There is no place better than Northamptonshire if you want to surround yourself in motorsport tradition. With three major circuits and the home of the current Formula 1 construction World Champions, Brawn GP, it is hard to think that there are many other counties that offer as much to petrol heads than Northants does. Motorsport, excuse the pun, drives the Northants economy with many tourists filtering into the shire, staying at the accommodation on offer and eating the food produced from neighbouring fields which really emphasises the importance of Silverstone clinching a 17 year renewal of the British Grand Prix. With the metaphorical beehive in place for the next 17 years, Northamptonshire’s tourism board can rely on swarms of tourists flocking the county, even if primarily it is over the weekend of the British Grand Prix.
Hosting the British Grand Prix is more than the weekend event of hosting the world’s greatest drivers; it gives the region status, making Northampton renowned for motorsport. Companies and groups of friends will arrange business or pleasure at Silverstone as it is the home of the British Grand Prix. If the Donington Circuit had been ready in time, it would have taken the race and the allure of being the number one Grand Prix track in the country and the tourism in Northants would have subsided greatly. Hotels in Northamptonshire relying on premium prices over the Formula 1 weekend would have suffered the most, as it would be a given that hotels surrounding Northampton would have been full and booked up months in advance. The other Northants based motorsport venues of Santa Pod and Rockingham Speedway don’t have the same prestige to that of Silverstone, yet still attracts a great number of tourists to the county. Many hotels near Rockingham Speedway market themselves to the speedway fans looking for accommodation near the track at the time which is a nice little strategy, knowing that there will be influxes of businesses throughout the year for company team building parties, stag do’s and the racing fans.
Businesses have formed on the back of the success of the counties motorsport heritage, with a variety of motoring engineering programmes to driving schools, teaching prospective racing drivers how to rally a car. Simply by typing ‘Northamptonshire motorsport’ into Google generates the great variety of businesses relying on someone searching on the relatively geographical phrase.
For the next 17 years Northamptonshire’s motor industry is in safe hands, as is the tourism that goes hand in hand with world sport. Here’s to the next 17 years of Northamptonshire hosting the British Grand Prix, with hopefully more British drivers emulating the current achievements of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button.
JG Ireland is a Northamptonshire resident, living on the border of four other counties; Rutland, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. Now working for the Hunting Lodge Hotel, Ireland keeps account of local developments and covers the area, helping tourists not only find hotels in Corby, near Northamptonshire but also helps businesses with team building events and accommodation. Hotels near Rockingham Speedway are dime a dozen, yet if you want targeted service, then check out the Hunting Lodge Hotel.