Donington Park

The current layout of the circuit, adopted in 1986

**Donington Park** is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the period between the First and Second World Wars when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship. Used as a military vehicle storage depot during the World War II, it fell into disrepair until bought by local construction entrepreneur Tom Wheatcroft.

## History

### Creation, Pre-War racing

Donington Park motor racing circuit was the first permanent park circuit in England, which also ended the race circuit monopoly that Brooklands had held since 1907. Fred Craner was a former motorcycle rider who had taken part in seven Isle of Man TT races, and was by 1931 a Derby garage owner and secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club. Craner approached John Gillies Shields, the owner of the Donington Hall estate, to use the extensive roads on his land for racing.

The original track was 2.186 mi (3.518 km) in length, and based on normal width unsealed estate roads. The first motor cycle race took place on Whit Monday (25 May) 1931. For 1933 Craner obtained permission to build a permanent track, with the original layout widened and sealed at a cost of £12,000. The first car race was held on 25 March, followed by three car meetings further that year. The first Donington Park Trophy race was held on 7 October 1933, and the 20-lap invitation event was won by the Earl Howe in a Bugatti Type 51.

In 1935 the first 300-mile (480 km) Donington Grand Prix was won by Richard "Mad Jack" Shuttleworth in an Alfa Romeo P3. In the 1937 Donington Grand Prix and 1938 Donington Grand Prix, the race winners were respectively Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari, both in Auto Union 'Silver Arrows.' The circuit at Donington Park was closed in 1940 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot.

### Wheatcroft revival

In 1971 the park was bought by business man and car collector Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track. Wheatcroft moved his collection to a museum known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition which opened in 1973, and is the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world. Wheatcroft had to battle against Leicestershire County Council, which had refused to allow planning consent for a return to racing, but Wheatcroft successfully appealed and had laid out the track by early 1976.

The first postwar race meeting was for motorcycles held on Sunday, 15 May 1977, organised by The Pathfinders and Derby Motor Club. The motor racing circuit re-opened for cars on Saturday 28 May 1977. The first post-war car race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, sponsored by local Lotus dealers, J A Else of Codnor. That first car meeting nearly did not happen, as the local ramblers tried to assert their rights to retain access to footpaths at the eleventh hour. The meeting went ahead as a "Motor Trial", a legal loophole that curtailed the use of single seater racing cars for that opening meeting. The NSCC continued to run race meetings at Donington until the Donington Racing Club was formed and a licence to run race meetings obtained.

The Melbourne Loop was built in 1985 to increase the lap distance to 2.498 mi (4.020 km) and allow the track to host Grand Prix motorcycle races. At the previously 1.957 mi (3.149 km) the circuit was deemed too short. The shorter layout remains as the "National" circuit, which is used for most non-Grand Prix events.

Near the end of the 20th century Donington has held meetings of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbike Championship, as well as the 1993 European Grand Prix.

## Event history

The following is a list of Formula One World Championship events held at the Donington Park:

## Previous layouts used

Donington Park (1935–1936)Donington Park (1937–1939)Donington Park GP Circuit (1977–1985) & National Circuit (1986–present)
## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Donington Park Trophy. kolumbus.fi.
2. ↑ Grand Prix dream comes true for circuit's saviour and thousands of region's race fans. hisisderbyshire.co.uk (2008-07-05).
3. ↑ A few facts about Donington Park. planet-f1.com (2008-07-04).
4. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Wheatcroft, Tom (1999). Christopher Hilton (ed.). *Hitler's GP in England*. Haynes Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 1-85960-630-X.
5. ↑ Under starters orders. Donington wins right to race. *Motorcycle News*, 21 January 1976, pp.1 (front cover). Retrieved 5 January 2022