MotorSport Vision

MotorSport Vision was founded by John Britten, Sir Peter Ogden and Jonathan Palmer in 1997. In 2004, it acquired the Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton, and Cadwell Park motor racing circuits from Octagon, a division of The Interpublic Group of Companies (which previously acquired prior owner Brands Hatch Leisure plc in November 1999).

In 2006, MSV established MotorSport Vision Racing (MSVR), which provides comprehensive car and bike racing organization capabilities for the MotorSport Vision group. MSVR organizes over 35 events annually across 10+ UK circuits. MSV's track day division, MSV Trackdays, has grown to become one of the UK's largest track day companies, organizing both novice events and advanced driver training days. In addition to PalmerSport, MSV runs driving experiences at Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Oulton Park, and Snetterton.

MSV ran the Formula Palmer Audi championship from 1998 to 2010, providing a rival to Formula Three for young drivers to progress their careers.

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 later evolved into the BRDC British F3 Championship, just before the start of the 2016 season.

In 2015, MSV completed the purchase of the freehold for a substantial former military airbase in northeastern France, which it plans to develop into a major international motorsports complex.

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 £120m. 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 [5], the race was not retained for subsequent seasons.

With financial pressures stemming from running the British Grand Prix, Octagon sold off the group of four circuits, including Brands Hatch, to the MotorSport Vision group headed by ex-F1 driver Jonathan Palmer in 2004.

Subsequently, international racing returned to Brands Hatch with a large and diverse selection of events taking place at the Kent venue including the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and the DTM (German Touring Cars). The circuit continues to play host to many major events including the American SpeedFest and the Blancpain GT Series, in addition to home-grown festivals such as Festival Italia and Deutsche Fest, plus all the major national motor racing championships, including Truck racing.