Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the Fife countryside about 10 miles (16 km) north of Dunfermline. The track, initially opened in 1974, is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long and 10 metres wide and was created by joining service roads to a nearby disused mineral railway, closed in 1951, which served Lethans Colliery.
Between 1974 and 1983 the circuit had a number of different owners which helped to steadily develop the circuit's facilities and attractions. Since the 1980s, however, Knockhill has been extensively developed to a point where it is able to host rounds of most of the major British car and motorbike championships. Today Knockhill offers a range of motorsport facilities in addition to the original circuit, including an offroad track, rally stage and a go-kart track.
The circuit hosts many different events throughout the year, including the British Superbike Championship, touring cars, stock cars and various trackdays for car and bike enthusiasts. There are also many events which are exclusive to the circuit, such as legend racing and the Scottish Formula Fords.
In common with most UK circuits, Knockhill also runs experience sessions. These sessions allow people without a racing licence a chance to drive a single-seater car on the track, a rally-prepared car on a gravel stage, or drive a 4×4 in true offroad conditions, a Formula One simulator inside a real Formula One car and also be able to drive a Ferrari around the track.
The newest attraction for teenagers at Knockhill is TEEN DRIVE which allows teenagers the chance to learn about cars, road safety, how to change a wheel and a chance to get to drive a car themselves with support from a instructor.
Following the death of David Leslie in a plane crash, Knockhill is to rename a corner Leslie's Bend in his honour.
Famous quotes containing the words racing and/or circuit:
“Upscale people are fixated with food simply because they are now able to eat so much of it without getting fat, and the reason they don’t get fat is that they maintain a profligate level of calorie expenditure. The very same people whose evenings begin with melted goat’s cheese ... get up at dawn to run, break for a mid-morning aerobics class, and watch the evening news while racing on a stationary bicycle.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“The Father and His angelic hierarchy
That made the magnitude and glory there
Stood in the circuit of a needle’s eye.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)