June 2019
Sunday June 2nd saw The Spectator at Donington's only "Grand Prix" sadly these days with the annual Superkart Grand Prix, organised by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC)
After just one qualifying session for the MG Owners Club at 9.00am it was straight into a full day of racing with 16 races on the card. Interestingly the meeting should have took place on the full 2.5 mile GP layout but was shifted to the smaller National circuit late in the days leading up to the event due to a lack of Marshals available to man the GP loop's extra posts. The Britcar Endurance championship that only races on the Saturday weren't too happy but I have to say that the racing on Sunday was improved by using the shorter configuration.
Shortage of Marshals has become another hot topic in 2019 and one which needs to be addressed for the sport to continue in it's present form. As an avid spectator for 30 years, there have been times when I've considered marshalling. Lifestyle factors come into play as it is a very demanding role, a role that is entirely voluntary with a high risk factor. Add in work and "real life" and marshalling isn't for everyone and I admire those in Orange who do give up their free time for the sport we all love. With technology surely available is it time for circuits to have "virtual" marshals with lights replacing flags that can be operated remotely? Or more winches and recovery equipment available trackside that can be used more easily by less people? Through in that the UK national racing calendar is too overcrowded with meetings and the marshaling problem will not go away, it will get worse...we shall see!
More marshals will volunteer if the racing that is on track is entertaining and it certainly was on this day at Donington. Starting with the Superkarts and there were 5 races in total with 3 for the GP plate. The GP plate is a prestigious thing to hold and the racing in all 3 GP races was excellent. Liam Morley taking the F125 crown after wining the earlier race too. Germany's Peter Elkmann taking the Division 1 Superkart GP in dominant style finishing 22 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. The liveliest GP by far was for the F250National & F450National class that saw Paul Platt inch Andrew Gulliford at the line by just 0.061secs!
Away from the buzzing Superkarts there was plenty of action categories not usually noted for close racing. The opening Clubmans race was a cracker with a 6 car lead battle for much of the race. Known these day as the Clubmans Sports Prototype Championship the category is still going strong with 21 cars on the grid at Donington.
There were 3 races for another category with the word "Prototype" on this day with the fledgling UK Sports Prototype Cup on track with an 11 car entry for moistly Radicals with 3 Revolution A-one machines joining them. I like the look of the Revolution..similar to the new Formula E car I would say and very futuristic. The two 20 minute races were both red flagged ans both were badly affected by heavy rain showers that blighted the day at times. The third and final race was a 50 minute race that I do confess to leaving the circuit early and not seeing the bitter end!
Very entertaining racing was to be seen in the 4 Caterham Graduate races especially the first Sigmax/Mega/Classic encounter. Stephen Clark emerging from a mini-epic to win by 0.067secs. The Graduates other races were for Sigma 125,135 &150. The Graduates may have some of the most confusing class structure names in motorsport but they always put on a show!
Last to report were the 2 races for the MG Owners Club which had some of the wettest conditions of the day in their first race. The days of the Maestro and Montego have long gone sadly but 19 cars were on the grid with a wide variety of the marque's wears on show. The ZR 160 is the car to have if you want to win overall though with wins shared by William Sharpe and Steve McDermid.
Despite the heavy showers I really enjoyed the days racing at Donington. What I didn't enjoy was finding out that my umbrella kept folding up on me with a faulty catch!! Admission on the gate was £16 and a functional programme was £3
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Following a qualifying session for the Civic Cup at 9.00am it was with some surprise that the commentator announced an extra race would start the day as the Production GTi race that should have taken place on Saturday afternoon was held over to the Sunday morning. No complaints from me as there were now 14 races to look forward to!
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| Production GTi recovery at Rocket corner |
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| Civic Cup at Peel Corner |
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| The Banking- Civic Cup action |
With 4 races for the Mazda MX5 Championship and 2 races for the Mazda MX5 Supercup, action was guaranteed! The Mk1 MX5 races saw another huge 50 car entry split into A & B races with a relegation and promotion system in place between the two groups to keep drivers on their toes. Championship leader Will Blackwell-Chambers the only driver to win two races over the weekend's 6 races in total. The Mk3 Supercup saw a large grid with the Super Series joining the Super Cup at Anglesey. Good to report that, as of 2020, the two will be combined again full time.
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| Massed hordes of Mazdas! |
Best racing of the day was (as always!) provided by the pair of National Formula ford 1600 Championship races. The National championship has reinvigorated itself over the last few years and is now a serious stopping off point for the up and coming young single seater aspirant. Ross Martin won the days opener but was taken out spectacularly at Rocket corner in the days second race on the opening lap by Michael Macpherson. The marshals did well to remove both cars and allow some racing to take place after the safety car had gone in. Neil McLennan winning the race eventually.
A good days racing on Anglesey with the BRSCC's top series putting on a mostly entertaining meeting. Despite the sunny appearances in the photo's above it was a very chilly and windy day trackside where watching from the car was a good option at times! Admission was by free BRSCC ticket and despite the programme saying it was £3 I believe I wasn't charged for it! The saved money being then spent on Llandudno pier arcade on the journey home!!
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Saturday 15th June saw another journey to the North-West but this time not quite as far as Wales with a trip to Oulton Park for the first time in over 3 years. A week off work meant a rare Saturday available so it was to the leafy countryside of Cheshire and a one day MSVR organised meeting on the full International circuit. Well it started out to be a meeting on the full International but after the first race of the day for the Mini Challenge Cooper classes, the meeting was changed rather dramatically!
With two red flags and a safety car in the mornings 6 qualifying sessions, the day had a truncated feel to it already and what it didn't need was a red flag in the first race of the day.....
Alas a big shunt on the approach to Shell Oils corner by Josh Porter's Cooper class Mini saw severe barrier damage and an immediate red flag. With the commentator announcing an early lunch break the omens were not good for a quick resumption. After what seemed an eternity the decision was taken to resume action but on the Island Bend layout, avoiding the affected area. A sensible decision and one that should be applauded as on many other circuits without multiple layouts this would have led to an abandonment of the meeting.
However because the Island layout wasn't used in qualifying all subsequent races had to have 3 extra laps behind the safety car prior to getting under way with a rolling start. Add in a wet track following a dry morning's qualifying and it's fair to say I was sick of the sight of the safety car by the end of a very long day!
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Mini Challenge qualifying at Old Hall
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| F3 Cup car on the Pits straight |
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| Monoposto at Knickerbrook |
The smaller capacity Monoposto races were both won by the JKS of Dominic Shepherd.
Even more single-seater action was on show with a pair of Heritage Formula Ford 1600 races. The brainchild of FF1600 guru James Beckett, Heritage caters for chassis built before January 1st 1993. 1993 was a watershed year for Formula Ford in this country as it marked the end of the Kent engined formula and the start of the Zetec era. Looking back F.Ford never really recovered form the change to Zetec and eventually morphed into the Formula 4 Championship that we see today. Kent engined FF1600 is still going strong in its many guises though and a healthy 19 car entry was at Oulton. The second race of the day was the best with Oliver White just pipping Tom Brown by 0.260secs at the flag.
With two winning margins of around 15 seconds in each race, the Lotus Elise Trophy races were both dominated by the S2 version of Alex Ball. His race two margin very impressive given that Ball had started 10th on the grid.
Not the best of meetings this one, definitely not helped by the long stoppage and the frustrating British summer weather! I'm not a huge fan of Oulton as a viewing track for some reason but this has been helped somewhat by grandstands at Old Hall and Knickerbrook. Admission was bought in advance at £12 and a programme was £3
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Sunday 23rd June saw The Spectator at Donington for the circuit's first of two visits this year by the British GT and BRDC Formula 3 package. The headline British GT Championship saw a 2 hour race starting at 1.10pm. The Championship is in rude health these days, riding the crest of the GT wave. A huge 39 car grid saw 15 GT3 cars joined by 24 GT4 cars and the success of the GT4 category has underpinned the British series in the last few years. With the GT3 entry improving in 2019 the strength in depth overall in British GT is very impressive.
The new TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Jonny Adam/Graham Davidson was on pole position and proceeded to win the race in fairly dominant fashion. The Mclaren 720S of Shaun Balfe/Rob Bell did close towards the end but Adam took the flag 3.417 ahead after 79 laps of the Donington GP circuit. The GT4 category was won by the very impressive Ford Mustang of Seb Priaulx/Scott Maxwell.
The BRDC Formula 3 Championship saw a couple of races, the first of which is the Championship's unusual fully reversed grid race. The mix up in starting order doesn't always translate to great racing but it can lead to incidents such as Johnathan Hoggard's clash with Ayrton Simmons at the Old Hairpin. Hoggard was an instant retirement but he did win the days other race from pole position.
The Ginetta GT5 Challenge saw 32 cars battle it out with a pair of races, the first of which saw on the road winner, Geri Nicosia disqualified for some kind of bonnet infringement!
The only race of the day for the Volkswagen Cup was very entertaining once the safety car went in after a first lap collision at the Old Hairpin between the Scirocco of Jack Depper and the AudiTT of Owen Walton. From 9th on the grid the Golf of Rob Allum just beat Martin Depper by 0.831secs.
The safety car and the Mini Challenge JCW were frequent bedfellows in 2018 and hey presto both races on this day saw the SC Boards displayed at Marshals posts! Nathan Harrison wining both and both with margins of under one second.
The TCR UK/Touring Car Trophy saw a small grid of 8 cars but provided some entertainment. The Hyundai i30 of Lewis Kent led every lap and every corner until the very last corner, Goddards on the last lap as he ran out of fuel letting the Cupra of Max Coates through to take the flag. Coated then repeated his win in race 2 as Kent suffered more mechanical problems.
With only 9 OSS (Open Sportscars) taking the start the races were more about stealth than close racing. The very last race of the day saw a brief rain shower cause a rolling start pileup literally as the lights when green and was immediately red flagged. It was getting late and I confess to not hanging around for the restart! Some nice machinery in the OSS Championship but, like the UK Sports Prototype Cup that BARC organise, it's a constant battle to not only get the entries but get the cars reliable too.
With yet more rain, this was was turning into a damp June but at least the main championship racing was held when it was dry. One day it will warm up I'm sure! Admission was £20 bought in advance and a very good programme was £5
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