Donington Park Fri/Sat/Sun 3rd/4th/5th May 2013
Historic motor sport is in the midst of a boom at present, so the 3rd "Donington Historic Festival" was extended to three days this year with 18 races scheduled across the weekend. Sadly however, the final 2 races on Sunday were cancelled following the fatal accident on the exit of Coppice corner involving Mini Cooper driver Christian Devereux, 5 minutes before the end of the 60 minute Masters Pre'66 Touring Car race. Motor Sport is dangerous, we all know this, but it is always a shock when such an accident occurs. What I will say about the crash is that I feel that safety in historic and vintage racing should be improved. For years I've been bemused by the fact that I have to stand behind enormous catch-fencing and gravel traps, while drivers of historic and vintage cars can drive around without seat belts ( in open top vintage cars) , wear open faced helmets and race cars that don't contain the latest crash safety features. But nobody forces drivers to race older cars, so all that do know the risks involved. The wisdom of allowing a wide disparity in size of cars racing on track should be looked at with the Mini making contact with a much larger and heavier Ford Mustang.
Up until 3.40 pm on Sunday the meeting had been an enjoyable one with Friday devoted to qualifying mostly along with 3 races late in the afternoon. There were 8 races on Saturday which ended up a very long day with a 7.30pm finish. Highlights of the weekend were 2 superb Historic Formula 2 races which featured multiple lead changes in each race. It was also good to see a tribute to the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's victory in '93 European Grand Prix and 30th anniversary of his first drive in a Formula One car at the circuit. The '83 Williams and '93 McLaren are far more pleasing to the eye than the current breed of F1 cars!
Not so good were just 12 Group C cars which in my opinion are just too expensive to maintain and run 20+ years after their heyday. A weekend of mixed emotions then and my condolences to Christian Devereux's family and friends.
Weekend ticket bought in advance was £36 and 122 page programme a pricey £7...
Up until 3.40 pm on Sunday the meeting had been an enjoyable one with Friday devoted to qualifying mostly along with 3 races late in the afternoon. There were 8 races on Saturday which ended up a very long day with a 7.30pm finish. Highlights of the weekend were 2 superb Historic Formula 2 races which featured multiple lead changes in each race. It was also good to see a tribute to the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's victory in '93 European Grand Prix and 30th anniversary of his first drive in a Formula One car at the circuit. The '83 Williams and '93 McLaren are far more pleasing to the eye than the current breed of F1 cars!
Not so good were just 12 Group C cars which in my opinion are just too expensive to maintain and run 20+ years after their heyday. A weekend of mixed emotions then and my condolences to Christian Devereux's family and friends.
Weekend ticket bought in advance was £36 and 122 page programme a pricey £7...
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