Tom Wheatcroft, the owner of the Donington Park race circuit, has died at the age of 87.
Tom Wheatcroft passes away aged 87 after a long illness
Tom Wheatcroft, the owner of the Donington Park race circuit which had been scheduled to stage next year's British Grand Prix, has died at the age of 87.
Wheatcroft, who used a fortune estimated at £120 million made in the building and construction industries to reconstruct the Leicestershire circuit, passed away on Saturday morning at his home in nearby Arnesby following a long illness.
Two years ago, Wheatcroft signed a 150-year lease for the circuit to be operated by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, who then signed a 10-year agreement for the British Grand Prix to be staged there.
But when DVLL failed to come up with the funding needed to upgrade facilities and stage the race, the rights were taken away by Formula One's commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone has since started talks with long-time host Silverstone to stage the race in 2010.
Even so, Wheatcroft did fulfil his dream of seeing Formula One at Donington when the European Grand Prix was staged there in 1993.
Born close to the village of Castle Donington, Wheatcroft ran a racing team in the 1960s and also supported the career of local driver Roger Williamson, who was tragically killed in the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.
He bought Donington Park in 1971, as part of the Donington Hall estate, at a cost of £100,000 and the track - which in its former guise had hosted grand prix motor racing prior to the Second World War - opened six years later.
After rebuilding the race track he moved his classic car collection to the circuit with the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition becoming the largest collection of motor racing cars in the world.
