Here's basic information for compiling of Donington Park races list
Racing first started at the track in 1933, when the owner of Donington Park Estate, John Gillies Shields, was persuaded to allow race meetings to be held in his grounds. Just two years later, the first 300-mile Donington Grand Prix was held - a race that was such a success it was repeated in 1936. After this, foreign teams were invited to take part, and the event went from strength to strength.
Source - http://www.topgear.c...ng_holidays/04/ Britain's oldest surviving racing circuit is at Donington Park, which is located 12 miles from Nottingham on the top of a windswept hill close to the East Midlands Airport.
The Donington Park estate belonged to the the Gillies Shields family and like many other English country estates until World War I when it was requisitioned by the British government and used as a prisoner of war camp. In 1915 Gunther Pluschow, a German pilot, made one of the few successful escape attempts of the war from Donington. In the years that followed the war the estate returned to normality and it was not until 1933 that Donington again made the headlines. A local garage owner from Derby called Fred Craner approached John Gillies Shields and convinced him to let the Derby & District Motor Club - of which Craner was the president - hold races on the estate roads. Racing on public roads in Britain had been banned after the disastrous Paris-Madrid race of 1903. It was this law which resulted in the decision to build the huge banked speedway at Brooklands, but the great oval was an exception to the rule and for most British racers it was a question of looking for private estates on which to race and so began the tradition of hillclimbs and sprints which developed at such venues as Prescott and Shelsley Walsh.
Having convinced Gillies Shields to allow him to organize races, Craner ran the first races at Donington in 1933 on a 2.1-mile track. The races were a big success and two years later Craner took the bold step of staging a 300-mile Donington Grand Prix. It attracted only local racers and was won by 'Mad Jack' Shuttleworth. The event was repeated in 1936 and won by a 23-year-old rising star called Dick Seaman, who shared an Alfa Romeo 8C with Swiss owner/driver Hans Ruesch. The following year Seaman was recruited by the factory Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix team. British fans began to take notice of European racing and Craner decided that he would invite all the big Grand Prix teams to an event in October 1937. Britain and Germany were edging towards war but 60,000 fans turned up to watch the mighty German racing teams: Mercedes- Benz and AutoUnion. The race provided an exciting battle between Bernd Rosemeyer in his AutoUnion and the Mercedes W125s of Manfred von Brauchitsch and Rudi Caracciola. Seaman collided with AutoUnion's Hermann Muller. Victory went to Rosemeyer.
Source - http://www.grandprix...pe/cir-021.html Donington Park in 1931 was owned by a Mr.Shields who used to open the park to the public for the price of 6d. Fred Craner, a local garage owner and motorcycle racer, was looking for somewhere local to compete, and he came to an agreement with the landowner to hold a race on a dirt track in the grounds. The first meeting was held on Whit Monday, May 1931, on a 2 mile 327yd circuit.
For 1932 the track was improved, and a combined motorcycle and sidecar meeting was held. For 1933, the track was widened and tarmacked at a cost of œ12,000, and the first car meeting was held on the 25th March, followed by a further three car meetings that year. The track was extended for 1934, and by 1935 the circuit was 2 miles 971 yds long, and was established enough to hold the first Donington Grand Prix. The race was 4hrs47m12s long, and was won by Richard Shuttleworth in an Alfa Romeo.
For 1937 the circuit was extended again to 3 miles 220 yds, with the circuit being extended down the Melbourne Hill to the Melbourne Corner, which was situated just over the county border in Derbyshire! This version was used to hold the famous Third Donington Grand Prix, won by Bernd Rosemeyer in 3h1m22s in an Auto Union C Type. However, the war soon intervened, and the circuit was requisitioned by the military to store vehicles.
Although attempts were made to reopen the circuit, none were successful until the grounds were purchased by the self-made millionaire Tom Wheatcroft. It wasn't easy reopening the circuit due to the protrusion of the circuit into the neighbouring county, so racing was restricted to the 1.957 mile national circuit which missed out the Melbourne loop and was modified from the 1937 circuit (some of the corners were reprofiled and moved, and the some of the corners were renamed - see picture below).
Source - http://www.silhouet....s/doningto.html The 1934 season was quite successful for Team Straight. With team mates R.E.L. "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh and Hugh Hamilton, Straight took part in several of the events during the season. Straight was victorious at the Donington Trophy race, the Brooklands Mountain race and the handicap South African Grand Prix.
Source - http://8w.forix.com/straight.html The most senior racing drivers in the world will help celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Donington Park's first ever race meeting.
Ninety-two-year-old Tom Delaney competed in his Lea Francis at Donington during the circuit's first season in 1933 - and amazingly he is still racing the same car 70 years later.
Also present will be racing driver Willie Green, at the wheel of his father's Lea Francis, which ran the very first assessment laps at Donington prior to the meeting in March 1933.
The reunion will take place at the Donington Grand Prix Collection in the Midlands on March 25 - the home of the world's largest collection of grand prix racing cars.
The track-side museum contains a unique history of world motor sport with over 130 exhibits in five halls.
Both cars will then lap part of the extended original circuit, the Melbourne Loop, which still survives, but is no longer used for racing.
Donington is the only active circuit in the UK with a history that dates back over 70 years.
It was Alderman John Gillies Shields, who owned Donington Hall at that time, and Fred Craner of the Derby and District Motor Club who instigated racing at Donington Park, initially for motorcycles in 1931.
Tom Wheatcroft bought the track in the early 1970's, bringing racing back in 1977. He started collecting cars in the 1950s, and opened the Collection in 1973.
Source - http://www.hoot-uk.c...22032003-1.html 1933 Donington Park Trophy
7 October - Donington Park: 20 laps x 3,5084 km = 70,17 km
Pole Position: N/A
Fastest Lap: Francis Howe Bugatti T51 2.06,6
Results:
1 9 Francis Howe Bugatti T51 43.06,0
2 5 Lindsay Eccles Bugatti T51 43.51,0
Retirements:
4 Taso Mathieson Bugatti T35C 8 Engine
Did not start:
2 Whitney Straight Maserati 26M (8C-2500) Engine
3 Ron Horton MG K3 Mechanical
18 Eddie Hall MG K3 DNS
20 Freddie Dixon Riley 9 Head Gasket
Source - http://members.fortu...9/1933min18.htm The Klemantaski Collection
LIST OF PROGRAMS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
1934
International Races, Donington (10/6)
1935
Light Car Road Race, Donington (7/13)
1936
Donington Grand Prix (10/3)
1937
Light Car Road Race, Donington (6/12)
J.C.C. 200 Miles Race, Donington (8/28)
Donington Grand Prix (10/2)
1938
British Empire Trophy, Donington (4/9)
Donington Races (5/14)
Donington Races (6/24)
Nuffield Trophy, Donington (7/9)
Tourist Trophy, Donington (9/3)
Donington Grand Prix (10/22)
1939
British Empire Trophy, Donington (4/1)
Donington Races (5/20)
Nuffield Trophy, Donington (6/10)
Donington Races (6/24)
Donington Races (7/1)
Donington Grand Prix (9/30) (canceled)
Source - http://www.klemcoll....ProgramList.pdf Donington Park lies where the three counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire meet. The circuit is situated near the village of Castle Donington in Leicestershire and opened for motorcycle racing in March 1933. During the war years it was used as a stores by the army and it gradually fell into disuse until it was bought in the 1970's by the now legendary character, Tom Wheatcroft. His intention was to stage the highest level of motorsport there.
Source - http://www.bikersweb...ton/preview.htm An original programme for the SS Car Club's Donington race meeting on Saturday April 17th 1937.
Interesting to note that there are several ladies driving, one in a 1937 SS100, the other in a 1936 2½ Litre saloon - apparently the SS Car Club did have a large number of active lady members.
Source - http://www.jag-lover...cc_don0437.html Original letters from Bill Rankin of SS Cars Ltd plus matching SS Car Club documentation. The first invites SS dealers and main distributors to attend the SS Car Club's Donington meeting on July 8th 1939.
Source - http://www.jag-lover...s/sscc_don.html United Hospitals & University of London Motor Club
The Club was originally formed in about 1932 or 1933 for the London Hospitals and membership was extended to the University of London about 1935, when permission was obtained from the University for the use of the name. During this period the Club's president was Dr. Benjafield of Bentley fame and the Club was one of the first to organise motor racing on the Donington Park circuit. Our badge dates from this period, having been designed by D W Harvey with the help of "Caput" of the Autocar.
UHULMC DONINGTON PARK RACE MEETINGS
We held race meetings at Donington Park on
24 Oct 1936
29 May 1937
8 Oct 1938
20 May 1939
Source - http://users.breathe.com/pwa/uhulmc/ & http://users.breathe...lmc/donngtn.htm Extracts from The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing
6.10.34 – Nuffield Trophy (Donington Park Trophy);
13.07.35 – Nuffield Trophy;
3.10.35 – Donington Grand Prix;
4.04.36 – British Empire Trophy;
4.07.36 – Nuffield Trophy;
29.08.36 – JCC 200 Mile Race;
3.10.36 – Donington Grand Prix;
10.04.37 – British Empire Trophy;
12.06.37 – Nuffield Trophy;
28.08.37 – JCC 200 Mile Race;
4.09.37 – RAC Tourust Trophy;
2.10.37 – Donington Grand Prix;
3.09.38 – RAC Tourust Trophy;
Source - http://www.kolumbus....4.htm#DONINGTON Finally dates for the first ever races takes from page which seem to be no longer existed:
25.03.33 – first race (sport cars);
13.05.33 – sport car race;
