Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over 2 miles (3 km) long and is based on the lands of an airfield, but has long since moved on from being a basic airfield circuit. The circuit holds meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbike and Pickup Truck Racing race series. North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in that region and also partly in North East England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ... The British Superbike series is the leading motorsport motorcycle racing championship in the United Kingdom. ... The British Formula Three Championship is an annual series of motor races. ... Pickup Truck Racing Is a motor racing series which competes between April/May and November at oval and road course circuits across the UK. // Pete Wilkinson at speed on the oval at Rockingham The dates for the 2006 season are as follows: Tony Mumford leads the pack at Thruxton Back... “km” redirects here. ... “Miles” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carlin Motorsport is a Formula 3 team founded by Trevor Carlin. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in that region and also partly in North East England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ... The British Superbike series is the leading motorsport motorcycle racing championship in the United Kingdom. ... Pickup Truck Racing Is a motor racing series which competes between April/May and November at oval and road course circuits across the UK. // Pete Wilkinson at speed on the oval at Rockingham The dates for the 2006 season are as follows: Tony Mumford leads the pack at Thruxton Back...

History

The first records of racing at Croft date back to the 1920s, but it was after World War 2 that Croft circuit became a significant motor-sport venue.

At the beginning of World War II an airfield named RAF Croft was built on the site now occupied by the circuit. Croft Aerodrome as it was known, was mainly used as a bomber base, it was home to a number of different aircraft, including; Wellington, Lancaster, Whitley, Stirling and Halifax. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... RAF Croft, known locally as Croft Aerodrome or Neasham, opened in 1941 and served as a Second World War Royal Air force Bomber Command station. ... The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three twin-engine, front-line medium bombers in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. // Developed from the A.W.23 bomber-transport to meet Air Ministry Specification B.3/34 and manufactured by... The Stirling was a World War II heavy bomber design built by Short Brothers. ... The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engine heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. ...

There were a number of notorious accidents mainly involving returning bombers missing their runway, one bomber made it all the way back from Germany only to crash into a tree at Atley Hill, about 4 miles (6 km) away, all the crew were killed. The dead stump of the tree survived as a grim memorial on Atley Hill until it was grubbed out by the landowner in the mid 1990s.

Croft Aerodrome was home to a number of squadrons including 419 Squadron from Canada. The platforms at the nearby Eryholme railway station were often crowded with airmen and ground crew during the war years. The verges along the public access road to Croft Aerodrome were used to store racks of bombs and other military equipment, a fascinating attraction to local children at the time. Eryholme railway station sometimes referred to as Dalton Junction, was a station between Northallerton and Darlington on the East Coast Main Line, It was also the start of the disbanded Eryholme-Richmond branch line. ...

At the end of hostilities the aerodrome was abandoned by the RAF, it is still possible to see some military era buildings and structures surviving on nearby farmland, though most of the major structures such as hangars have been demolished and used as hardcore in the nearby villages of North Cowton, Dalton-on-Tees and Croft-on-Tees. RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF... Croft-on-Tees is a village in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. ...

In 1947 businessman and councillor John Neasham acquired the lease to the land and formed Darlington and District Aero Club. However, the club folded after only 5 years and the airfield fell into disuse.

Motorists began using the land as an unofficial play area and then in 1962 Bruce Ropner and fellow enthusiasts bought half the venue at public auction, completing a track on the site in July 1964. The first meeting on 3 August 1964 attracted a crowd of between 30,000 and 50,000 people. is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ...

Over the years the circuit has played host to many famous names and has hosted national and international meetings. However, slowly attention focussed on circuits in the south of England such as Brands Hatch and Silverstone and in late 1967 Croft began hosting rallycross instead of tarmac based events. Croft held the FIA Inter-Nations cup events of 1987 and 1990. Brands Hatch is a British motor racing circuit. ... Map sources for Silverstone at grid reference SP670440 Silverstone is a medium sized village in Northamptonshire, England. ... This article refers to the European autosport of Rallycross. ...

With the attention brought by rallycross the decision was taken to reintroduce tarmac racing and became a popular host of motorcycle and car racing.

Corners 1 & 2

The penultimate corner

In 1997 the circuit underwent a major transformation - the circuit was extended to 2.127 miles (3.423 km) and new pits, paddock complex, control tower and spectator areas were constructed.

British Touring Cars and British Superbikes soon came to the circuit and they are now a regular feature on the calendar.

Controversy

In 2000, an official complaint was upheld by local residents over the noise produced by the racing car engines. This was claimed to be having an effect on some people's health, although Darlington District Council later quashed this, Croft Circuit gives a number of free tickets to local residents as compensation for the noise. Darlington is a local government district and borough in North East England. ...

Major Races

Croft has been staging major races since 1996. They are the British Touring car Championship (BTCC) along with support series Porsche Supercup, Renault Clio Cup, UK Formula Renault, UK Formula BMW, SEAT Leon Cupra Championship, British Superbike Championship, Historic Car Racing, Pickup Truck Racing. The British Touring Car Championship is a series of races for saloon cars which is held each year in the United Kingdom. ... The Porsche Michelin Supercup is the motor racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche AG. In Porsche Michelin Supercup, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) compete on asphalt track. ... The British Superbike series is the leading motorsport motorcycle racing championship in the United Kingdom. ... Pickup Truck Racing Is a motor racing series which competes between April/May and November at oval and road course circuits across the UK. // Pete Wilkinson at speed on the oval at Rockingham The dates for the 2006 season are as follows: Tony Mumford leads the pack at Thruxton Back...

Croft was left off the F3/GT calendar for 2006 but has return for the 2007 season, being held on September 8-9. Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or, in abbreviated form, F3, is a type of formula racing and a class of open-wheeler motor racing. ... Gran Turismo is Italian and Spanish for grand touring or grand tourisme. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Croft is on the Formula Palmer Audi schedule for 2007 for the final race weekend of the year, scheduled for September 22-23, 2007. A Formula Palmer Audi car. ...

External links

• Croft circuit
• BTCC

Coordinates: 54°27′21″N, 1°33′46″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...