Donington Park Sunday 29th March 2015

Here we go again!
The 2015 motor racing season started for The Spectator at his spiritual home, Donington Park. The 750 Motor Club were in charge for a 2-day meeting with myself attending on Sunday only. 14 races were scheduled following 5 qualifying sessions so it was handy that good old British Summer Time had started in the early hours of the morning so that enough light could be provided, not only to see the racing but also to see the rain coming down.....
After what has been a relatively normal Winter weather wise, the gods decided to liven things up a bit with a terrible days weather on this particular Sunday. I'd spent the grand total of £15 on a "Wind-Resistant" umbrella the day before so innocently assumed this would last me through this season and many more more in the future....By lunchtime it had disintegrated and now resides in a bin near the Old Hairpin! Such was the strength of the wind it didn't even blow inside out, merely folded in on itself and imploded (much like Derby County FC this season...)
Action on track was always going to be affected by the rain and the track surface was never, at any stage through the day, what I would call fully dry. Racing quality suffered slightly throughout the meeting but despite the rain it wasn't too bad. If you like spinning automobiles (and who doesn't) then there were plenty!
Highlights were 3 races for the BMW Compact Cup, a pair of Civic Cup races and the always lively 5Club Mazda MX5's. It's good to report healthy entries amongst most championships run by the 750MC. The club's stalwart 750 Formula championship provided the days smallest grid and poorest race to be honest.
Not many changes to report at Donington. The Infield is almost complete but still far from 100% ready. Quite why 2 of the circuit's biggest meetings of the year, BSB & BTCC, were scheduled for April is a mystery as these would have been better placed later in the season so any earthworks could have had time to settle down and mature.
Admission was £10 with £5 DPRAC discount and programme was £3. For the first time in living memory the new style 750MC programme has spaces in to write results in. However the driver lists were all done in the old fashioned formal style R.Smith,A.Brown,etc.etc. Christian names are a hindrance for the programme editor then......!

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