Donington Park Sunday 10th April 2022

Here we go again! Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) were the organisers in charge for my first race meeting of 2022. It should have been my third meeting of the year.....I actually had booked my ticket for a good looking Silverstone BRSCC meeting on March 20th but took ill the day before and simply couldn't go. That was £16 wasted as Silverstone didn't want to refund me when I enquired...typical Silverstone! Then I was going to another MSVR meeting at Donington on April 3rd but when the timetable was published and a 5 hour Enduro Ka race was taking place on the Sunday, I opted to stay at home. It might have been entertaining but not my cup of tea to be honest!

Sunday 10th April dawned bright and sunny if quite cold and it was off to Donington in eager anticipation of a decent meeting. 9 races were on the schedule....2 each for United Formula Ford, Clubmans Sports Protoypes, GT Cup and Production GTi's plus a single race for the Radical Challenge Championship.

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After qualifying sessions in the early morning, the honour of first race of the day fell to the Teekay Couplings Production GTi Championship. The second race of the day was also the last race of the meeting too! Henry Riley and Simon Vercoe swapped a 1 & 2 in the first race for a 2 & 1 in the second race. 12 cars were entered this weekend and all of the Mk5 variety despite the option of the newer Mk7 GTi being allowed. As a race car the Production Gti race well but could do with a few more drivers turning out on a regular basis.

The new United Formula Ford 1600 Championship was next on the bill. Created by category guru James Beckett, the term United is particularly apt as the series caters for every FF1600 car from historic to modern. The Kent engine being the leveller and as a championship it can bridge the gap from Historic/Classic FF1600 run by the HSCC to the National FF1600 Championship run by the BRSCC. With 18 entries at Donington this weekend that it was encouraging start to the new venture. The pair of 15 minute races proved to be rather hectic though with the first red flagged and restarted with oil everywhere on the circuit. The photo below gives an idea of how large the clean up job was, indeed an early lunch break was taken to help the task!

Thankfully racing resumed and James Hadfield won after leader Matt Rivett coasted to a halt exiting the Old Hairpin. There was more drama in the second race which featured the safety car appearing twice and an early red flag stoppage. This time Rivett pipping Hadfield to the win after Hadfield had just ploughed through the Chicane gravel trap just before the red flag flew.

The massed ranks of the GT Cup Championship were at Donington for the first rounds of their 2022 campaign. The continuing success story of modern GT racing doesn't seem to be having a blip at all, with nearly 40 cars entered. The format for the GT Cup is a clever one that helps give the amateur (paying!) driver a little more lap time with a stand alone 25 minute race both days, then a shared 50 minute race later in the day helps give the car its true potential when the quicker drivers get out on track.

GT3 and GT4 machinery is joined by classes for GTO - Open spec (As seen below with the Radical RXC) and GTC - Cup spec cars such as Lamborghini Super Trofeo,Porsche Supercup and Ferrari 488 Challenge

The 25 minute race was won by the McLaren 720S of Simon Orange and the 50 minute race was won by another McLaren 720S this time driven by Ian Campbell & Olli Webb.

The Clubmans Sports Prototype Championship raced 3 times over the weekend, twice on the Sunday and a healthy turnout of 24 cars were on the grid. Since joining MSVR in 2020 the venerable class (dating back to 1965) has seen a resurgence in interest. Clive Wood's Mallock Mk23 and Cody Tree's Phantom P94 taking the race wins on Sunday.

The Radical Challenge finished the programme off with a single 45 minute Pit stop race that saw Chris Short take the spoils.

Overall an enjoyable day at Donington, you can't beat a huge entry of GT cars to provide a spectacle and the support races were entertaining enough. Admission was £14 bought in advance and, as is the norm these days, no programmes to buy just print one off the night before!