Tom Wheatcroft, the owner of the Donington Park race circuit which had been scheduled to stage next year's British Formula One Grand Prix, has died.
He passed away, aged 87, Saturday morning at his home in Arnesby near Leicester following a long illness.
Two years ago, Wheatcroft signed a 150-year lease for the circuit to be operated by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd, who then signed a 10-year agreement for the British Formula One Grand Prix to be staged there.
But when DVLL failed to come up with the funding needed to upgrade facilities and stage the race, the rights were taken away by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone began talks to take the race to Silverstone, which staged the GP this year, when it became clear Donington would not be staging its second F1 race.
The first time was the European Grand Prix in 1993 in what was the fulfilment of a long-held dream for Wheatcroft.
Born close to the village of Castle Donington, he built up a personal fortune estimated at £120million in the building and construction industries.
Having run a racing team in the 1960s he bought Donington Park in 1971, as part of the Donington Hall estate, at a cost of £100,000.
After rebuilding the race track he moved his classic car collection to the circuit with the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition becoming the largest collection of motor racing cars in the world.
