The Motor Racing Spectator

The Spectator's latest meeting was another visit to Donington with the BRSCC in charge for 14 races for the 2nd day of a 2 day meeting. Qualifying and 3 races took place on the Sunday so I missed out on Sports 2000 (dare one say phew...) and the Time Attack series. The day promised much on paper as the ubiquitous Mazda MX5 Mk1 provided 4 races along with 6 races for Ford Fiestas of various descriptions. Throw in a double header for the Open Sportscar Championship and a couple of Alfa Romeo races too and the day was complete. Following one of the warmest summers for a very long time, Britain has managed to forego the season known as Autumn and on Sunday plunged headlong into Winter. The forecast had been apocalyptic on Friday but thankfully seemed a little better by the time Sunday morning arrived. A very cold wind blew all day which led to the occasional shower and at 5.00pm it was looking like we might have got away with it. Then a VERY dark cloud appeared on the horizon and wi...

The latest meeting at Donington saw The Spectator visit both days for a rare International meeting at the circuit. The Italian based Superstars series made their 3rd appearance in the UK along with Auto GP and GT Sprint. Domestic support came in the form of Scottish Legends, the Northern based CNC Heads Sports/Saloons championship and HRDC Allstars. International meetings are a chance to see cars and drivers that you wouldn't normally see and the V8 engined Superstars are certainly a spectacle. Sadly there were only 15 cars entered for the trip to Donington but at least there was quality on the driver front with ex Grand Prix drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi, Gianni Morbidelli & Domenico Schiatterella entered along with BTCC frontrunner Colin Tukington making a one-off appearance in a BMW M3. Italian Luigi Ferrara was visibly the most exciting driver through the Craner Curves during Saturday qualifying and his Mercedes took pole position for the first of Sundays races which...

Another Sunday and another visit to Donington, this time for the visit of the Classic Sports Car Club to the East Midlands. Celebrating their 10th anniversary of existence this season the club caters for the racer on a budget. The main core of the CSCC's series run to a 40 minute race which enables costs to be shared between 2 drivers (if required). Sunday saw 9 races along with 4 qualifying sessions in the morning. The days racing kicked off early with the first of 2 races for the German based Triumph Competition & British GT series. I had never seen this series race before and was very impressed with not only the size of the grid but also the quality of the racing. Funnily enough both races were won by the only 2 British interlopers in the field. The first race was won by Paul Conway's Morgan and the second by Brian White's Triumph TR4. A large grid of large cars can only mean Jags! The lumbering beasts put on a good race and some entertaining scraps, especially i...

Marshals standing away from their posts. Barriers in place to stop spectators standing where they shouldn't. The distinct smell of diesel in the air.....It can only mean one thing- Truck Racing! The Spectator's first trip to Donington in 5 weeks saw the British Truck racing championship highlight a 13 race schedule which also included Pickups, Legends, Caterham Graduates & Saxmax. Saturday had seen qualifying and 8 races take place and it was good to see a healthy crowd in attendance on the Sunday. It's not everyday you see truck racing and the sheer novelty factor certainly helped draw a crowd with a lot of families and barbecues camped out on the grass banking. I voted last year's European Truck meeting at Donington as my meeting of the year last year, simply as it was a great spectacle. The domestic series didn't quite reach the same heights this year though, but despite there being 12 rigs they were still entertaining. Indeed there was quite a bit of con...

The first weekend of August and already a circuit's last car meeting of the season....Autumn must be around the corner. Yes the last of Mallory's 5 dedicated car meetings of 2013 saw The Spectator visit the second day of what was billed as "The AUTOGLYM Classic Festival". Festival is the word here, as not only was the entire days racing going out live to the watching world on an internet live stream, but there was also a very large crowd in attendance which is a rarity for a club meeting these days. Apparently there was a GroupOn discount offer where tickets were just £6. I'm not an avid on-line bargain hunter so I was completely unaware that such an offer was happening, I duly paid £15 on the gate.....The large crowd reminded me of the Renault Free days at Donington & Silverstone in the recent past where, if something is free/cheap, hordes of people arrive at 11.00am, wander about for a bit dressed in entirely the wrong clothing, drink lots of alcohol,eat l...

A rare opportunity these days to witness a car meeting at Mallory Park saw The Spectator head to deepest Leicestershire last Sunday. The Vintage Sports Car Club were the organiser's with 11 short-sharp races on the card. After 2 weeks of glorious weather it was a bit of a shock to have a little drizzle during the morning's practice sessions, but thankfully it stayed dry for the rest of the day, albeit overcast. Watching at the exit of Gerards during practice (with a greasy surface) I couldn't help marvel at how most drivers were manhandling, there is no better word for it, their cars. Total commitment was on show by virtually all drivers during the day. The sight of Tony Lees sitting atop his Vauxhall Viper Special, so high up his head in the mist....,hurtling into Gerards, will linger long in the memory! The headline race of the day was for the Bob Gerard Memorial Trophy catering for Pre '61 racing cars and was won by William Nuthall's 1953 Cooper-Bristol with ...

After walking around Donington ten days previously, it was time to head back behind the barriers for a very busy weekend's racing. The BRSCC Midlands centre were in charge for what was billed as the "Caterham Festival". As Caterham's provided 11 out of the 19 races over the weekend, I can see why! Academy, Roadsports, Tracksports, Supersports & Superlight races catered for the different versions of the marque. Variety was provided by the Mazda MX5 Supercup, Northern Formula Ford 1600 and Sports 2000. In all 257 cars were entered for all the races.... For many years now the Caterham (in all it's forms) has been one of the stalwarts of the UK racing scene. Indeed, if you own a Caterham, you could probably race one every weekend as not only is there the package racing this particular weekend but there is the Graduate group of races with BARC and the Classic Sports Car Club run a massively popular Magnificent Sevens series too. Add in various regional Sports/Sa...