Countdown to Donington Historic Festival

Countdown to Donington Historic Festival

‘Get Involved’ will be the theme for this year’s Donington Historic Festival, which is taking place at Donington Park between 28-30 April 2017. Attractions at the event include stunt driving lessons, drift driving in Caterhams, and so much more; all designed to give visitors the chance to create their own motorsport experience.

A new format has also been introduced, with qualifying for all grids taking place on Friday, and plenty of race action lined up for the weekend. This has allowed the festival to attract its biggest line up of cars to date, featuring Pre-War grids through to cars from the early 1990s.

The ‘elder statesmen’ get their own event, with pre-1941 vehicles taking part in the Motor Racing Legends ‘Mad Jack’ for Pre-War Sports Cars, featuring famous marques such as Alfa Romeo, Alvis, Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Frazer Nash, MG, Riley and Talbot. With such variety taking part, this is a true spectacle of historic racing in which anything can happen.

One car that will be taking part at the festival this year is the Talbot-Lago SS which took part in the 1937-1939 Le Mans, as well as the 1949 race, giving it the distinction of competing in both the last 24 Hours before the war and the first after hostilities ceased. It also took part in the 1937 Mille Miglia and was driven by Louis Chiron, Luigi Chinetti and Pierre Levegh.

Featuring entries from owners of some of the most glamourous cars around, the invitation-only GT & Sports Car Cup (GTSCC) welcomes pre-66 GT cars and pre-63 sports cars to the event. It's the only race series to reunite models such as original Jaguar E-type Lightweight, Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 and all three Morgan Plus 4 SLRs ever produced, to name but a few.

If you can’t get enough of the big cats, then the Jaguar Classic Challenge will see D-Types, C-Types, E-Types, XK 120s, 140s and 150s prowling the circuit. Representing some of the industry’s most beautiful and powerful designs, they are sure to delight those that get to watch them in action. The Jaguar Classic Challenge is a cracking race series that sees pre-1966 Jaguar cars go head-to-head in enormous style.

Richard Grafton, commercial director of Historic Promotions – which organises Donington Historic Festival – commented: “It’s a real honour to welcome such prestigious grids to join us as we celebrate Donington Park’s 40th anniversary, the seventh successive Donington Historic Festival and our refreshed qualifying format. With this year’s focus on ‘Get Involved’, we are committed to creating an atmosphere in which families and fans alike can experience motorsport first-hand.”

The full list of grids comprises: ‘Mad Jack’ Pre-War Sports Cars; Historic Touring Car Challenge; U2TC, GT & Sports Car Cup; Stirling Moss Trophy; Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy; HSCC Historic Formula 2 FIA International Race Series; HRDC ‘Touring Greats’; HRDC ‘Coys Trophy’; Jaguar Classic Challenge; 1000 Km; HSCC Super Touring Car Challenge and two Formula Junior grids, the FJHRA/HSCC ‘Silverline’ Championship Front Engined Formula Juniors and Rear-Engined Formula Juniors. The full timetable is available to view at: http://www.doningtonhistoric.com/the-races/.

The refreshed event, which is themed around the slogan ‘Get Involved’, has meant the introduction of new content that gives visitors the chance to partake in some of the festival’s attractions. Central to this inclusive atmosphere will be Paul Swift, who is offering visitors a once in a lifetime chance to be able to learn stunt driving from the world-renowned driver. Guests can also experience the thrill of drifting a Caterham with Book A Track or participate in festival parades around the circuit.

Advance tickets for Donington Historic Festival 2017 range from £16 for a Friday pass, up to £48 for a three-day package that will give access to all the weekend’s racing and other attractions. Children under 16 can visit the event for free, provided they are accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available online at www.doningtonhistoric.com or on the 24-hour hotline on 0844 873 7355 (charged at 7p per minute plus your network access charge).

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