Donington Park



Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.

Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship. Used as a military vehicle storage depot during World War 2, it fell into disrepair until bought by local construction entrepreneur Tom Wheatcroft. Revived under his ownership in the 1970s, it hosted a single Formula One race. Leased by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd in 2007 the hope that Formula One racing could return to the track, the incomplete venture failed to raise sufficient financial backing during the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. DVLL consequently lost the rights to the British rounds of both Formula1 and MotoGP, and in its bankruptcy returned the track to the Wheatcroft family in December 2009. The only proposed race meeting that was announced prior to recent developments was the BTCC meeting. However in October 2010, it was confirmed that the UK round of the WTCC is to move from Brands Hatch to Donington for the 2011 season.

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 the then owner of the Donington Hall estate, Alderman John Gillies Shields JP,to use the extensive roads on his land for racing.

The original track was 2 mile 327 yd (3518 m) in length, and based on normal width unsealed estate roads. The first motor cycle race took place on Whit Monday, 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 the 25th 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 1939 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot.

Wheatcroft revival (1971–2006)
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.

In recent times Donington has held meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, as well as the 1993 European Grand Prix.

Other events taking place at the track include a 1000 km endurance race for the Le Mans Series in 2006, 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.

Donington Ventures Leisure (2007–2009)
In 2007, Wheatcroft via the holding company Wheatcroft & Son Ltd, sold a 150 year lease on the land on which the track and museum are located to Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd (DVLL).

In July 2008, it was announced that DVLL had won the rights to the British Grand Prix for seventeen years from July 2010, with North West Leicestershire council approving plans for the required track and facility rebuilt design by Hermann Tilke to be constructed from January 2009.

On September 27 and 28, 2008 the Motocross des Nations, the biggest and longest running event in World Championship Motocross, was at Donington Park.

In April 2009, Wheatcroft & Son Ltd took legal action against DVLL in Derby County 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 did not meet required standards to host the event, there will be no British Grand Prix from 2010.

On 5 June 2009 it was announced that an out of court settlement had been reached between Wheatcroft & Son Ltd and DVLL.

On 24 October 2009, media sources reported that Donington had failed to raise the £135 million needed to stage a British Grand Prix. The BBC commented in its coverage that: "Donington's bid looks over, and that Ecclestone has offered the race to Silverstone." Although DVLL gave further public relations assurance that it would be able to raise the required finance and host the Grand Prix, on 29 October 2009, Ecclestone confirmed that the British Grand Prix would not be held at Donington.

On 18 November 2009, the company went into administration. Acting chairman Mr Price said: "This need not be the end of Formula One racing at Donington. It still remains a fantastic location. It needs people of vision to get the dream to the starting grid. We are certainly hopeful that a 2011 Grand Prix could take place at the site."

On 7 December 2009, Formula One Management announced that Silverstone had been awarded a 17-year contract to hold the British Grand Prix from 2010 until 2026.

Return to Wheatcroft family (2009–2010)
On December 24, 2009 it was announced that a buyer for Donington Ventures Leisure had not been found, which thus meant that the 150 year lease given by Wheatcroft & Son Ltd to Donington Ventures Leisure was terminated. The ownership immediately reverted to Wheatcroft & Son Ltd, now led by Kevin Wheatcroft in light of the death of his father in 2009. In an interview with the Derby Telegraph, Kevin Wheatcroft vowed to re-open Donington Park as soon as possible saying that "we are doing everything we can to get things back to normal at Donington Park." There are now hopes to re-open the circuit in August 2010

Adroit Group (2010 – Present)
On May, 26 2010 Kevin Wheatcroft announced that the lease for Donington Park has been sold to the Worcestershire-based Adroit Group. The company will invest up to £2m by the end of the year to try to win back its FIA grade two licence. The iconic Dunlop Bridge will be re-introduced in a new location after DVLL had dismantled it and new clearance regulations mean that the bridge can no longer straddle the track in its original dimensions.

Motorsport at Donington
At Donington Park several motorsport events including BTCC, British F3, Superleague Formula, Pickup Truck Racing have all been held at the circuit.

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'. There is a memorial to Senna in the grounds of the racetrack, outside a shop selling motorsports memorabilia.

Failed 2010 British Grand Prix bid

 * See also: 2010 Formula One season.

On 4 July 2008, Bernie Ecclestone announced that Donington Park would hold the British Grand Prix from onwards in a 17-year deal, having been hosted exclusively by Silverstone since 1987. On 10 July 2008, the proposal was that the track would have a major upgrade designed by Herman Tilke, 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.

The proposal was that race would be the first to be accessed only by public transportation, as cars will not be allowed to enter the facility. This was in part was an answer to the lack of road access, which even when 30,000 bikers exit major motorcycle events resulted in long tailbacks. The proposal was that a shuttle-bus service would run from the close by East Midlands Parkway station, on the Midland Main Line from London to Sheffield.

In light of the financial crisis and Donington's potential inability to raise finance, 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.

Donington was given an extended two week deadline to prove it had the funds to host the 2010 British Grand Prix, however, on 22 October 2009, fundraising attempts fell through. Ecclestone later confirmed that Donington would not be hosting the British Grand Prix.

On 18 November 2009, less than one month after it was confirmed that the Donington had lost the right to host the British Grand Prix, circuit owner Donington Ventures Leisure Limited was placed into administration. Although Ecclestone gave the option of reviving the deal for new owners, in December 2009 Silverstone won the contract for the next 17 years.

August 2010 Donington Re-Opens for Motorsport
After a year of turmoil Donington Park is going racing again. With the infamous Formula One plans leaving the circuit unusable after redevelopment work on the track was halted due to a financial crisis, the circuit was returned to the Wheatcroft family at the end of 2009. With the new leaseholders Adroit, determined to bring Donington back to its former glory, the circuit has been reinstated with the finishing touches just taking place this month. A slight change to the right hand Esses will form a slightly longer start and finish straight but otherwise the circuit remains unchanged.

Other events
Beside motorsports many other events are held at Donington including Music Festivals like the Download Festival, the Donington Park Sunday Sale and the Donington Grand Prix Museum exhibition.

Donington Grand Prix Museum Exhibition
The Donington Grand Prix Exhibition first opened to the public in March 1973. It is the largest collection of Grand Prix racing cars in the world. Five halls, with over 130 exhibits, illustrate the history of motor sport from the turn of the 20th Century. Cars include examples driven by such famous names as Nuvolari, Mansell, Prost, Moss, Senna, Fangio, Clark and Stewart. The Donington Grand Prix Exhibition houses the largest collection of McLaren racing cars in the world, and the only complete collection of Vanwalls. Notable exhibits include the 1936 twin engined 500 bhp (373 kW) Alfa Romeo Bimotore which has a top speed of 200 mph (320 km/h), Jim Clark's World Championship winning Lotus 25, the 'howling' flat 12 Ferrari 312B, and Stirling Moss's Lotus, in which he defeated the Ferrari works team in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix. The Collection also features the World's largest collection of Driver's Helmets. There are several different type of simulators that allow users to experience the thrills of racing at speed.

The exhibition has currently re-opened as of January 6, 2010 along with the cafe and race control offices.

Location
Donington Park lies south west of Nottingham, resides in Leicestershire and 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 and Derby Midland Station are close by and the owners have expressed their desire for spectators to use these stations and coaches to the circuit. The owners are also in support of any future light rail transport to East Midlands Airport itself.

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, Redline, rFactor, SBK-07, Race Driver: GRID and Need for Speed: Shift. Donington Park also appears in the game Guitar Hero: Metallica as a playable venue.