# Leafield Technical Centre (Formula one HQ) – Oxford – June 2016



## mockney reject (Jun 20, 2016)

_The History_

Leafield Technical Centre is a former radio transmission station, now turned motorsports centre of excellence, located in the hamlet of Langley, in the western part of the village of Leafield in Oxfordshire, England.

Developed from 1912 as a radio transmission station by the General Post Office, it was decommissioned by successor company British Telecom in 1986. BT Group redeveloped the site as a training college, but then closed the site in 1993 

Sold to a commercial property company, the site was then leased by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) as a motorsport development centre for the Arrows Formula One team, until the team's demise in the 2002 season. From the 2006 season until the 2008 season Leafield Technical Centre was the headquarters of the now-defunct Super Aguri F1team.

Menard Competition Technologies were then based at Leafield Technical Centre. MCT has made the engines for Norton Motorcycles' range of Commando 961 models since 2009. 

In January 2012, it was announced that the Caterham F1 team would be moving to Leafield from their original base at Hingham, Norfolk and 8 months later, Caterham F1 Team eventually completed their relocation to Leafield Technical Centre

The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British, owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a Malaysian licence. The Caterham brand had competed in the Formula One World Championship from 2012 to 2014, following the acquisition of British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars by former owner and team principal Tony Fernandes, forming the Caterham Group. 

In July 2014, Tony Fernandes and his partners announced that they had sold the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors. The "Caterham" name was later used under licence after the Caterham Group separation.

In October 2014, Caterham entered administration and did not attend a race weekend for the first time in its history beginning from the United States Grand Prix. In November 2014, after also missing the Brazilian Grand Prix, Caterham became the first F1 team ever to resort to crowdfunding, enabling it to race at the final Grand Prix for 2014 and take part in end of season testing both held in Abu Dhabi. On 27 February 2015, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) published a revised entry list with Manor Marussia being reintroduced and Caterham being removed from the list,[6] and by March of the same year, the team's assets were put up for auction, spelling the official demise of the team.

The 28-acre site includes 150,000 sq. ft. of buildings, a mix of modern offices, traditional Cotswold stone buildings and industrial properties. 

BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Jonjo Lyles said: “With its mixture of property types the site lends itself to a number of different uses and will be of interest to a variety of potential occupiers.”

BNP Paribas and Carter Jonas will be seeking offers in excess of £5.5 million and are inviting expressions of interest from potential purchasers.

_The Explore_

I first spotted this in a report elsewhere and then in another on here, so whilst @slayaaaa and myself were in that neck of the woods we couldn’t resist a cheeky little explore.

As we pulled up outside it was hard to believe the place had been shut for over a year. It looked as if it was just shut for the weekend. So we hopped the wall and wandered in.

We decided to check out the little out buildings first and were gobsmacked to find a lot of moulds and drawings relating to the F1 stuff that had been built there. Some of the moulds were instantly recognisable as parts of the cars others less so. It was surprising to find technical drawings and data left behind, 
Along with folders containing hundreds of letters of fan mail. 

We then moved into the main building which if we didn’t know again could still have been active. After a good wander around here, taking in the various offices, workshops, stores etc. we left and climbed the tower next door to get the all-important aerial shot.

Sorry about the picture overload but there was a lot to see


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## Sam Haltin (Jun 20, 2016)

That's very good, and the place is so clean. You've captured a bit more which makes this interesting.


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## jammy (Jun 20, 2016)

Wowzers, I like that a lot, a bit different to the usual dereliction explore...


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## Richard Davies (Jun 20, 2016)

I'm liking the floor with the cars & track layouts.


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## Potter (Jun 22, 2016)

That really is mint.


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## night crawler (Jun 22, 2016)

Surprised the place is still empty but makes a good explore. Nice work there


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## smiler (Jun 22, 2016)

That's a little bit good MR, when the pics are this good the more the merrier, I loved it, Thanks


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## flyboys90 (Jun 22, 2016)

Great history info write up and photos.


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## UrbanX (Jul 7, 2016)

Just perfect. Love this place! 
Thanks for sharing


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