Plans now ‘more exciting’ for French MSV circuit

Motorsport Vision’s plans to build a new circuit in northern France will be “bigger than originally planned”, according to boss Jonathan Palmer.

Palmer explained that the development of a facility to be called the Laon Autodrome on the site of a former military base near Couvron-et-aumencourt, 50 miles north of Reims, remains on course. But he has revealed that a motorsport complex that will join Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Donington Park, Snetterton, Cadwell Park and Bedford Autodrome in the MSV portfolio will be significantly different to the plans announced in 2015 and subsequently given the go-ahead by local authorities in 2019.

“The development of the site and the concept are more certain than ever, but the scope of the project will be different to what was planned,” said Palmer. “It’s all going ahead, but in a much more exciting way. There’s the opportunity to unlock quite a bit more potential than we envisaged.”

MSV’S original plan for the 1270-acre site was to create a facility focused on hosting trackday and corporate events, with only a limited number of race meetings. The longest layout would have measured five miles and incorporated a 1.5-mile straight, which Palmer suggested at the time would make it ideal as a venue for a round of the World Endurance Championship in advance of Le Mans.

Palmer has refused to give further details or to lay down a timeline for the facility becoming operational. “There will be more definition of our plans in a couple of months,” he said.