Donington Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Location | North West Leicestershire, England | |
|---|---|---|
| Time zone | UTC+0 | |
| Owner | Tom Wheatcroft | |
| Operator | Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd | |
| Opened | 1931 | |
| Construction Cost | £12,000 | |
| Major Events | BTCC, British F3, British Superbikes, SBK, MotoGP, Superleague Formula, Pickup Truck Racing, F1 British Grand Prix (from 2010) | |
| GP Circuit | ||
| Circuit Length | 4.023 km (2.5 mi) | |
| Turns | 12 | |
| Lap Record | 1:18.029 (185.608 km/h) (Ayrton Senna, McLaren, 1993, F1) | |
| National Circuit | ||
| Circuit Length | 3.149 km (1.957 mi) | |
| Turns | 10 | |
Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England.
Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it is leased by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd from owner Tom Wheatcroft. Used as a motor racing track, it is also the venue for the Download Festival. Donington Park has a contract to stage the Formula One British Grand Prix for a period of seventeen years from 2010.
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[edit] History
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,[1] and was by 1931 a Derby garage owner and secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club.[2] Craner approached the then owner of the Donington Hall estate, Alderman John Gillies Shields JP, to use the extensive roads on his land for racing.[1] JG Shields son John Shields was a captain of Leicestershire County Cricket Club, who married a descendant of Edward Cornelius.[3]
The original track was 2 mile 327 yd (3518 m) in length, and based on normal width unsealed estate roads.[1] The first motor cycle race took place on Whit Monday, 1931.[1] For 1933 Craner obtained permission to build a permanent track, with the original layout widened and sealed at a cost of £12,000.[1] The first car race was held on the 25th March, followed by three car meetings further that year. The first Donington Park Trophy race was held on 7 October, 1933, and was won by the Earl Howe in a Bugatti Type 51.[1]
(2005)
In 1935 the first 300-mile (480 km) Donington Grand Prix was won by Richard "Mad Jack" Shuttleworth in an Alfa Romeo P3.[4] 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 1939 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot.[5]
[edit] Wheatcroft revival
In 1971 the circuit was bought by business man and car collector Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track. Wheatcroft moved his collection to the circuit, in a museum now known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition which opened in 1973, and has the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world.
The motor racing circuit re-opened on May 27, 1977, the first postwar race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, but that nearly didn't 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 2.5 miles (4.02 km) and allow the track to host Grand Prix motorcycle races - at 1.957 miles (3.149 km) without the loop, the circuit was deemed too short. This shorter layout remains as the National circuit, which is used for most non-Grand Prix events.
In recent times Donington has held meetings of MotoGP, the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbikes, as well as the 1993 European Grand Prix.
Other events taking place at the track include the World Series by Renault and the Great and British Motorsport Festival. On 26 August 2007 the circuit hosted the British Motocross Grand Prix, with a purpose-built motocross circuit constructed on the infield of the road circuit.[6]
[edit] Donington Ventures Leisure
In 2007, Wheatcroft sold a 150 year lease on the land on which the track and museum are located to Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd.[7]
DVL in 2007 won the rights to the British Grand Prix for seventeen years from July 2010, with North Leicestershire Council approving plans for the required track and facility rebuilt design by Hermann Tilke to be constructed from January 2009.
In April 2009, Wheatcroft & Son Ltd took legal action against DVLL in Derby Crown Court, seeking £2.47m in rent arrears, as well as forfeiture of the lease. The legal action put the future of the British Grand Prix in doubt, with Bernie Ecclestone restating that if Donington does not meet required standards to host the event there, will be no British Grand Prix from 2010.[8]
On 5 June 2009 it was announced that an out of court settlement had been reached between Wheatcroft & Son Ltd and DVLL.[9]
[edit] Formula One
[edit] 1993 European Grand Prix
Donington Park was the host of the 1993 European Grand Prix on 11 April 1993, which was affected by rain. The race was notable for the dominance of Ayrton Senna where he won the race by over 1 minute from Damon Hill, having advanced from fifth to first in the opening lap.
This race was described by AtlasF1 as the 'Drive of the Decade' [10]. There is a memorial to Senna in the grounds of the racetrack, outside a shop selling motorsports memorabilia.
[edit] 2010 onwards
- See also: 2010 Formula One season
On 4 July 2008, Bernie Ecclestone announced that Donington Park will hold the British Grand Prix from 2010 onwards in a 17-year deal (having been hosted exclusively by Silverstone since 1987).[11] The track will have a major upgrade, which was announced on 10 July 2008 to include an entirely new pit complex along Starkey's Straight and increasing the circuit length to 2.944 miles (4.738 km), by the addition of a new infield loop, to get it up to the standards required for modern day Formula One racing.[12] [13] This means that the race will run for 65 laps. Experienced circuit architect Hermann Tilke will be involved in the work.[14][15]
The race will also be the first one to be accessed by public transportation only, as cars will not be allowed to enter the facility. The close by East Midlands Parkway station on the Midland Main Line from London to Sheffield is central to this idea.[16]
On 20 June 2009, Bernie Ecclestone stated that there would be a British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2010 if Donington was not ready to host it. This was a change from his previous "Donington or nothing" standpoint and he cited changes in the structure of the BRDC meaning there was a better way of negotiating with them over future commercial rights. Furthermore during an interview with the BBC about the Formula One Teams Association threatening to break away and form their own series, FIA president Max Mosley said it was "highly likely" the 2010 British Grand Prix would return to Silverstone.[17]
[edit] Music festivals
Donington Park has a great pedigree of holding rock concerts and festivals, having played host to the Monsters of Rock concerts from the early 80s to mid 90s, when groups such as AC/DC, Metallica - who have each headlined three times - and Iron Maiden - who have headlined a record four times - performed there. More recently, it has played host to Stereophonics' A Day At The Races event in 2001, and the Ozzfest in 2002.
The Download Festival began at the venue in 2003, headlined by Iron Maiden and Audioslave. The event has been held each summer since then.
[edit] 2008 Motocross des Nations
On September 27 and 28, 2008 the Motocross des Nations, the biggest and longest running event in World Championship Motocross, was at Donington Park.[18]
[edit] Location
Whilst lying within the borders of Leicestershire, south of the River Trent, the circuit has a Derby postcode, it has a Derby telephone Area Code and East Midlands Airport is just a mile down the road.
Donington Park is located just off the M1 and is very close to East Midlands Airport, and aircraft taking off fly directly over the circuit at low altitude.
East Midlands Parkway railway station is close by and the owners have expressed their desire for spectators to use the station and coaches to the circuit.[19] The owners are also in support of any future light rail transport to East Midlands Airport itself.
[edit] Media
Donington Park has been simulated and can be driven in several racing simulations, such as Spirit of Speed 1937 (the 1937 version of the track is featured, as the name suggests), Sports Car GT, Le Mans 24 Hours, ToCA Touring Cars, ToCA 2 Touring Cars, ToCA Race Driver, ToCA Race Driver 2, TOCA Race Driver 3, GTR, GTR2, GT Legends, F1 Challenge '99-'02(with a mod), Grand Prix 4 (1993 configuration, unofficial add-on track), MotoGP 3, rFactor, SBK-07, and Race Driver: GRID. Donington Park also appears in the game Guitar Hero: Metallica as a playable stage.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "Donington Park Trophy". kolumbus.fi. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3317.htm. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.
- ^ "Grand Prix dream comes true for circuit's saviour and thousands of region's race fans". hisisderbyshire.co.uk. 2008-07-05. http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Grand-Prix-dream-comes-true-circuit-s-saviour-thousands-region-s-race-fans/article-207177-detail/article.html.
- ^ "Descendants of Edward Cornelius". antonymaitland.com. http://www.antonymaitland.com/Edward%20Cornelius%20descendants.htm. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.
- ^ "A few facts about Donington Park". planet-f1.com. 2008-07-04. http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3265_3775763,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-13.
- ^ Wheatcroft, Tom (1999). Christopher Hilton. ed. Hitler's GP in England. Haynes Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 185960630X.
- ^ "FOX FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Great Britain-Last Info". Youthstream. http://www.motocrossmx1.com/default.aspx?cs=6&type=news&id=1801. Retrieved on 28 August 2007.
- ^ "Donington is sold". grandprix.com. 2007-02-05. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns18017.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
- ^ "Legal battle threatens British GP". BBC Sport. 2009-04-23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8015028.stm. Retrieved on 2009-04-23.
- ^ "Legal settlement saves British GP". BBC Sport. 2009-06-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8085316.stm. Retrieved on 2009-06-18.
- ^ The Races we Remember: the Specials of the 90s
- ^ Gorman, Edward (2008-06-20). "Donington on track to take race from Silverstone in a 17 year deal". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article4175951.ece. Retrieved on 2008-06-23.
- ^ Support Document for Local Planning Application: Realignment and new Track Parts, Race Track Facilities General Description Sep 2008
- ^ Support Document for Local Planning Application: Design and Access
- ^ Donington reveals revamp plans
- ^ Keith Collantine (2008-09-05). "2010 Donington Park F1 track and paddock changes revealed - map of new British Formula 1 circuit | F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog | F1 video | F1 pictures | F1 news | Lewis Hamilton | Fernando Alonso". F1 Fanatic. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/09/05/2010-donington-park-f1-track-revealed/. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ Public transport only to Donington GP
- ^ "British GP is secure - Ecclestone". BBC Sport. 2009-06-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8110859.stm. Retrieved on 2009-06-20.
- ^ "RED BULL MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS 2008". Redbull.com. http://www.redbull.com/articlePrintVersion.action?articleID=1221122427909-275544793. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
- ^ "More details about Donington Park". Grand Prix . com. 2008-12-15. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21044.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-01.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Donington Park |
- Official Donington Park website
- Satellite picture by Google Maps
- Simulation of the new track layout by BBC News
- Official PDF of the new layout
- Free audio walkthrough of the track, for use with games
Coordinates: 52°49′50″N 1°22′31″W / 52.83056°N 1.37528°W
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