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Circuit
Donington Park is a permanent road circuit laid out within the former Donington Hall estate near Castle Donington, on the Leicestershire-Derbyshire border in the English East Midlands. Motorcycle racing began there on 25 May 1931 and car racing followed in 1933, and the venue staged celebrated Donington Grand Prix races in the late 1930s before closing in 1940 when it was requisitioned as a military vehicle depot. The track lay unused for racing until car collector Tom Wheatcroft bought the estate in 1971 and rebuilt it, reopening for motorcycles and cars in May 1977; his Donington Grand Prix Collection museum, one of the largest gatherings of Grand Prix cars in the world, opened alongside the circuit in 1973 and ran until 2018. A Melbourne Loop extension built in 1985 lengthened the Grand Prix lap to 4.020 km (2.498 miles) so it could host motorcycle Grands Prix, while the shorter original lap was retained as the National circuit at 3.149 km (1.957 miles). Donington hosted the European Grand Prix on 11 April 1993, a wet race remembered chiefly for Ayrton Senna's opening lap, in which he passed four cars to take a lead he held to the finish. After a period under the Wheatcroft family and a leaseholder's failed attempt to bring Formula One back in the late 2000s, MotorSport Vision bought the circuit business in January 2017 and later acquired the Donington Hall estate freehold. The circuit now holds FIA Grade 2 status on both the GP and National layouts and is a regular host of the British Touring Car Championship, British Superbikes, British GT and the World Superbike Championship, alongside the Download Festival and the Donington Historic Festival.
Operated by: MotorSport Vision (MSV)
Donington Park guide
History
Donington Park was laid out on roads within the Donington Hall estate, with the first motorcycle race held on 25 May 1931 and the first car race in 1933. The circuit staged prewar Donington Grand Prix races in the late 1930s before closing in 1940 when it was requisitioned for military use. It lay closed to racing until car collector Tom Wheatcroft bought the estate in 1971 and rebuilt the track, reopening it in 1977, and his Donington Grand Prix Collection museum ran alongside the circuit from 1973 to 2018. The venue is remembered above all for the 1993 European Grand Prix, in which Ayrton Senna passed four cars on the opening lap in the wet and won from start to finish. MotorSport Vision has owned and operated the circuit since January 2017, later buying the Donington Hall estate freehold and refurbishing the paddock and facilities.
The circuit
Donington offers two layouts: the 4.020 km (2.498-mile) GP circuit, extended by the Melbourne Loop in 1985, and the shorter 3.149 km (1.957-mile) National circuit using the original lap. Both hold FIA Grade 2 status. The lap drops downhill from Redgate through the Craner Curves to the Old Hairpin before climbing back past McLeans and Coppice, with the GP layout adding the Melbourne Hairpin and Goddards.
Sources: Donington Park / MotorSport Vision (official site); Wikipedia