Donington Park will reverberate the unmatched sound of classic racing engines when the Donington Historic Festival roars into action on Saturday, the 29th and Sunday, April 30th 2023.

Highlights include the epic endurance battle that is the Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup, a whole host of races featuring Touring Car grids from the 1950s to the late 1990s, the ‘Mad Jack’ race for pre-War sports cars, the glorious combined grid for the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy for pre-56 sportscars and Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-61 sports racers, a round of the enormously entertaining Jaguar Classic Challenge and no less than three Ferrari-only races when the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series joins the DHF line-up for the first time.

To supplement the world-class race action, the event features track displays and parades, an open-access paddock and pitlane walks, a trade village, and hundreds of cherished classic cars in exhibitions staged by a whole host of car clubs.

TOURING CAR ACTION
Touring Car fans are in for a treat at this year’s Donington Historic Festival. Five spectacular races feature the ever-popular tin-tops in a fabulous throwback to decades of Touring Car glory. DHF Touring Car action kicks off on Saturday, April 29th, with a combined grid for the Historic Touring Car Challenge, Tony Dron Trophy, Sixties Touring Car Challenge and U2TC for under two-litre Touring Cars.

The first entry into Redgate Corner will be an unforgettable sight.

The 1970s and 1980s Touring Cars of the HTCC cover a wide range of cars. Mk1 Ford Escorts and Capris, BMW CSL ‘Batmobiles’, Group A Rover SD1s, MG Metro Turbos, Alfa Romeo GTVs, TWR XJSs to BMW E30 M3s, Nissan Skylines and flame-spitting Sierra RS500 Cosworths are just some of the examples cars that will pack the grid. The Tony Dron Trophy sees Ford Capris and Mk 2 Escorts wheel-to-wheel with Triumph Dolomite Sprints, Chevvy Camaros, Alfa Romeos and Golf GTIs. In addition to this, the pre ’66 under 2-litre Touring Cars of U2TC, such as Mk 1 Mini Coopers, Mk 1 Lotus Cortinas, and BMW 1800s and the Group 2 and Group 1 Touring Cars from 1966 to 1969 of the Sixties Touring Car Challenge - think Mk 2 Lotus Cortinas, BMW 2002s, early Mk 1 Ford Escorts, Mk 2 Minis, and Lancia Fulvias - and you will have a packed grid that promises fabulous racing. The first entry into Redgate, with dozens of brightly-liveried machines hurtling away from the start line, the spectacle will be unforgettable!

Qualifying starts from 09:45 on Saturday, with the 50-minute race starting at 13:50. That’s not the end of the tin-top action for Saturday, though, as Pre-’60 Touring Cars will also be mixing it out on track with pre-’63 and pre-‘63 GTs and pre-’60 Sports Cars in the epic three-hour Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup, which brings the first day’s racing to an exhilarating close. Qualifying is at 10:55, with the race taking place at 15:30.

Sunday, April 30th, sees Touring Car action in three races, all from the hugely entertaining HRDC ‘stable’. Making its DHF debut, the HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy for pre-83 Group 1 and 1½ Touring Cars evokes one of the most significant periods from the glory days of the BTCC, where many of the greatest drivers in UK motorsport history pitched battle against each other. Named after one of the most successful Touring Car drivers of all time, the HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy series conjures up the intense battles that were fought by Gerry’s opponents Tony Lanfranchi, Gordon Spice, Stuart Graham, Barrie Williams, Andy Rouse and Win Percy in everything from Capris and Escorts to Rovers, Camaros and Mustangs. Qualifying commences at 09:05, with the 45-minute race starting at 13:10.

The combined grid of HRDC Dunlop Allstars for pre-‘66 Sports, GT and Touring Cars and HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge will bring pre-’66 Sports, GT and Touring Cars together on the same grid, producing one of the HRDC’s most successful series – and adding in the glamorous Classic Alfa Challenge cars has only increased the appeal of this grid. From mighty Cobras through to Austin A35s, with the added spice of Alfa GTs and Touring Cars, this is an intoxicating cocktail for any petrolhead! Qualifying is at 10:20, and the 30-minute race is at 15:25.

Finally, the weekend finishes with the HRDC Jack Sears Trophy for 1958- 1966 Touring Cars. This series is singular in that it embraces all cars from the formative years of what we now know as the BTCC. From the early cars of the 1950s such as the ubiquitous Austin A35 and A40 giant-killers that battled so fiercely against the thundering Jaguar Mk1s, this series encompasses the development of Touring Cars through the early to mid-1960s with the heady battles between Lotus Cortina, Ford Mustangs and Falcons and, of course, those cheeky Mini Coopers! Watch out for titanic class battles throughout this truly historic grid! Qualifying is at 11:20, and the 45-minute race begins at 17:40.

SENNA AND A CELEBRATION OF F1
Donington Historic Festival to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park Thirty years ago, motor racing fans across the globe watched in awe as triple World Champion Ayrton Senna gave a masterclass in wet track driving by winning the European Grand Prix at Donington Park on April 11th 1993. The extraordinary performance from Senna included the opening ‘lap of the gods’, possibly the greatest lap in F1 history, where he passed four drivers – Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost – to take the lead.

Senna’s connection with what he called ‘my best UK circuit’ began in July 1983, when he tested Keke Rosberg’s Monaco GP-winning Williams Cosworth FW08 at Donington Park; he stepped foot onto the F1 ladder. But at the first Grand Prix held at Donington in 55 years, the 1993 European Grand Prix is eternally etched on the memories of motorsport fans worldwide. The Donington Historic Festival will honour that extraordinary occasion with F1 track demos and displays.

Festival organisers invite the general public to share their memories of that day. A photo wall will display images from those lucky enough to be in the crowd that day witnessing history. Photos and other memories of that day can be uploaded to the Donington Historic Festival website.

Free-of-charge lunchtime pitlane walks will allow visitors to set foot on the pitlane that Senna famously drove through en route to his iconic victory. At the same time, echoes of Ayrton Senna’s earlier days in motorsport will be a static display of historic karts from the British Historic Kart Club. Karting gave the legendary driver his first competition experience, as it did with many big names in the sport. As well as this, there will be appearances from F1 cars, including a Tolman TG-184, which Senna himself drove in Detroit, Monaco and Brands Hatch in 1984 and a Benetton-Ford B193 driven by seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher during the 1993 season.

The timetable for the 2023 Donington Historic Festival is as follows:*

Saturday, April 29th
09:05 – 09:35 Jaguar Classic Challenge for pre-‘66 Jaguar cars (qualifying)
09:45 – 10:15 Historic Touring Car Challenge and Tony Dron Trophy for ‘70s and ‘80s TouringcCars and Sixties Touring Car Challenge with U2TC for under two-litre Touring Cars (qualifying)
10:25 – 10:45 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series (qualifying)
10:55 – 11:45 Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup for pre-‘66 GT and Touring Cars, pre-’63 GTs and pre-’60 Sports Cars (qualifying)
12:00 – 13:00 Jaguar Classic Challenge for pre-‘66 Jaguar cars (race )
13:00 – 13:50 Lunch Break / Demonstrations
13:50 – 14:40 Historic Touring Car Challenge and Tony Dron Trophy for ‘70s and ‘80s Touring Cars and Sixties Touring Car Challenge with U2TC for under two-litre Touring Cars (race)
14:55 – 15:15 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series (race 1)
15:30 – 18:30 Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup for pre-’66 GT and Touring Cars, pre-’63 GTs and pre-’60 Sports Cars (race)

Sunday, April 30th
09:05 – 09:30 HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy for pre-‘83 Group 1 and 1½ Touring Cars (qualifying)
09:40 – 10:10 Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-’56 and pre-’61 Sports Cars (qualifying)
10:20 – 10:35 Dunlop Allstars for pre-‘66 Sports, GT and Touring Cars and HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge for 750-116 Alfa Romeos (qualifying)
10:45 – 11:10 ‘Mad Jack’ for Pre-War Sports Cars (qualifying)
11:20 – 11:45 HRDC Jack Sears Trophy for 1958-1966 Touring Cars (qualifying)
12:00 – 12:20 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series (race 2)
12:20 – 13:10 Lunch Break / Demonstrations
13:10 – 13:55 HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy for pre-‘83 Group 1 and 1½ Touring Cars (race)
14:10 – 15:10 Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-’56 and pre-’61 Sports Cars (race)
15:25 – 15:55 HRDC Dunlop Allstars for pre-‘66 Sports, GT and Touring Cars and HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge for 750-116 Alfa Romeos (race)
16:10 – 16:50 ‘Mad Jack’ for Pre-War Sports Cars (race)
17:05 – 17:25 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series (race 3)
17:40 – 18:25 HRDC Jack Sears Trophy for 1958-1966 Touring Cars (race)

*Subject to change and alteration by the organisers. Please refer to the official timetable for the most accurate and up-to-date information

For further information and tickets, please visit www.doningtonhistoric.com

Words: Mike Booth
Images: Donington Historic Festival