April 2018

    

Truly awful "Spring" weather in March and early April put paid to The Spectator's best laid plans to go to any meetings. The weekend of March 17/18 saw the 750MC meeting at Donington get cancelled at lunchtime on the Saturday due to snow. Ironically the following weekend saw very pleasant weather yet I couldn't go anywhere. On Easter Monday I had planned to go the British GT opener at Oulton Park then thought better of it when I awoke to a covering of wet snow that morning! That the meeting was abandoned at Oulton early due to rain that day vindicated my decision not to go thankfully.

Thankfully the various "Beast from the East" weather systems subsided and April eventually saw more traditional Spring weather take hold. That is 5 degrees one day...25 degrees the next!! 

Having somewhat rashly purchased a MotorSportVision 4 Wheel Season Pass in March, it was with some relief that I finally got around to actually using it during the month of April! With Donington Park now in the hands of MSV, the reasoning to buy a Season Pass meant that on the weekends when there isn't anything at Donington, at least it would save a bit of money at meetings elsewhere in the MSV group. 

I've grouped together the meetings I went to in April on the blog. Monthly updates are probably the best thing to do now due to simply not having the time to update more regularly. 

The Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) kicked off the month on the 8th. Just 8 Races on the Sunday and an early finish of 4.05pm! That must be one of the earliest scheduled finishes at Donington in many a year. Most meetings are only halfway through by 4.00pm.....It was 50 years ago to the very weekend that the great Jim Clark was killed in a Hockenheim Formula 2 race and the programme saw the Scot's portrait adorn the cover. A minute's silence had been held on the grid on the Saturday and it was a nice touch by the HSCC to commemorate the passing of one of the sport's best ever drivers.

7 of the days 8 races were for single-seaters and the Historic Formula Ford 1600 "Final" was one of the best races I've seen in a while, with the top 7 finishers covered by a scant 1.191 seconds after a frantic 20 minute race. Reigning champion Richard Tarling eventually winning amid multiple changes of position and, at times, some very "interesting" manoeuvres! This year's championship will be very hard fought and one to watch.

Formula Junior, 2 Classic F3, Historic F3 & Historic FF2000 races made for a single-seater delight and one for the chassis number spotter! The only roofed race was for the Historic Touring Cars and saw an entertaining Lotus Cortina battle between Philip House and Norwegian Martin Strommen for the lead which saw House take the flag.

It's not everyday that I include a picture of a toilet block but the building of new toilets at the Old Hairpin over the winter deserves a mention. With lights, warm water, toilet paper and superb hand dryers they are a very welcome and overdue addition to the Donington landscape.

April 15th and April 22nd saw two consecutive Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) meetings. The large portfolio of series run by MSVR were spread over the two meetings, the first of which saw Monoposto, Lotus Cup, Production BMW and the Trackday Championship in action. An enormous entry for the Trackday Championship saw two races split by engine capacity and this bodes well for the year ahead. Best racing on the day was provided by the Production BMW field and 3 races for the Lotus Cup UK was probably one too many. There's a fine balance between track time and attrition, especially at club level. the first Lotus race started with 20, the last started with 13.

The new Grandstand at Hollywood is another excellent addition to Donington by MSV. 

The view from the new Grandstand

April 22nd saw the Toyo Tires 7 Race Series, Radical Challenge, F3 Cup, LMP3 Cup, GT Cup and Sports 2000 on the bill. Only LMP3 cars were on show for their hour long race but I hope the category grows in the future as they are fantastic machines. With a lower than average GT Cup field at Donington, maybe it's time to combine the two series for a World Endurance style prototype and GT mix. Largest grid of the day (by far) was for the 7 Race Series. With the 420R version of the Caterham running with the 1600cc version, 38 cars were on the grid. What with this series, that also runs in mainland Europe, plus the main Caterham championships, plus the Graduates and a Caterham owner could race every weekend! Most entertaining racing on this day was, somewhat against type, the Radical Challenge. The 20 minute sprint race saw 3 abreast at times down the Craner Curves.

Finally in April on the 29th was the British Touring Car Championship. The country's most popular series by a long way and a large crowd braved some very chilly temperatures to witness what was a very good meeting. I hadn't seen the BTCC for a few years and was very impressed by the standard of both driving and car preparation. I'd been to the Media Launch day in March for the Championship and the 32 strong field has enormous strength in depth. With the likes of Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan mired in the lower reaches, there is a sense of a new wave coming through the ranks. Josh Cook's Vauxhall Astra wining the first race and his first ever BTCC win. Tom Ingram won race 2 and Adam Morgan's Mercedes winning the frantic reversed grid race 3. Inevitably in a closely packed 32 car field there was contact, but in reality that's part of the game in the BTCC and what the crowd pay money for.

Support races are all one make, the only single-seater action provided by the British Formula 4 Championship. Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Ginetta Junior, Porsche Carrera Cup and Renault UK Clio Cup fill the gaps in between the BTCC.

So that was April and good to be back watching some motor racing at last after the wintry March that had tested enthusiasm for all things outdoors!