Recently released documents revealed that Silverstone, the historic race track which hosts the F1 British Grand Prix, "is to be sold" for little more than £10M ($16M), according to Christian Sylt of the London INDEPENDENT. The sale price "stands in stark contrast to the construction cost of purpose-built racing circuits: a new 3.5-mile track, which is set to rival Silverstone, is being built in Wales" at a forecast cost of £250M ($398M). The Silverstone track "is ultimately owned by the British Racing Drivers Club." It now "wants to distance itself from the track," which made a £3.3M net loss last year. Although the deal for Silverstone has not yet closed, the terms were agreed on Aug. 8 "when the BRDC signed a conditional binding agreement to sell its circuit business, Silverstone Circuits Ltd, along with a separate lease of 467 acres of track-related land." Although the identity of Silverstone's new owner has not been revealed, "it is understood it wants to retain the existing circuit management" (INDEPENDENT, 11/12).
