Donington Park Sunday 21st September 2014


The organising division of the mighty Motor Sports Vision empire (MSVR) rolled into Donington for a 2 day meeting on the GP circuit. The spectator went on Sunday which saw 12 races on the card after 3 qualifying sessions in the morning.
After describing single seater racing in the UK as a "Mess" in my previous post, it's good to see one series bucking the trend. The BRDC Formula 4 championship was started in 2013 and was one of the success stories in the sport last year. 18 cars were at Donington forfor the weekend and in UK single seater terms that is a large grid! Unusually for winged single seaters the cars provide some very good racing with just the right amount of power and grip so overtaking is possible. 3 races over the weekend saw 3 different winners and  a very competitive fight for the title among several drivers will go down to the final round at Snetterton in October. Things got a little too competitive in the final race on Sunday with title protagonists George Russell and Raoul Hyman colliding heavily at the Old Hairpin while battling for the lead. Suffice to say neither were happy with Mr.Russell particularly apoplectic with rage, lots of words in earshot that rhymed with truck were audible.....In some respects this series is almost a throwback to the old days of Formula Ford where the actual racing is the most important part of the weekend and incidents between drivers were far more commonplace than they are today. The threat of being placed "under investigation" by stewards for even slight contact has led to a gradual decline in the quality of racing in recent years.
After British GT action the previous week, there was more exotic machinery on display in the 2 x 25 minute GT Cup races on the day. Another 30ish cars to report with unusual marques such as Radical, Sin, Aquilla and Mosler racing alongside the usual Porsches and Ferraris. The GT Cup is targeted more towards the wealthy privateer so, although it's good to see such powerful cars, they are driven less "energetically" than if a Pro driver were behind the wheel. The LMP1 styled Radical RXC of Rob Wheldon easily won both races.
If you love Radical racing ( and who doesn't......) then 4 races on Sunday saw a pair of races for the Clubman's Cup and SR3 division of the make. By all accounts Radicals are fantastic cars to drive but for some reason they don't provide a thrill for the spectator.
More entertaining were races for the Lotus Elise Trophy and VAG Trophy which appears to be the home for all the old VW Cup cars. The Mk2 Golf GTi race saw a small grid which is what happens when there are too many series for the same kind of car.
Admission was the usual £10 and a typically very good MSVR programme was £3. Another sunny September day for the small crowd to bask in on a day where the F4 races were definitely the star of the show.

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