Motorsport
Motorsport in the UK
The Thames Valley is at the heart of the UK’s high-performance technology cluster, perhaps better known as ‘Motorsport Valley’ – a global destination for engineering, innovation and business development. ‘Motorsport Valley’ employing thousands of people, including an estimated 25,000 skilled engineers.
The UK is also home to Formula E, with approximately 4,300 companies operating in this sector. The nation is currently Europe’s second largest market for plug-in vehicles and its biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles with over 14,000 public charge points available across the UK. Currently, according to the Motorsport Industry Association, 70% of UK motorsport businesses export their products and services abroad and the US is the UK’s largest export market.
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Motorsport in the Thames Valley
Silverstone is the epicentre of F1 and is famous around the globe for its race circuit. Home to British Motorsport for more than 50 years, it is host to international events such as the Formula 1 British Grand Prix and the British round of MotoGP. The breadth and depth of companies in the resultant supply chain, together with the technical expertise and innovative minds within the cluster, are unique across the world.
Silverstone hosts a range of companies including Ducati, Porsche and David Brown Automotive, in addition to these, the park is also home to race teams and engineering companies like Delta Motorsport, EDM Precision Engineering and Alan Docking Racing.
Silverstone Park, sitting at the centre of Motorsport Valley, has become an integral part of the continuing global success of this industry. This growing motorsport community there, to which more motorsport companies are
regularly added, is delivering increasing employment and wealth to the area.
Chris Aylett, CEO, Motorsport Industry Association
Silverstone Park has the potential to be the largest Technology Park in Great Britain, and a global destination for engineering, innovation and business development. Over 80 High Performance and Technology businesses are situated at Silverstone Park; a designated Enterprise Zone at the heart of the UK’s High Performance and Technology cluster.
Silverstone Park sits at the heart of the UK’s motorsport cluster, with easy access to skills and the Silverstone brand. Companies can benefit from past heritage, presented with a modern twist of high-tech success and prestige.
If you are in the car or motorbike business then Silverstone Park is the place to be to help attract skilled people, get access to the supply chain and promote your business and brand.
Roz Bird, Commercial Direct, MEPC, Silverstone Park
Thames Valley Businesses and Teams
Many F1 motor-racing teams are based in Motorsport Valley, including Williams; Renault; Red Bull and Haas F1, and the region is fast becoming a growing base for international Tier 1 and 2 suppliers.
Haas F1
Based in Oxfordshire are Haas F1, whose European base in Banbury allows for quicker and easier access to the team’s overseas suppliers, as well as streamlining logistics for when the team travels to Formula One venues in Europe.
Andretti Autosport
Headquartered in Indianapolis, US, Andretti Autosport has recently chosen to relocate its UK-based Formula E team operations from Donnington Park in Leicestershire to Banbury, Oxfordshire.
With strong ties to several marques, including BMW, Honda and Volkswagen, the team is owned by former CART Series champion Michael Andretti.
Xtrac
A Thatcham-based automotive and motorsport specialist that designs and manufactures high-performance transmissions used by motorsport teams around the globe, Xtrac recently opened its new manufacturing facility extension.
Prodrive
In the broader motorsport arena, Prodrive has facilities across Motorsport Valley and have run programmes for major names including Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Ford, Honda and Subaru.
Their unrivalled experience and engineering capability means they can develop competition cars and run them in almost any series in the world.
Uniti
Announcing its plans to establish an electric vehicle ‘pilot production plant’ at Silverstone Park, this is the first of several planned initiatives for Uniti to settle in the UK. The facility will be used to produce their electric car, aligning with the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
Williams
Located in the Thames Valley, the Williams F1 team has 130 staff with 90 qualified engineers. Its conference centre is home to the largest private collection of Formula One cars in the world.
Based in Grove, Oxfordshire, the FI team exists purely to race in the top echelon of motor racing, where it has been winning grands prix for more than three decades.
Education and Training
Motorsport Valley has a range of universities with industry-specific courses, such as Aerodynamics, Engine Design and Tyre Dynamics, from which to recruit highly-skilled graduates. These include: University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University, Cranfield, Coventry, Warwick, Buckingham and Leicester.
Oxford Brookes University offers an MSc in Racing Engine Design, the only programme of its kind in the world, helping feed the talent pool required by Motorsport Valley. The University also boasts a fully equipped Automotive Laboratory and a Thermodynamics Laboratory, which supports the engine testing programmes within the department.