http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15806133

No planning application yet but talks ongoing backed by "London financiers".

Wales could be a great opportunity for a track with a lot of gradient changes. However the industrial estate named in the article appears to be relatively flat, and a dead cert for noise abatement orders from the residents of Ebbw Vale.

never gonna happen

Wales already has the finest race circuit in the British Isles - Glan-Y-Gors!

Don't think you'd get a MotoGP bike around it very fast though....

I got a Renault van round it quite fast (well it seemed fast to me, and all the stuff in the back fell over).

I liked this bit from the BBC article "delivering a low carbon automotive centre of excellence in Blaenau Gwent" - how much BS can people deliver with a straight face? It will certainly be low carbon as I doubt it will ever happen. What about Pembrey or Llandow anyway? Why not develop Llandow and save a fortune over using a greenfield site?

For one thing, it'd be nice to have another circuit that isn't a flat ex-airfield conversion.

The circuit 5th Gear use in North Wales ain't flat.

No kidding; where is money coming from again, and moreover, is this is to be in addition or in lieu of Silverstone?

Rassau Estate is a bit like a race track anyway. Wide roads and lotsa of straights, very funny place. Am a regular visitor to a customer on there.

Its also pretty flat, although the road links are pretty good with dual carriage ways.

I could not agree any higher with this statement

One of the best kart tracks anywhere

So are they proposing to evict all the commercial tenants from the Estate? That's not going to generate jobs! And with a large housing estate right next door, there are definitely never going to be any noise issues....

Sounds like they just want to extend the commercial estate and this under funded circuit that will never happen is just a carrot to waggle in front on the local nimbys as a distraction.

Something for the nimbys to score a victory and get cut from the development while the developers build what they really want.

More likely than a USGP.

When we read Bernie supports the application, we'll know it's doomed.

Anglesey is very fun to drive (at least in racing sims) so I'm looking forward to another track of that calibre...
It would be nice to see international races in Wales... have there ever been one?

British F3 has raced at Pembrey.

A British national meeting I think?
Seriously this project does not sound very promising.How about the centre of Cardiff?

My wife is from Ebbw Vale and I'm up there quite alot visiting. The place needs some form of industry and fast, and this would be excellent. I hope it becomes a reality.

It is an international series, with non-UK drivers and with races held outside the UK (eg Spa).

What about the current Rassau Industrial Estate (which was built with WDA money, I understand)? Surely that is more useful to the area than a race track used four or five weekends a year?

The old steel works site would have been a better area IMO, but I suppose with hills on either side, the noise would be awful for residents. A very flat area though. There are so many empty industrial units up there its difficult to weigh up IMO. Unemployment is about as worse as it gets up there and its not just a case of having a few units to house businesses, the area is also in need of something inspirational IMO. Kids up there just don't see the point in working in many cases. Cardiff seems like worlds away and people just don't have the money to travel for work. Parents have brought their kids up on benefit money and the kids are now at an age where they are able to look for jobs and factories like UK Can, and Corus are either gone or downgraded. In the early 90's the Garden Festival site provided alot of work and hope. Ron Skinner's has done alot for the area providing sales and driver jobs, but its not enough in the grand scheme of things. I admit a track is not going to be the answer to everybodies prayers but it has promised to bring over a thousand jobs and its just what the area needs IMO.

Well, if it brought 1000+ jobs, then I agree it would be a good thing, but I don't really see how a new track in this location is going to attract jobs. Even major tracks like Silverstone, in the heart of the UK's motorsport valley, probably barely manages that. A track in Blaenau Gwent isn't going to achieve that, or anything like it. This claim, like the one of "delivering a low carbon automotive centre of excellence in Blaenau Gwent" is just PR puff nonsense with zero substance.

A depressed area needs REAL investment, not this sort of fluff. Maybe if governments thought about reducing the fixed costs to business and the obstacles to employing people, we might make some progress in generating jobs and economic growth. But perhaps that's a topic not suited to this forum!

SILENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You speak too much sense here!

If laws and regulations in Wales is anywhere near the Swedish ones, i wouldn't hold my breath.
These guys has been at it since 1998, and they have the local community behind them.
http://www.vikingmotorpark.com/

But its not a dead project afaik.
They are finalizing the environmental permits right now according to the website.
The city council voted for it this may (they voted 47-4 in favour of it).