Interview: Christopher Tate

Christopher Tate is the Managing Director of Donington Race Circuit in the UK. In his career, he has held many senior positions with various organizations including Lola Cars International, Elan Panoz and the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, UK. In recent years, he was one of the driving forces behind the Masters Historic Racing with Ron Maydon. His sports marketing agency has been involved at many levels with a number of racing series in the UK, Europe and the USA. It was his current position at Donington, which he has held since November 2011, that Vintage Racecar’s European Editor, Mike Jiggle, wished to talk to him about. The conversation, held at Donington, initially revolved around Tate’s father, Johnny, who produced many amateur films of the motor racing scene in the UK and Europe from the early 1950s through to the early 1970s, and the collection was subsequently made into a series of videos and DVDs known as A Gentleman’s Diary of Motor Racing.

Before we talk about you and Donington, I’ve always been interested in your father’s films and the story behind the Gentleman’s Diary series.