olympic Stadium — will be used for F1 races from this year’s British GP.
Triple champ Stewart was just one of six living F1 world champs — including John Surtees, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button — who attended the ceremony. The venue was officially opened by HRH the Duke of Kent, president in chief of the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
The towering three-storey pit complex — named the Silverstone Wing — is 390 metres long and 30 metres at its highest point and includes 41 garages, the race control building and podium, hospitality suites and VIP spectator zones, a media centre, a new spectator area towards the end of the lap, a business centre and a 100-seat auditorium.
"This new facility certainly puts Silverstone back at the highest level in terms of grands prix facilities anywhere in the world," Stewart said. "It's what the circuit has been waiting for. Silverstone has a significant historical legacy, but we maintain our place at the forefront of contemporary international motor sport.”
And Williamson, who flew to Barcelona today to begins his preparations for the second round in the GP3 Championship, was equally impressed.
"The facilities are brilliant," the 21-year-old Golspie-based racer, admitted, "and the building looks fantastic. I can't wait to come back here and race during the British Grand Prix weekend in July.
"It's been an awesome day being here and being in the company of so many legends in motorsport. But to see Valentino Rossi ride his Ducati round the circuit, and see Mark Webber drive his Red Bull F1 car into the middle of the conference room was brilliant."
The new complex is said to have been a condition of Silverstone’s most recent British GP deal, which runs through to 2026. F1’s commercial rights supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been scathing in recent years about the venue’s lack of development.
CLICK HERE our video of the official opening
CLICK HERE to see Valentino Rossi ride his Ducati at the opening
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Jim McGill