Daytona Motorsport

Daytona Motorsport Ltd is a motorsports company that owns and runs karting circuits in Milton Keynes, Manchester and Sandown Park (with a location previously in Lydd). It caters for drivers aged 6–80 years old and holds monthly "Inkart" championships. Graduates from the individual circuits include Formula First champion Alex Kapadia, Formula Renault race winner Ivan Taranov, as well as Robert Huff and Howard Fuller. BRDC Formula 4 driver Jordan Albert also originated from this track, as well as several established Super One drivers (mostly in the Cadet classes).

It holds other events, including Daytona's exclusive DMAX national championships and the Open Endurance Karting Championship, as well as corporate karting events. Famous drivers to complete Daytona's race school include GP2 driver and Mercedes F1 team's test/reserve driver, Sam Bird.

Daytona Motorsport was founded in 1990[1] by Charles Graham, the CEO of the Daytona Group Along with a group of senior directors, his brother Jim Graham, helps running the company, and primarily the TW Steel DMAX Championship, as Marketing Director. The Daytona Group began with indoor karting circuits across London in the 1990s, with limited staff.

The organisation was purchased by Brands Hatch Leisure Group in 1998, which was in turn purchased by Octagon in 1999. In June 2003 the founders of Daytona bought back the organisation.[2]

Notable people that have utilised the Daytona circuits include Sam Bird, Viktor Jensen and Duncan Tappey, as well as Formula 1 racers Lewis Hamilton, Martin Brundle, David Coulthard and Damon Hill.[2]

Venues

Daytona's first venue was an indoor ciruit at Wood Lane, London, which opened in 1990. It was followed by a second indoor circuit in London in 1992. The two circuits were joined together to form a "GP Circuit" in 1994, which was visited by Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock.[2]

As of 2015 Daytona operates three venues in Manchester, Milton Keynes and Surrey.[3]

The circuit in Manchester in November 2014.

Daytona's Manchester venue is located near to Old Trafford. The indoor course[3] is located in a purpose-built, heated 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) venue that opened in October 2000.[1]

The Milton Keynes venue opened in 1996 as "Daytona International".[2] The venue has three outdoor circuits: an "international circuit" with a length of 1,360 metres (4,460 ft) with 11 corners; a "national circuit" with a length of 900 metres (3,000 ft); and the "north circuit" with a length of 375 metres (1,230 ft).[4]

The venue at Sandown Park, Surrey, has two outdoor circuits. Its "GP Circuit" is 900 metres (3,000 ft) long with eight corners and several straights, while its "Indy Circuit" is 475 metres (1,558 ft) long with five corners and some short straights. The venue has both single and twin-engine karts.[5]

At the Milton Keynes and Sandown Park venues, Daytona have a large fleet of Cadet (Honda Single 160cc), Junior (Honda Single 200cc), Senior (Sodi Single 390cc), and DMAX (Birel 2-stroke 125cc) karts to cater for any driver. At the indoor Manchester venue, Daytona run similar karts but with slightly less power due to the nature of the circuit.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daytona Motorsport.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "About Daytona Motorsport". Daytona Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Daytona Motorsport History". Daytona Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Daytona Venues". Daytona Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Daytona Milton Keynes - Outdoor Karting Centre". Daytona Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Daytona Sandown Park". Daytona Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2015.