RACING will return to Arlington Stadium after Spedeworth Motorsports reached an agreement with the Dugard family to take on a full lease of the venue.
The dramatic announcement comes just days after serious infrastructure and safety concerns appeared to have brought more than 60 years of motorsport at the stadium to an end.
However, Spedeworth has warned that racing cannot resume until extensive remedial work has been completed.
Managing directors Deane and Janet Wood met with the Dugard family today and confirmed afterwards that an agreement had been reached over the stadium’s future.
In a statement, they said: “Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne racing is saved!
“First of all, we would like to thank the Dugard family for trusting Spedeworth Motorsports to have a full lease on the stadium.
“We met the Dugard family today and have come up with an agreement for a lease on the stadium, but the stadium cannot reopen until all of the remedial work required at the venue is completed.”
No date has yet been given for the return of racing, with the scale and cost of the necessary work still to be established.
Spedeworth acknowledged that bringing the venue back into use would require a considerable investment of both time and money.
Supporters have already suggested launching a crowdfunding campaign to contribute towards the repairs, an idea welcomed by the promoter.
The company said: “We are aware that people have offered to do a GoFundMe page and this would be appreciated.”
Once a full schedule of work has been prepared, Spedeworth intends to approach relevant companies and ask whether they can help with the project.
It added: “Once we have the list of work that needs to be done, we will be writing a press release to ask any companies which do any type of the work that may need to be done to help us out.
“This information is all we can release at this stage, but the good news is racing at Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne will return.”
The stadium’s future was thrown into doubt after Spedeworth announced that it had been told oval racing could no longer continue at the venue.
Joint owner Eric Dugard subsequently told the BBC that the decision had been caused by “ongoing serious infrastructure problems” directly affecting the health and safety of spectators and competitors.
He said more than £250,000 had already been spent in recent years on improvements including an electrical overhaul and additional parking.
Further work was required before racing could continue, including the replacement of approximately 600 metres of wire mesh fencing designed to protect spectators from debris.
Mr Dugard said at the time that completing the work would take many months and involve considerable expense, making the stadium’s future as a commercially viable motorsport venue appear unrealistic.
The threat to racing prompted an outpouring of support from fans, drivers and residents. An online petition started by Jesse Wilkes attracted more than 1,400 signatures as campaigners called for businesses, councils and the wider community to help preserve the historic track.
Today’s agreement now offers Arlington a route back to racing, although significant work remains before spectators and competitors can return.
Spedeworth has promised to release further details when the necessary repairs have been fully identified.
