Visitor centre hit by three month delay following contractor’s implosion in June

The visitor centre at the Silverstone motor racing circuit whose opening was put back months following Shaylor’s collapse is set to open in two weeks’ time.

In July, Glasgow-based Elmwood Projects was drafted in as principal contractor at the Silverstone Experience Centre after Shaylor imploded the month before.

Elmwood was already working on the £20m job as fit-out contractor at the time the Walsall-based firm sank into administration.

The centre in Northamptonshire will be run by the Silverstone Heritage charity and over the summer its chief executive Sally Reynolds admitted: “We were gutted that Shaylor Group went into administration.”

The complex had originally been due to open in time for the British Grand Prix on 14 July which was attended by more than 350,000 people over its three days – with 141,000 fans on race day itself.

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Motorcyclist Barry Sheene’s leathers and helmet as well as his 1979 Suzuki will be on display

Drawn up by Cube Design, the centre has been bankrolled with a £9.1m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is expected to attract over 500,000 visitors a year.

Work involved building a two-storey visitor centre and refurbishing a Second World War aircraft hangar

Memorabilia from current and former F1 drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Sir Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna will be on display.

Interactive experiences, including changing the tyre on a F1 car, braking in an F1 car and piloting a Wellington Bomber are all available for visitors to try.

The centre will officially open on 25 October.

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The visitor centre will display almost 200 different racing artefacts and memorabilia with hundreds more in storage