The inaugural Donington Historic Festival will be held 30 April to 1 May, 2011 at Donington Park near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.
The on-track action at Donington Historic Festival 2011 will see more than 300 historic racing cars battling it out in a packed programme of historic races from the 30s to the 80s, with diverse grids that range from Group A Touring Cars to Group C sportscars, taking in pre-63 GTs, Formula Junior, 1950s and 1960s sportscars, pre-War cars and much more besides. There will also be a host of off-track attractions, including automobilia, trade stands, demonstrations and historic karts.
While the engine notes of pre-War racing cars took onlookers back in time to the earliest glory days of Donington, it was the sight (and sound!) of a spectacular selection of Group C Le Mans cars that was perhaps the test day’s greatest visual delight. Group C Racing is expecting a grid of more than 25 of these incredible, predominantly 1980s race cars at the Donington Historic Festival 2011 – and the sight of such an assortment of top-level sportscars jockeying for position along the Dunlop Straight should prove spine-tingling. The wide range of marques represented is likely to include Porsche, Jaguar, Spice and Mercedes, plus Aston Martin, Nissan, Tiga and Courage.
The feature race on the Saturday evening of the Donington Historic Festival 2011 will be a 250km, two-driver endurance race for sports prototypes of the type that competed in the World Endurance Championships pre-1972. This is the first ever round of a new series – launched by Carol Spagg and Jason Wright – a 1000km challenge comprising four, individual 250km races spread across the year, each held at a top-level event. Donington is the first and the grid is likely to include Ford GT40s, Lola T70s, Porsche 910s and B8 and B16 Chevrons.
The Festival will also be notable for the return of the legendary Group B rally cars on a specially designed, all-Tarmac stage. Look out for flame-spitting Audi quattros, MG Metro 6R4, Ford RS200, Lancia 037, Porsche 911 RSR, Peugeot 205 T16 – and even an example of the exotic Group B Ferrari 308 GTB – in action on a specially designed, all-Tarmac stage on the GP loop, with full spectator access.
The first annual Donington Historic Festival will take place on the Bank Holiday weekend of 30 April to 1 May 2011. Ticket prices are being kept affordable, with advance tickets starting at just £18 for adults and free entry for accompanied under-16-year-olds. On-the-gate adult tickets will be £22. Tickets are available from the Donington Historic Festival ticket hotline: 0844 873 7355 and online at www.doningtonhistoric.com.
Photographer Tim Scott of Fluid Images was on hand to document Press Day for Donington Historic Festival 2011, offering the following images that showcase the field of entrants that will participate in the inaugural historic motorsports event. To see more from Tim, visit fluidimages.co.uk.
Donington Historic Festival 2011 – Preview Day Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
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[Source: Donington Historic Festival; photo credit: Tim Scott / Fluid Images]
