CLASSIC TRACKS
The land on which the circuit lies used to belong to Donington Hall Estate and it was first used to stage a motorcycle race on Whit Sunday of 1931.
At that time, the riders just rode around the unpaved road that ran through the estate grounds. By 1933 former racer and secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club, Fred Craner (who gave his name to the famous Craner Curves section) received permission to widen the roads used for racing and to lay Tarmac on it. At a cost of £12,000, Britain now had its first parkland racing circuit.
After being used as a military vehicle storage depot during the Second World War, the circuit fell into a state of disrepair until local construction entrepreneur and car collector, Tom Wheatcroft, bought the land and developed a modern racetrack on it in the 1970s. By 1976 the layout of the track had been settled upon and, on May 15, 1977, the first motorcycle race of the modern era was staged.
The track was extended to include the Melbourne Loop section in 1985, thereby making the circuit long enough to be able to host a Grand Prix world championship meeting and, in 1987, Donington took over from Silverstone as the home of the British Motorcycle Grand Prix.
After 23 years the GP moved back to Silverstone in 2010 but Donington continues to host a round of the World Superbike Championship. It was Donington, after all, that staged the very first WSB round back in 1988 – some 35 years ago…
Magic moments
Niall Mackenzie drove the home crowd wild when
