Donington Park Sunday 20th September 2015

Another Sunday, another visit to my spiritual home of Donington Park. This time for the second day of a Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) meeting on the 2.5 mile GP circuit. A good looking timetable with 11 races scheduled to finish by 5.30pm and a very good entry in all classes meant The Spectator was eagerly looking forward to the days activities!
A gloriously sunny September morning saw racing kick off with the VAG Trophy for Volkswagen group cars (including SEAT's!) Having watched the VW Cup the previous week supporting the British GT's the VAG Trophy does see some overlap in competitors but there are still some of the German marque's older cars to be seen on track with a few Vento's and Mk2 Golf's in evidence. Rob Cox won race 1 in his 2015 version Golf and race 2 was won by the Passat of John Stevens. Both races were very entertaining and robust encounters with the Old Hairpin gravel traps littered with VW's for recovery vehicles to take back to the paddock!
The days biggest crash came in the first race for the Mini Challenge for F56 & JCW versions. Ryan Rhode hitting the barriers after a tap through the Craner Curves on the first lap which was one of the heaviest crashes I've seen this season. The tyre barrier did its job though and remarkably the car took its place on the grid for the second race later in the day. One thinks that the drivers must have been given a talking to by the Clerk of the Course as the first race was chaotic but the second race was much calmer! Ex BTCC driver Charlie Butler-Henderson winning both with his Sister Vicky (Ex Top Gear presenter) taking part in the series guest car.
The Cooper version of the new Mini has been given its own grid this season which saw the days lowest entry with 14 cars. Henry (Son of Matt) Neal was on pole position but slipped back to 4th by the end of a race won by Nathan Harrison.
The days largest entry of 33 cars was for the Production BMW Championship. The relatively cheap to buy (£3000 was quoted on the PA) E30 320i provides a good sensible car for the driver on a budget. A near 2 minute lap for the old BMW's but good racing none the less. Gary Feakins and William davison running side by side for the lead of Race 2 all the way from Redgate until out of sight past Starkeys Bridge was the highlight of the day! Interesting to see BTCC racer Adam Morgan taking part and finishing 6th and 3rd in the days 2 races.
The venerable Monoposto Club still sees enthusiastic amateur drivers compete in a huge variety of single-seaters of varying speed (and quality...!) 2 separate races with 25 starting the smaller engined race and 27 starting the bigger engined one. Jeremy Timms wining the smaller engined race after a farcical end to the race. The Safety car was deployed but missed the leader and picked up the 2nd place car by mistake. Timms and a gaggle of back markers circulated at lower speed for a few laps away from the main pack of cars and as the 15 minutes race time elapsed no effort was made to rectify the mistake so Timms took the flag with his nearest pursuer stuck behind a safety car! It was good to see plenty of the good old Dallara F3 cars out in the big engined race with Robbie Watts F302 version winning out easily.
The GT Cup Championship saw 30 starters for their 2 x 25 minute races. The Ferrari 458 of Darren Nelson/Adam Carroll winning both races. This championship caters for the wealthy amateur who wants to race away from the glare of the main British GT championship. The level of this series has been upped this year with some very nice machinery on show.
This was a very good day of racing which I thoroughly enjoyed. With only 2 races seeing the use of a safety car the days action flowed well with a finish of 5.40pm being just 10 minutes behind schedule. An early start after lunch helped and MSVR organised the day very well. After a sunny start the afternoon saw  cooler, cloudier conditions but at least it stayed dry. A small crowd of spectators as per usual at Donington to report. Admission was £10 with £5 DPRAC discount and I didn't buy a programme. MSVR very helpfully publishing entries on their website in very professional booklet form which I printed out.