Jaguar Land Rover scraps plans to buy Silverstone race track

LONDON (Reuters) – Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said on Monday it was no longer seeking to buy or lease Silverstone in a blow to the owners of the British Grand Prix track which had been seeking ways to boost the site’s finances.

In April, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) said it was in talks to lease the circuit’s property to Jaguar Land Rover, which had been considering turning the site into a “heritage center” to show off its luxury cars.

But after months of talks dragging on, a spokesman at Britain’s biggest carmaker said the plans had been scrapped.

“Jaguar Land Rover has endeddiscussions with theBritish Racing Drivers’ Club for the foreseeable future and is not proceeding with any plans to either lease or purchase Silverstone at this time,” he said.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Michael Holden)