MotorSport Vision (MSV) is a motorsport organisation and an operator of six UK venues. MSV has a portfolio ranging from major two- and four-wheel championships to organising the PalmerSport corporate driving event.
History
MotorSport Vision was founded by John Britten, Sir Peter Ogden and Jonathan Palmer. It purchased the Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Cadwell Park motor racing circuits in 2004.
In 2006, MSV formed MotorSport Vision Racing (MSVR), providing a complete car and bike racing organisation capability to the MotorSport Vision group. MSVR organises over 30 events annually across 10 UK circuits. MotorSport Vision's trackday division, MSV Trackdays, has grown to become one of the UK's biggest trackday companies in the past number of years and organises everything from novice events up to advanced driver training days. Alongside PalmerSport, MSV also run driving experiences at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Snetterton.
MSV also ran the Formula Palmer Audi championship from 1998 to 2010 which advanced the careers of hundreds of young drivers, nine of whom have made it all the way to Formula One.
In 2008 MSV also acquired the rights to the British Superbike Championship.
In September 2008, MotorSport Vision won an FIA tender to supply cars and operate the FIA Formula Two Championship, a new international single seater series derived from an FIA initiative to provide young drivers with the opportunity to compete in top-level racing on a competitive budget. The Formula Two cars, like Formula Palmer Audi, were assembled and prepared in a dedicated facility at Bedford Autodrome, also home to PalmerSport and FPA. This category was discontinued after 2012.
One of its founders, John Britten, died on 25 November 2009, after a long period of illness.
In 2013 MSV launched the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, selling all 24 cars within a month. The championship evolved to become the BRDC British F3 Championship shortly before the start of the 2016 season.
In 2015, MSV completed the freehold purchase of a substantial former military airbase in north-east France, which it will develop into a major international motorsports complex.
On 12 January 2017, MSV announced that it would take over the Donington Park circuit business and lease to the Donington Park Estate for an initial 21-year term.
The Donington Park portfolio was expanded in 2021 with the purchase of the Donington Hall estate, including the 18th-century hall, the Hastings House and Lansdowne workshop buildings, with plans to create a 40-bedroom hotel, a stabling facility for supercars, classic cars and motorbikes and workshops for high-end motor engineering businesses.
In August 2021, the BRDC British F3 Championship was rebranded as the GB3 Championship, and a month later, the creation of the GB4 Championship was also announced, for young drivers graduating from karting, club racing or junior saloons.
New plans were announced for the French Couvron facility in 2022, with the circuit described as being the first self-sufficient eco driving and race circuit. It will be powered entirely by renewable energy generated from a solar park on the same site.
Circuits
Brands Hatch
In 1986, John Foulston bought Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Snetterton circuits from Grovewood Securities and established the Brands Hatch Leisure (BHL) company. The following year, the company acquired Cadwell Park before Foulston died testing a McLaren M15S Offenhauser at Silverstone. Ownership of BHL passed to his wife Mary, but the company was run by John Webb until 1990, when daughter Nicola Foulston took over the running. In that time, Brands Hatch hosted higher-profile series such as Formula 3000 and Superbike World Championship racing. 1988 saw further changes to the circuit layout, with a chicane added at Dingle Dell Corner, while Westfield Bend and Graham Hill Bend were tightened. New pits and a corporate entertainment facility were added in the late-1990s.
In 1999, Foulston announced that Brands Hatch had acquired the rights to the British Grand Prix from 2002. Whilst discussions were ongoing with regards to planning permission to bring the circuit up to F1 requirements, Foulston sold BHL to Octagon Motorsports (a subsidiary of Interpublic) for £120 m. Octagon, however, failed to obtain the necessary planning permission and instead decided to lease Silverstone in order to host the Grand Prix. However, high-profile single-seater racing did return to Brands Hatch in 2003, when a round of the CART series was held at the circuit. Despite attracting around 40,000 spectators the race was not retained for subsequent seasons.