Porsche to Build Driving Centre Track at Silverstone
24.April, 2007 @15:04 Tech News
Porsche Cars Great Britain has been granted planning permission to build an all-new driving training facility adjacent to the world famous Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Ground will be broken on the site this summer and it should become operational by summer 2008.
The world class training facility, named the “Porsche Driving Experience Centre Silverstone”, will be built on a 10.2 hectare plot that is on the outside of Becketts corner on the Grand Prix circuit. Once complete, it will allow every customer of a new Porsche in the UK to receive expert tuition on the performance capabilities and safety systems of their cars.
At the entrance to the Porsche facility will be the bespoke Driving Centre featuring distinctive Porsche architectural cues, which will make it a future landmark at Silverstone. It will not only house reception and display areas for Porsche vehicles but also a restaurant and an innovative Porsche Human Performance Centre. This will offer fitness assessments and instruction in techniques aimed at improving stamina, coordination and reaction times for drivers of all levels.
The top floor of the building will offer a platform with panoramic views of the Porsche track and Grand Prix circuit. The technology of the building will however be more than skin deep as it will utilize geothermic heat extraction and heat recovery systems which will significantly lower its electricity usage and hence its environmental impact.
The track itself will allow Porsche customers to be instructed through a variety of different situations in wet and dry conditions, as well as simulating ice and snow driving with the use of specially constructed surfaces. Furthermore, the track has been designed to allow it to be split into four separate areas that can be used independently of each other or connected together to form a longer handling circuit with a length of 3.1km.
Andy Goss, Managing Director, Porsche Cars Great Britain commented: “The facility at Silverstone is a major investment for Porsche GB and it will allow us to create a unique experience for customers that cannot be bettered in the UK market. It makes perfect sense for us to combine our driving experience activity into one venue and this location is perfect with over 70% of our UK customers being within a two hour drive of the Silverstone area.”
Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited, said: “This is a very exciting development for Silverstone and a great partnership with Porsche - a truly iconic and prestigious brand. We will work closely with the Porsche team over the coming months to ensure that this project, the first phase of the Silverstone Masterplan, realises the partnership at the Home of British Motorsport.”
Porsche GB has been running its driver training experience programme in the UK for over 7 years and last year over 7,500 owners participated.
