UMC buyer pulls out of negotiations - for now

The future of the Utah Motorsport Campus, formerly known as Miller Motorsport Park, has been thrown into doubt once again after the Mitime Group announced that it is withdrawing from negotiations to purchase the venue.

The Chinese company had been in discussions to purchase the 511-acre facility, however Xinggui Wang, manager of Mitime Group subsidiary Mitime Utah Investment, LLC, informed Toole County that it will not go ahead with the sale due to ongoing legal complications and associated costs, as well as the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Chinese yuan.

However, Wang also said in the letter that the negotiations could be reopened if the assorted problems can be untangled.

"When the County has resolved the issues underlying the challenges to a sale," Wang stated in the letter, "should the County re-offer UMC for purchase in a new sale, open to public bidding, Mitime may have interest in bidding."

Although the takeover has stalled, Utah Motorsport Campus, Inch - another Mitime Group subsidiary - has confirmed that it will extend its current facility management agreement through to the end of 2017.

"We are very excited to complete the agreement to continue managing Utah Motorsports Campus," said UMC General Manager Willem Geyer. "The County has been great to work with, and we look forward to another exciting season."

UMC will announce its 2017 season once the agreement has been signed by both parties.

The 4.5-mile track was a regular stop for the ALMS and Grand-Am between 2006 and 2010, and currently hosts a round of the Pirelli World Challenge.