Donington Park Sunday 26th July 2015
Saturday was a nice and sunny day but I was elsewhere. Sunday however was one of the most appalling wet weather days I've experienced for a while....The day started dry but the only fully dry track action we had time for was a Legends qualifying session and a Mini Miglia race before a good old-fashioned deep Atlantic low piled in for the day producing not only a very wet day but also an unusually very cold day.
Not surprisingly the best race of the day was the Mini Miglia race on the dry circuit. Only 14 cars on the grid but a very entertaining race which harked back to the glory days of Miglia's in the 90's. A 10 lap race though was reduced to 8 following a failure of the starting lights causing chaos with drivers "racing" on green flag laps! Kane Astin beating Aaron Smith with Rupert Deeth in 3rd with all 3 covered by half a second....The sister Mini Se7en championship race saw the rain start mid-race and a very slippery track spoilt their race somewhat. Darren Thomas being the rather dominant winner, unusual in the Se7en's.
The rain really got going by the time the first of the days 3 Legends races started and by the time the Trucks were ready to race before lunch the heavens truly opened. Following a 2nd red-flag following a multi-truck collision at the Chicane the 1st truck race of the day was abandoned altogether.
The lunchbreak thankfully saw the rain relent slightly plus it also saw a world record attempt for the amount of trucks on a race circuit at one time! Cue lots of trucks doing 2 very slow laps and lots of horn blowing to keep the spectators happy.
The Pickup Truck series had 2 races with 16 entries and produced some decent racing. The Pickups have always raced better on ovals over the years at the much missed Mallory mile and Rockingham but somehow seem slightly ill at ease on road courses in my opinion. Mark Willis and Carl Boardley sharing the wins.
The days other 2 Truck races passed off without too much further incident but on a very wet track with grip at a premium I felt that the Trucks struggled to unleash their full potential. Full marks to all drivers though as controlling a race truck in those conditions must have been quite a task!
The only poor races on the day were a pair of 45 minute Britcar Trophy encounters that featured 11 then 10 cars for the 2nd race. A rather curious addition to a family friendly package. Both races won easily by Neil Huggins in a Lamborghini Gallardo.
Despite the awful weather I quite enjoyed the days racing. All drivers gave it a go in the cold and rain and a 6.30pm (on time...) finish was a pleasant surprise at the end of the day. I was glad I had packed my winter hat and gloves too as there were lots of ill prepared spectators in attendance! Indeed there was quite a big crowd but as the day continued most seemed to drift home to thaw out and a good proportion left after the 2nd truck race finished at about 4.00pm. Quite why the 3rd truck race was scheduled for last race of the day at 6.00pm+ is a mystery as barely anybody was around to watch.
Donington had promoted the meeting well and there was a lot of emphasis in the programme about being a family friendly venue.A new mascot for the track was unveiled in the programme called "Donny" quite possibly one of the scariest looking creations I've ever seen!!
I applaud Donington's efforts to be try and be more more family friendly but the circuit doesn't seem to realise that its facilities and viewing areas are anything but.This was the Old Hairpin at the end of an admittedly very wet day....
When the trucks were out on circuit there is a cordoning off area between Hollywood and the Old Hairpin but after the 1st truck race barriers were placed further around the corner at catchfence level forcing spectators to walk through the mud. I keep saying it but the circuit should re-open the car parking area above the Old Hairpin. A lot of the circuit's core fanbase have disappeared over the years as viewing and access has become more restricted.
As this meeting was one of Donington's "promoted" meetings the usual admission price was increased to £20 so I paid £15 to get in with a £5 DPRAC discount and against my better judgement bought a programme for £5 too!
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