Geely Purchases Utah Motorsports Campus
Geely’s Mitime Utah Investment, LLC Purchases 511-acre Facility
The racing facility known as Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC) has changed ownership. Following a vote by the Tooele County Commissioners, Tooele County has agreed to sell Utah Motorsports Campus to Mitime Utah Investment, LLC (Mitime).
Mitime is a subsidiary of the Geely Holding Group of China, a publicly-traded company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that is currently ranked 267 on the Fortune Global 500 list. Geely Motors is the largest private automobile manufacturer in China; in addition to its own Geely-branded cars, the company also owns the Volvo, Polestar, Proton (which includes Lotus), Lynk & Co and London Taxi Cab brands as well as the Terrafugia flying car brand. Geely operates manufacturing plants in China, the United States, England, Sweden, Belgium, Belarus, Australia and Malaysia. Geely is also the largest private shareholder of stock in Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.
The company has plans to build 10 similarly-sized racetracks in China; the first one, Ningbo International Circuit, opened in 2017 and the second track is currently under construction. Geely also owns and operates the FIA Chinese Formula 4 Championship and is preparing to launch an entry in the FIA World Touring Car Championship under the Lynk & Co banner.
“We are really excited about the future of UMC, and we have significant plans for the facility,” said Willem Geyer, CEO of UMC. “We are studying the viability of adding various race tracks, entertainment venues and supporting infrastructure that will not only solidify our position as one of Utah’s major entertainment facilities but also ensure that UMC will be a profitable venture for the first time in its history.”
Originally built as Miller Motorsports Park by the late Utah businessman Larry H. Miller and designed by renowned track designer Alan Wilson, the venue opened in 2006 to international acclaim. The track was named “Motorsports Facility of the Year” in its debut season by the Motorsports World Expo in Cologne, Germany. The campus includes a multi-configurational 4.438-mile road racing circuit, a 0.9-mile, multi-configurational kart track, an off-road short course, a rock-crawling course and the Nitro World Games rallycross track.
During its history, the circuit has hosted many of the world’s top racing series, including the FIM Superbike World Championship, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am Road Racing Championship, Pirelli World Challenge, MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, AMA Supermoto Championship, the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA), Stars of Karting and many more.
The 2019 schedule of events for UMC will be released in the near future.
