Knockhill

Race track in Fife, Scotland

Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about 6 mile (10 km) north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA approved circuit in Scotland.

The circuit opened in September 1974. It was created by joining service roads to a nearby disused mineral railway, closed in 1951, which served Lethans Colliery. The first car race was held on 18 May 1975. Between 1974 and 1983 the circuit had several different owners which helped to steadily develop the circuit's facilities and attractions. Derek Butcher became the owner in 1984 and since then Knockhill has been developed to a point where it is able to host rounds of most of the major British car and motorbike championships. The circuit hosted a round of the British Touring Car Championships for twelve years until the deal ended in 2002 with the promoters seeking infrastructure upgrades. Knockhill made improvements and the touring car series returned to Knockhill in 2004 with ITV televising the event live. The British Formula Three Championship and British GT Championship returned to Knockhill in May 2005. In 2012, the circuit restarted racing and track days in the anti clockwise direction. It gained a licence for motorbikes and cars to compete in both directions, the first racing circuit to achieve this in the UK in modern times. as of December 2021 the circuit has an FIA grade 3 licence, the only circuit in Scotland issued with a licence by the FIA at this time.

The circuit has three layouts, the 1.300 mile (2 km) International layout with 9 corners, the 1.000 mile (2 km) National layout with 10 corners and the 0.300 mile (0 km) tri oval. On all layouts the circuit is wide, and has a total elevation change of
A lap of Knockhill, beginning at the start line (which unusually for a motor racing circuit is at a different point to the finish line. Whilst the start line is roughly in the middle of the pit straight, the finish line is situated slightly to the west, towards the final corner), first involves passing over the crest which marks the highest point of the circuit. The circuit then levels out and passes under the pedestrian bridge before a short braking zone preceding the first of the nine corners, Duffus Dip, a fast, blind apexed downhill right hand corner widely regarded as one of the most challenging corners in the United Kingdom. At the foot of this decline is a quick left hand corner named Leslie's Some events are exclusive to the circuit, such as legend racing and the Scottish Formula Ford Championship races. Highlights of these events are televised as part of a show on Motors TV. The circuit has on site parking for 3,000 cars located in the areas south of Taylor's hairpin, Hislop's, Clark's and the Chicane. The main circuit offers track driving experiences using a choice of Ferrari F430, Aston Martin Vantage, Legend race car, Honda Civic Type Rs and Audi powered, Van Diemen single seater formula cars. as well as a driving experience for those too young to legally drive on the public roads using Ford Fiestas.

The circuit was the location for Kaiser Chiefs' "Hole in My Soul" music video, part of their Stay Together album, and appears in several video games, including Project CARS 2, Colin McRae: Dirt and some of the games in the TOCA series. It appeared on television in Episode 7 of Series 8 of the British motoring programme Top Gear and the first episode of Idris Elba: No Limits. The track also appeared in The Grand Tour presents: Lochdown, where the track is featured in a series of time trials performed by the presenters.