April 2019

Sunday 14th April finally saw The Spectator at a race meeting in 2019! Following the very wintry March/April of 2018, the early season fixture list this year seemed rather sparse with several clubs and circuits having later starts than normal in a bid to escape any bad weather. As is the way this year's Spring weather was distinctly more pleasant than last year....
Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) were in charge at Donington with a 10 race each day schedule on the National circuit. On arrival at Donington I was greeted by the revamped entrance for spectators at the Paddock gates. MSV had certainly been busy over the winter with the area surrounding the Melbourne Hairpin being opened up and a concourse laid out with ticket booths. Alas the Melbourne Hairpin now has catch fencing around it's entire viewing area, which given the low speed nature of the corner is a shame and indicative of current safety thinking.
On a very cold overcast day the first race of the new season for me was the very first appearance at a circuit other than Brands Hatch for the Champion of Brands Formula Ford 1600 championship. The double-header away day saw a very healthy grid of 23 cars but both races saw the intervention of the Safety-Car. The first race especially lacked any sustained green flag running and was won by Rory Smith's Medina. Smith would rue the appearance of the safety-car in the second race later in the day as, having led for most of the race, there was a one-lap shoot-out after the safety car went in and Smith and his pursuer Oliver White tangled at the chicane and White skittered over the gravel to finish 5th with White taking the chequer.
Z Cars...not the 1960's Liverpool based BBC police show, but a new series for the BMW Z4! I say new but the series has tried to get off the ground a while ago but lacked entries to sustain it's own grid. 10 cars were on the grid for it's first stand alone race and despite 2 dominant wins for Edd Giddings the Z4 is a good looking car and hopefully it will grow as the season unfolds.
MSVR's other single make BMW series, the Production BMW Championship for the E30 model has been a staple diet for MSVR for several years now. Whilst not having the huge grids of a few years ago there were 21 cars on show for 2 races. Reigning champion David Graves winning both with the second race having to be restarted following Paul Beaurain hitting the pit wall.
Two positively enormous grids for both Monoposto races shows that the old championship is still going strong. With 7 classes split across 2 grids, catering for ex-Formula 3 cars down to the more humble Formula Fords there is always a battle on track to watch throughout the field. Having raced once on Saturday, Sunday saw a single race for each grid, Jason Timms in his Dallara 301 easily took the lower engine capacity race then Mark Harrison's Dallara F397 took the larger capacity race.
Last but not least were a brace of races for the GT Cup, yet again a Championship that has seen big grids  in the recent past but today maybe not quite as it once was. A home for both GT3 and GT4 machinery outside of the main British GT championship but also a home for exotica such as Richard Chamberlain's mighty (and recently rebuilt following a fire) Porsche 935 replica. Indeed the 935 won the 25 minute first race of the day but the later 50 minute "enduro" was won by the Lamborghini Huracan of John Seale & Jamie Stanley with Stanley putting in a superb drive to seal the win.
Despite the biting cold wind, which made the day a test of endurance at times, this was a decent start to the season in my opinion. Admission on the gate was £16..alas no DPRAC concession anymore, plus a £3 programme that was the usual excellent MSV production.

The words 22 degrees Celsius and Easter Monday don't usually belong together but thanks to the late Easter they certainly belonged together for the Easter Monday meeting at Donington organised by the 750 Motor Club. A one-day affair this one and 9 races scheduled, double-headers for the BMW CCR , Toyota MR2, Bikesports & Locost Championships plus a 2-hour Club Enduro race held on the 2.5 mile GP circuit layout. The 750MC are celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2019, an impressive achievement and their success at developing and nurturing championships and series was on show at Donington. Hugely impressive entries for all the categories racing with even the "lowest" - Bikesports still having 24 cars. 24 would be the highest entry at certain other clubs meetings that's for sure! Highlighting the club's philosophy the BMW CCR Championship is a new for 2019 amalgamation of the M3 Cup with the only officially recognised BMW car club in the UK. An enormous grid of 34 Bavarian made cars was headed by the E36 M3 of Michael Cutt in both races.
The Toyota MR2 championship never ceases to amaze in the sheer number of entries it receives and Donington was no exception. Paul Cook wining both races. With Josh Smith winning both Bikesports races in his Radical PR6, it took until the pair of Locost races to see two different winners with Martin West and Karl Ruijsenaars sharing the victories. The closeness of the Locosts ( an 8-10 car lead battle in the first race was very entertaining) is also their downfall though. After a season last year that was somewhat destructive at times, it wasn't great that both races were red-flagged and restarted over a reduced distance.
Last but not least was the increasingly popular Club Enduro Championship race run over 2 hours. The desire for entrants to get their moneys worth in the current financial climate means that the 2 driver "Enduro" format, with shared costs for more track time, has gained momentum in the last few years with nearly all clubs offering longer events. Great for the driver but not necessarily for the Spectator....thankfully the 2 hours went by quickly as with a huge 55 field there was always something to watch on track. The BMW M4 of Luke Sedizkowski and David Whitmore emerging as winners at the end of 2 hours. A good days racing at Donington and added to the fantastic Easter weather made for a good day out...the Easter Eggs had melted though!!

Just 6 days later and it was back to Donington Park for the yearly visit of the British Touring Car Championship and support package on April 28th. A slightly larger crowd than the previous meeting was in evidence too funnily enough! The BTCC remains THE premier championship in the UK...the current Next Generation Touring Car with 2 litre turbocharged engines and control parts has led to continuity in regulations for several years now and the 30 car bears testament to this. With all meetings covered live on ITV4 the BTCC is second only to Formula 1 in popularity to the UK fan. Part of the popularity is due to the rough and tumble nature of the series and Race 1 emphasised the point. The BMW of Andrew Jordan getting turned around at the Old Hairpin (allegedly by Rob Collard's Vauxhall Astra) and hit in the drivers side door by Adam Morgan's Mercedes and then Stephen Jelley's BMW. With the Ford Focus of Ollie Jackson involved too the race was neutralised under the safety car. Jordan was taken to hospital as a precaution and missed the remaining races of the day. Colin Turkington eventually winning the race when it resumed along with race 2. The new Toyota Corolla of Tom Ingram triumphed in the partially reversed grid race 3, watched by a large number of Toyota employees from nearby Burnaston!

Ginetta Action

If there was action aplenty in the Touring Cars then there was a bit too much action the days only Ginetta GT4 Supercup race..with the spun Fin Green hit at unabated speed on the exit of the Chicane which led to a red-flag and an eight lap restart plus the cancellation of the pit lane walkabout. Green was also taken to hospital and made a full recovery. Tom Hibbert was the winner with Rallycross convert Nathan Heathcote in second.

BTCC Warm Up Lap

Big crash for Andrew Jordan and a trip to hospital

                             

Recovery of the Andrew Jordan shunt

Also having just one race on the Sunday was the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and was comfortably won by Josh Webster who had only confirmed his drive for the weekend just before the meeting started! Very pleasing to report a large 25 car grid for the Ginetta Juniors in 2019 and also very pleasing to report some very good racing from the youngsters with only a brief appearance from the safety car once in the day's two races. James's Taylor and Hedley each winning a race with Taylor pipping Hedley by just 0.024 secs in the opener. Hedley won by a whopping 20 seconds in the second race....
British Formula 4 had a small but select 13 car field, the talent on show bodes well for the future though with the 13 coming from 7 different countries. Australian Bart Horsten winning the first race that was red-flagged early and British driver Louis Foster winning the second race.
Only 10 Renault Clio's on show as the championship is going to be disbanded at the end of the season so teams and drivers reluctant to spend money on a car that will be obsolete at the end of the year. Jack Young taking the pair of wins.

The green recovery crane a familiar sight!!

As ever with the BTCC package there was some very good racing ( in between regular appearances of the safety car!) and the strength in depth of the Touring Cars is hugely impressive. All in all a very entertaining day at Donington, the very large crowd going home happy on a day when the weather provided all four seasons of temperature at times! Admission was £27 bought in advance and a very impressive programme was £5