Donington Historic Festival: 2 Days of Great Historic Motorsport
By now you should know that we are giving away to 5 lucky readers a ticket to this years Donington Historic Festival. If that were not good enough, it looks like it’s going to be a great event.
So start planning your visit, as there will be over 300 racing cars dating from the 1920s up to the 1980s take to the track over the weekend of May 5th and 6th.
Everything from huge pre-War Bentley’s and glamorous 1960s sports cars to thunderous Group C sports cars and classic Touring Cars will be out on the circuit. To ensure that those who can only attend one day of the Festival are guaranteed a thrilling time, the organisers have structured the timetable to ensure an even mix of qualifying and racing on each of the two days.
The inaugural Donington Historic Festival in 2011 exceeded all expectations for attendance and, with ticket sales already significantly higher than they were at this time last year, and some 35 car clubs registered to attend so far, it’s clear there will be even more enthusiasts there to enjoy the action in 2012. This year also includes a round of the E-type Challenge, giving Festival-goers the chance to see dozens of examples of one of the world’s all-time favourite cars being driven to the limit.
The provisional timetable is as follows:
Saturday, May 5th
09:00 – 13.20 Qualifying
13:20 – 14:10 Lunch Break / Demonstrations
14:10 – 14:55 ‘Mad Jack’ for pre-War sports cars
15:10 – 15:35 HSCC Historic F2 – Race 1
15:50 – 16:50 RAC Woodcote Trophy for pre-56 sports cars
17:05 – 17:35 E-type Challenge – Race 1
17:50 – 18:30 JD Classics Challenge for 1966 to 1985 Touring Cars
18:45 – 19:45 ‘1,000km’ for pre-72 sports-racing cars
Sunday, May 6th
09:00 – 10:50 Qualifying
11:05 – 11:35 E-type Challenge – Race 2
11:50 – 12:50 Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-61 sports cars
12:50 – 13:50 Lunch Break / Demonstrations
13:50 – 14:15 HSCC Historic F2 – Race 2
14:30 – 15:30 Pre-63 GT
15:45 – 16:45 Group C sports cars
17:00 – 18:00 U2TC, Pre-66 under two-litre Touring Cars
Car clubs galore…
Ranging from AC to XJS, the car clubs already scheduled to attend the Festival are almost an A-Z of classic motoring. Details of all attending clubs can be found on www.doningtonhistoric.com. Any clubs not yet registered need to do so through the Festival website by midnight on Friday, March 30th, to book a club display area and enable their members to take advantage of the special two-for-one ticket deal. Club registration is free of charge. All car club ticket bookings need to be made by midnight on Friday, April 20th.
On-site camping is available
There’s good news for spectators who want to stay really close to the action for the whole weekend – camping will be available on the Donington Park site itself, outside the circuit wall, close to Gate 20. It costs £20 per person for the weekend (1pm Friday, May 4th – 1pm Monday, May 7th), regardless of whether the campers bring a caravan, motor home or tent. Camping tickets are available for purchase in advance only.
I loved this event last year and will be going again with my son and friends. If you’d like to go, you can go either complimentary courtesy of MyCarHeaven.com or buy tickets (information below). If you are interested in winning tickets to the Donington Historic Festival click here.
My favourite memory of Donington was the 1990 GrpC race, stood at the bottom of the craner curves,out of sight of the grid,when the lights went green the sound of thunder exploding was awesome and to see the cars come into sight and down the craners was awe inspiring, it will live with me forever.