Rockingham ‘wouldn’t survive as a track’, says CEO

Rockingham CEO Peter Hardman knew the venue “wouldn’t survive as a track” when he took the job, adding that he was disappointed with a small entry list for its final ever race meeting.

The four-time Le Mans entrant assumed his role at the circuit five years ago, during which time it has made a profit for the first time in its 17-year history.

Speaking at the Super Send-off, he told MN that the writing was on the wall when he took over the dayto-day running.

“I always knew that it wasn’t going to survive as a track because it’s not commercially viable,” he said. “It’s never made any money before, although we have gone from a £250,000 loss the year I arrived to making a £450,000 profit this year.”

When the meeting was originally announced, it was hoped that both Indy and stock cars would feature in demonstrations – both having raced at the circuit previously.

But neither materialised due to the short timeframe between when the meeting was announced two months prior, and the winter weather.

When asked if he was disappointed at a diminished entry list [the single-seater grids featured just eight cars], Hardman added: “Yeah, we were trying to do a two-day race meeting but at this time of year a lot of people have wound down.

“It’s a bit of a shame but we can only do what we can do and it was planned late in the day. I’m surprised we got so many people out, in a way.”

The final race meeting ended with a fireworks display set to the soundtrack of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ playing on the circuit PA system – the music having preceded ASCAR races.

This weekend’s Rockingham Stages Rally and a trackday will conclude the motorsport action to be held at the venue.