VIRGIN Racing have confirmed that they will move their Formula One operation out of Rotherham.
The Dinnington team have begun developing a new purpose-built facility at Banbury in Oxfordshire, meaning Team Principal John Booth has lost his fight to keep the team in South Yorkshire.
Virgin will make the move to concentrate their commitments with Banbury currently housing their technical base. It will also be nearer to the Woking headquarters of McLaren, Virgin having also forged a link with the F1 giants to utilise their state-of-the-art technology base.
Rotherham-born Booth admits he’s disappointed at the news—but says it won’t be the end of the Dinnington operation.
Speaking from the Suzuka circuit in Japan, where Virgin race this weekend, he told the Advertiser: “The bulk of the stuff from Dinnington is already on the way to Banbury and we will be housed there from around November onwards."