Pembrey Circuit is being developed to improve its layout and racing.
The new courses which will be available for track and rallycross use this season have been shown in a video on YouTube. which was posted last night.
Circuit manager Phil Davies has been instrumental in pushing through the new plans with the British Automobile Racing Club and Llanelli Council, which lease the former RAF site to the club.
Up to now, Pembrey has been the poor relation in the BARC family and been starved of publicity and funding by the national club despite being a very profitable component in the club’s accounts.
The new investment and development has been made as a result of the publicity brought about by the proposals for Circuit of Wales which has focussed attention on Wales as a motor sporting centre.
If it gets the go-ahead, the proposed new track could draw attention, spectators and competitors away from Pembrey so the West Wales centre had little choice but to invest and develop.
Last week it was announced that the Extreme Sports company will build a multi-million pound centre as part of the development at the CoW site above Ebbw Vale but the Welsh Government has yet to decide if and what level of assistance it will give to the new circuit.
Ironically, Pembrey was opened in May 1989 as a direct result of the desire by the Welsh Racing Drivers Association to have a national circuit after Llandow lost its racing licence in 1997 due to lack of investment, having been opened by Graham Hill in 1963.
The venue between Llanelli and Carmarthen has not only hosted F3, BTCC and FIA Rallycross but also other international car, bike and truck races, and it’s one of the country’s leading secure testing circuits with few noise restrictions. Ayrton Senna is said to have set the fastest unofficial lap record when testing a McLaren and described it as one of his most loved circuits due to its complexity and challenges for a driver.
It is also home to Carlin motor sport academy which has tutored among others, Jenson Button, and there is a performance driving school at the circuit.
Full details of the new development will be released later today.