Uncovering the history of Donington

During the war, Donington was given over to the storage of military vehicles, and not until 1956 would the forces leave – by which time the track was in a poor state.

Then, in 1971, along came Tom Wheatcroft (above). The boss of a local – and very successful – building business bought the site with a view to creating a museum in which to house his collection of racing cars. And, eventually, to reopen the circuit.

A quick look through our LAT archives turned up photographs showing what Wheatcroft had bought. It was all still recognisable, even if cows were grazing where Rosemeyer and Nuvolari once wowed the crowds.

Certain practicalities, however, forced Wheatcroft to re-route the track slightly. The Old Hairpin was still easily recognisable (below) but going one at a time beneath Starkey’s Bridge was obviously out of the question by the 1970s, so at the bottom of the Craner Curves it turned right about 100 metres earlier and ran roughly parallel to the original layout, bypassing the bridge and running up to McLeans. 

A similar tactic was employed at Coppice. The new design turned right earlier than the old corner, missing out the famous farmyard and instead taking cars on to the pre-war manufacturers’ loop, which now formed the back straight.

The pre-war ‘straight’ – which was actually anything but – was therefore not employed. In George Monkhouse’s peerless account Motor Racing With Mercedes Benz, there is a wonderful image of Manfred von Brauchitsch flat-out on this challenging section aboard his W125.

The understated caption says: ‘Note that Manfred is examining his rear tyre.’ If I had been Manfred, my concentration would probably have been taken up with what was happening in front of me…

The biggest change came around the site of the current pits. The much-photographed run to and from Melbourne Loop – where the pre-war German titans would take off cresting the brow – was abandoned, as was the old left-hander at Redgate, upon which stood a building used by Rolls-Royce.

Instead, a new pit straight linked up with the old circuit via a new right-hander that retained the Redgate name. 

I have a fascination with sites such as this, searching out clues to the past and working out exactly where the various sections were. The Melbourne Loop still exists at the western edge of the site, and is used for markets and manufacturer events – Alfa Romeo was running one of the latter on the day I visited.

The original Redgate would have been near the current paddock entrance, where the factories are being built that will house the teams for the new Formula E series.

Starkey’s Bridge remains, of course, and when I went to Donington to watch the RAC Rally go through in the early 1990s, the stage replicated the pre-war circuit by taking Integrales, Sierras and the like through one of its archways (above). 

The outbuildings at Coppice, where cars used to blast through the farmyard, have gone, but the farmhouse itself is still there. Using nothing more than guesswork and the position of the old Lodge as a reference, I was able to get a rough idea of where the famous image of Rosemeyer (below) was taken in 1937.

With Donington reopening in 1977 under Wheatcroft’s watch, it is easy to regard it as a relative newcomer among the former WW2 airfields that now make up most of the UK’s circuits, and forget about its status as a road-racing alternative to the increasingly anachronistic Brooklands through the 1930s.

The peaceful woodland setting of old may now be more exposed – to say nothing of being adjacent to East Midlands airport – but this remains one of the country’s finest layouts, as well as a good place to indulge in a little motor-sport archaeology.

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James Page

James Page is a regular contributor to – and former Editor of – Classic & Sports Car