There’s a brand-new racetrack just outside the office window at the Dovenby Hall headquarters of British motorsport engineering business M-Sport in the Lake District.
Strangely, the boss says he hasn’t driven around it much. That’s hard to believe when the boss in question is former British rally champion Malcolm Wilson, who just happens to have a collection of cars that would thrive in regular track exercise. He’s currently more concerned with who else might like to come and use his 1.7-mile, £25 million investment than roaring around it himself, but he shouldn’t worry: I reckon plenty will.
Today, Wilson is taking a couple of hours out to give us the dime tour in a 632bhp Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT – this week’s road test subject (p34) – we’ve brought along. He’s not really a Porsche fan, he says, but his better half is – and funnily enough, she’s about to take delivery of a Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. It will replace her Panamera, to make life ferrying around their grandchildren easier.
So what does a motorsport engineering company mostly concerned with rallying want with a race circuit?
“Seventy per cent of the rallying in which our cars now compete is on Tarmac,” explains Wilson. “We’ve developed racing cars as well over the years. So it’s a very useful thing.”
But the new track isn’t intended solely for M-Sport. It’s a key business asset being offered, along with M-Sport’s technical facilities, to the wider automotive and motorsport industries for vehicle engineering and development, as well as events.
Denne historien er fra July 20, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 20, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
MG 4
An EV changes your driving style - but not to the detriment of pleasure
PEUGEOT E-208
Time with our French hatch is up. Is it good riddance or au revoir?
In the hot seat
Is the best automotive job in the world actually in miniature scale? Hot Wheels' design boss assures STEPHEN DOBIE it is
Correcting the record
Autocar invented the road test back in 1928 - or did we? KEITH JONES trawls the past to find the true starting point
Road test rebooted
As the Autocar road test forges into its second century, its brief is expanding and it's returning to a familiar place. MATT SAUNDERS explains
Cyber attack
MG is back on the international stage and now trying to return to its sports car roots. MATT SAUNDERS sees if the Cyberster EV can match up to a rival from the present and a relation from the past
KIA PICANTO
As rivals fall by the wayside, Kia's popular city car gets a makeover
MASERATI GRANTURISMO
Latest coupé in a long line of Maserati GT cars hits the UK with V6 power
PORSCHE CAYENNE GTS COUPE
New V8 model gets all the goodies
TOYOTA PRIUS
Back by popular demand with a cool new look and greater driver appeal