Donington Park 391884 226076018 2008-07-16T18:47:26Z 86.151.244.167 {{Motorsport venue | Name = Donington Park Circuit | Location = [[North West Leicestershire]], [[England]] | Image = [[Image:Circuit Doningtonpark.png|250px]] | Events = [[British Touring Car Championship|BTCC]], [[British Formula Three Championship|British F3]], [[British Superbike]]s, [[Superbike World Championship|SBK]], [[Grand Prix motorcycle racing|MotoGP]], [[Pickup Truck Racing]], [[British Grand Prix|F1 British Grand Prix from (2010)]] | Layout1 = GP Circuit | Length_km = 4.023 | Length_mi = 2.5 | Turns = 12 | Record_time = 1:18.029 (185.608 km/h) | Record_driver = [[Ayrton Senna]] | Record_class = [[Formula One|F1]] | Record_team = [[McLaren]] | Record_year = 1993 | Layout2 = National Circuit | Length_km2 = 3.149 | Length_mi2 = 1.957 | Turns2 = 10 | Record_time2 = | Record_driver2 = | Record_class2 = | Record_team2 = | Record_year2 = }} '''Donington Park''' is a site near [[Castle Donington]] in [[North West Leicestershire]], [[England]], owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd. It is used as a motor racing track, and is also the venue for The [[Download Festival]]. Donington Park has a contract to stage the [[Formula One]] [[British Grand Prix]] for a period of ten years from 2010. ==Motor Racing== [[Image:DoningtonPark.jpg|thumb|left|Donington Park Showing Spitfire Sculpture and track<br>(2005)]] The original Donington track was opened in 1931, and initially used for motorcycle races.<ref>{{cite web |title= Donington Park draws on history as Silverstone hands over British Grand Prix from 2010 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/07/06/smdoni106.xml |work=Telegraph.co.uk |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |date=2008-07-06}}</ref> In 1935 it saw [[Shuttleworth Collection|Richard Shuttleworth]] win the Donington Grand Prix in an [[Alfa Romeo P3]], in the [[1937 Donington Grand Prix]] and 1938 [[Donington Grand Prix]], the race winners were respectively [[Bernd Rosemeyer]] and [[Tazio Nuvolari]], both in [[Auto Union]] '[[Silver Arrows]]'. [[Image:Donington Park 1937.svg|thumb|right|250px|The Donington Circuit layout in 1937]] The circuit at Donington Park was closed in 1939 due to [[World War 2]], when it became a military vehicle depot. In the early 1970s the circuit was bought by Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track, which was re-opened [[May 27]], [[1977]]. The first postwar race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, but that nearly didn't happen, as the local ramblers tried to assert their rights to retain access to footpaths at [[the eleventh hour]]. The meeting went ahead as a "Motor Trial", a legal loophole that curtailed the use of single seater racing cars for that opening meeting. The NSCC continued to run race meetings at Donington until the Donington Racing Club was formed and a licence to run race meetings obtained. The Melbourne Loop was built in 1985 to increase the lap distance to {{convert|2.5|mi|km|2}} and allow the track to host Grand Prix motorcycle races - at {{convert|1.957|mi|km|3}} without the loop, the circuit was deemed too short. In recent times Donington has held meetings of [[MotoGP]], the [[British Touring Car Championship]] and [[British Superbike]]s, as well as the [[1993 European Grand Prix]]. Other events taking place at the track include the [[World Series by Renault]] and the [[Great and British Motorsport Festival]]. On [[26 August]] [[2007]] the circuit hosted the British [[Motocross]] Grand Prix, with a purpose-built motocross circuit constructed on the infield of the road circuit <ref name=youthstream>{{cite web|url=http://www.motocrossmx1.com/default.aspx?cs=6&type=news&id=1801|title=FOX FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Great Britain-Last Info|accessdaymonth=[[28 August]]|accessyear=[[2007]]|publisher=Youthstream}}</ref>. [[Image:WorldSeriesByRenault.jpg|right|thumb|World Series by Renault at Donington Park's [[Melbourne Hairpin]] in 2005.]]In 2007 the track was sold to [[Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd.]]<ref>{{cite news |first=|last=|author=| coauthors =| url =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns18017.html | title =Donington is sold |work=| publisher =grandprix.com |pages=|page=| date =2007-02-05 | accessdate =2007-02-07 |language=}}</ref> Donington Park is also home to a museum known as the [[Donington Grand Prix Collection|Donington Grand Prix Exhibition]] which opened in 1973, and has the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world. ==Formula One== ===[[1993 European Grand Prix]]=== Donington Park was the host of the [[1993 Formula One season|1993]] [[European Grand Prix]] on [[11 April]] [[1993]], which was affected by rain. The race was notable for the dominance of [[Ayrton Senna]] where he won the race by over 1 minute from [[Damon Hill]], having advanced from fifth to first in less than two-thirds of the opening lap. This race was described by [[AtlasF1]] as the 'Drive of the Decade' <ref>[http://atlasf1.autosport.com/99/dec15/lupini.html The Races we Remember: the Specials of the 90s<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. There is a memorial to Senna in the grounds of the racetrack, outside a shop selling motorsports memorabilia. ===2010 onwards=== On [[4 July]] [[2008]], [[Bernie Ecclestone]] announced that Donington Park will hold the [[British Grand Prix]] from [[2010 Formula One season|2010]] onwards in a 10-year deal (having been hosted exclusively by [[Silverstone Circuit|Silverstone]] since 1987).<ref>{{cite news | first =Edward | last =Gorman |author=| coauthors =| url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article4175951.ece | title =Donington on track to take race from Silverstone in a 10 year deal |work=| publisher =The Times |pages=|page=| date =2008-06-20 | accessdate =2008-06-23 |language=}}</ref> The track will have a major upgrade, which was announced on 10 July 2008 to include an entirely new pit complex along Starkey's Straight and increasing the circuit length to 3 miles, by the addition of a new infield loop, to get it up to the standards required for modern day Formula One racing. Experienced circuit architect [[Hermann Tilke]] will be involved in the work ([http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/69022 Donington reveals revamp plans]). ==Music Festivals== Donington Park has a great pedigree of holding rock concerts and festivals, having played host to the [[Monsters of Rock]] concerts from the early 80s to mid 90s, when groups such as [[AC/DC]], [[Metallica]] - who have each headlined three times - and [[Iron Maiden]] - who have headlined a record four times - performed there. More recently, it has played host to [[Stereophonics]]' ''A Day At The Races'' event in 2001, and the [[Ozzfest]] in 2002. The [[Download Festival]] began at the venue in 2003, headlined by Iron Maiden and [[Audioslave]]. The event has been held each summer since then. [[Image:DunlopBridge.JPG|thumb|right|Donington Park. Dunlop Bridge<br>(2006)]] ==Location== The location of the circuit has been disputed for years. Whilst lying within the traditional borders of [[Leicestershire]], south of the [[River Trent]], its postal address uses a [[Derby]] [[postcode]], it has a Derby telephone [[List_of_United_Kingdom_dialling_codes|Area Code]] and [[East Midlands Airport]] is just a mile down the road. Donington Park is located just off the [[M1 motorway|M1]] and is very close to [[East Midlands Airport]], and aircraft taking off fly directly over the circuit at low altitude, as can been seen from this [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=443500&y=325500&z=4&sv=443500,325500&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=442060&ay=325995 map.]. ==Media== Donington Park has been simulated and can be driven in several racing simulations, such as ''Spirit of Speed 1937'' (the 1937 version of the track is featured, as the name suggests), [[Sports Car GT]], Le Mans 24 Hours, ToCA Touring Cars, ToCA 2 Touring Cars, ToCA Race Driver, ToCA Race Driver 2, [[TOCA Race Driver 3]], GTR, [[GTR2]], [[GT Legends]], [[F1 Challenge '99-'02]](with a mod), MotoGP 3, [[rFactor]], [[SBK-07 - Superbike World Championship|SBK-07]], and [[Race Driver: GRID]]. ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==See also== *[[Donington Grand Prix Collection]] ==External links== {{commonscat|Donington Park}} *[http://www.donington-park.co.uk Official Donington Park website] *[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Donington,+Shropshire,+UK&om=1&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=52.830099,-1.375179&spn=0.011409,0.043259&t=k Satellite picture by Google Maps] {{-}} {{coor title dms|52|49|50|N|1|22|31|W|type:landmark_scale:10000_region:GB}} {{PTR 2008}} {{BTCC 2008}} {{British motor racing circuits}} {{Formula One circuits}} {{ALMS circuits}} {{DTM circuits}} {{Le Mans Series circuits}} {{MotoGP circuits}} {{SBK circuits}} [[Category:World Superbike racing circuits]] [[Category:British Grand Prix]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Leicestershire]] [[Category:Formula One circuits]] [[Category:Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuits]] [[Category:Motorsport venues in England]] [[Category:Sport in Leicestershire]] [[bg:Донингтън парк]] [[ca:Circuit de Donington Park]] [[cs:Donington Park]] [[de:Donington Park]] [[es:Donington Park]] [[fr:Donington Park]] [[gl:Circuíto de Donington Park]] [[it:Circuito di Donington Park]] [[lt:Trasa Donington Park]] [[nl:Donington Park]] [[ja:ドニントン・パーク]] [[pl:Donington Park]] [[pt:Donington Park]] [[ru:Донингтон Парк]] [[sl:Donington Park]] [[fi:Donington Park]] [[sv:Donington Park]] [[th:ดอนิงตันพาร์ก]]