Anger at wasted trip to race track

The company behind the liquidated Three Sisters Race School has been branded 'scum' after people travelled from across the world for a non-existent track day event.
Angry customers travel hundreds of miles to discover race day cancelledAngry customers travel hundreds of miles to discover race day cancelled
Angry customers travel hundreds of miles to discover race day cancelled

Race car enthusiasts gathered outside the gates at the Bryn circuit for a day that many had booked months ago, only to find out that the company, The Racing School Ltd, had gone bust.

The outraged customers told the Post that each had spent between £1,500 and £1,600 for the day, including travel and accommodation costs - with the total money wasted in the group totalling more than £11,000.

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Mark Woolway, whose whole family travelled up from Torquay in Devon for the event, said that more than £2,000 of his party’s money had gone up in smoke with no warning from the company.

“It feels like we have been scammed,” said Mark. “They knew what they were doing. I had an email at the end of April saying come and enjoy your day. We have spent thousands of pounds, including the £300 for the non-refundable hotel and petrol driving here.”

Former track operators, Three Sisters Racing Ltd went into liquidation in October 2015 but was bought out by The Racing School Ltd, a company run by members of the same family, which has also now gone under, despite being listed as active on Companies House.

A statement released earlier in May by leaseholders, Motorsport Circuit Management Ltd, which is also led by members of the Foulston family, said that the “track operator” had informed them that they were “no longer in a position to operate the circuit” under MCM agreements. The family link has left many question marks over the behind the scenes operations of all three companies.

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The driving experience day, for which Mark received a full itinerary through the post, was a present from his family.

Kevin, Mark’s brother, said: “We told him about this over a year ago. Two nights ago, I went on to see how far away it was from the hotel and saw that it had closed.

“This is no accident. They only book these between April and October, and now they have done a runner in May just as it is starting to open for the season.”

Many had travelled from even further afield, with one couple travelling from Dublin by plane and one man driving from Belgium, only to find a locked up complex with no sign of life.

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Ken Borland, from Dublin, said: “I’m due to go back tomorrow but I’m tempted to go today. I think I will give this hobby up now. It’s too expensive. I don’t know why they didn’t just send out an email.”

Two couples had travelled from Durham with their spouses. Chris Reed and Si Chaudry both received the track day tickets from their wives.

“This was a birthday present from my wife,” said Chris.

“Si’s was a retirement present. We have been looking forward to it for a long long time. I hadn’t picked up anything that it had gone out of business.”

The group became even more confused when a member of staff turned up to clean the area, saying that she had been hired by the company that is supposedly in liquidation.