Donington Park

About

Donington Park circuit is located near Derby adjacent to the busy East Midlands airport. It was the first permanent park circuit in England with its first motorcycle race taking place in 1931. In 1933 the circuit was widened and made into a permanent race venue with Grand Prix car racing being a regular race series at the circuit. Unfortunately racing at the circuit had to be postponed during the second world war but it was not until many decades later that Donington Park returned as a race track. Over the years the circuit has held some of the biggest motorsport events including the British round of F1 and MotoGP along with World Series by Renault, the BTCC and many more. The venue has also played host to many other types of events including music festivals and the Sunday Market. Donington Park however is probably most famous for the European F1 race it held in 1993 where Ayrton Senna drove a truly dominant race against cars superior to his McLaren. In what was one of the most treacherous race conditions imagineable, Ayrton Senna went from 5th to 1st on lap one and wowed the crowd with his great finesse and control. Unfortunately in latter years, the circuit has suffered numerous setbacks in its attempts to regain the mantle of Britain’s best circuit and a lack of funding has caused a spell of unsettled times for the track. With the circuit passing important modern safety checks, it looks set to build on its already great history and will allow drivers to test themselves again on one of the world’s best tracks. With corners such as the Craner curves, Old Hairpin, McLeans and the Melbourne Hairpin, this circuit creates some of the most exhilarating and action packed racing and is definitely a crowd pleaser.