JULY 17, 2012

Caterham prepares for Leafield move

The Caterham F1 team trucks have left their base at Hingham in Norfolk, UK, for the last time. When they return from the Hungarian GP at the end of the month, it will be to the Leafield Technical Centre in Oxfordshire, the new global base for the motorsport, automotive and technology businesses of the Caterham Group.

The Caterham F1 team trucks have left their base at Hingham in Norfolk, UK, for the last time. When they return from the Hungarian GP at the end of the month, it will be to the Leafield Technical Centre in Oxfordshire, the new global base for the motorsport, automotive and technology businesses of the Caterham Group.

A complete renovation of the site, in the heart of the UK's 'motorsport valley' has begun this week and the Caterham F1 team will be the first arm of the business to move into Leafield.

Technical director Mark Smith said: "In common with most of the current employees of the F1 team I have moved back nearer to our new base in Leafield and I am very excited about the future this gives us.

"One of the immediate benefits is in attracting people to come and work with us. Since I joined the team last year I have been aware that there have been people we wanted to bring to Norfolk who were reluctant to move their families out of motorsport valley, where all the UK-based F1 teams and their associated supply chains and partners are based.

"There has never been an issue with people not sharing our vision, but it was undeniable that geography may have prevented us from expanding at quite the rate we want to. Now Leafield is open, we have no barriers."