Posted on May 6, 2025.
Donington Park reverberated to unforgettable engine notes last weekend (May 2, 3 & 4), when more than 300 exceptional historic racing machines descended for three days of action at the Donington Historic Festival. The event was a triumph, with superb racing, memorable track demos, a tremendous, family-friendly atmosphere and that inimitable ‘buzz’ of a truly successful event. And that success was reflected in the increased attendance – up 13% on 2024.
The new owners of the event, Motor Racing Legends, had introduced some significant changes, moving DHF up several gears by utilising the full Donington Park Grand Prix circuit for the racing – a first for the event – and expanding the festival to a three-day format.
Other notable innovations include the debut of Motor Racing Legends’ new GT3 Legends grid – an instant and spectacular crowd-pleaser – and a revamped appearance for the venue for the weekend. Individual ‘garage’ tents for each individual Motor Racing Legends grid created an impressive vista, with a glorious sweep of dozens of Pre-War Sports Cars greeting spectators as they entered the paddock, for example. New branding for the event – highly evocative of iconic 1970s race car liveries – further enhanced the atmosphere.
Underpinning all of this was the traditional Donington Historic Festival timetable of full-on track action from exceptional historic race grids.
Away from the racing, spectators were treated to jaw-dropping track demos. There is something magical about historic Formula One cars, and the ex-Jenson Button Williams-BMW FW22 and the ex-Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton B198 drew huge crowds simply by sitting in the paddock. The crowds only intensified when the cars were fired up, and the fences around the track were packed with fans standing shoulder-to-shoulder when they took to the track for glorious demonstration runs.
The Super Touring demo was no less impressive. Stabled together in the paddock, these throwbacks to one of the greatest eras of touring car racing delighted festival visitors with their period liveries, triggering innumerable memories of 1990s motorsport. Seeing them out on track only strengthened that nostalgia. 17 took to Donington Park, including the Vauxhall Cavalier in which David Leslie won his first BTCC race, the Alfa Romeo 156 in which Fabrizio Giovanardi won the 1998 Italian championship, and the last Audi Quattro STW ever built. It was a superb display.
During the lunchbreak it was the time for track parades, the traditional car club parade showcasing cherished classics from the so dozens of clubs attending the event preceded by a simply enormous batch of exotica from Supercar Driver.
Race results
The oldest cars out at DHF 2025 were those contesting Motor Racing Legends’ ‘Mad Jack’ for Pre-War Sports Cars, celebrating the 90th anniversary of Donington Park’s first Grand Prix. Some of the entrants, in a field of 37 cars, predate even that milestone, yet they are driven as hard as ever. Gareth Burnett took victory in his Alta Sports in the race, mirroring Richard ‘Mad Jack’ Shuttleworth’s victory in the 1935 event.
Jonathan Mitchell in the Prodrive-built Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 took the chequered flag in each of the two GT3 Legends battles of the weekend. Motor Racing Legends had attracted two dozen of these monsters for its new series’ DHF debut, and the sight – and sound – of them hurtling towards Redgate will long remain in the memory of those lucky enough to witness it. The GT3 Legends machines proved equally popular in the lunchtime pit walks, allowing race fans an unrivalled opportunity to get up close to these magnificent beasts.
In the first of two races over the weekend for the 1960s under two-litre touring cars of the U2TC, the laurels went to 2003 Le Mans winner Guy Smith in a Lotus Cortina. He doubled down on this result the following day, beating the field to the flag once more.
GT car fans were treated to sixty minutes of HMRN Pre ’63 GT action. In a grid packed with some of the finest halo cars of the early 1960s, three Shelby Cobras reigned supreme, claiming all the podium spots, with the 260 shared by Indycar legend Dario Franchitti and Gregor Fisken taking the chequered flag first.
The Royal Automobile Pall Mall Cup has traditionally been a three-hour endurance race, but the decision to condense it into two hours this year certainly heightened the tension. In a last-minute twist, victory went to father and son team Shaun and Max Lynn in their Lotus Elan thanks to some clever strategy.
Motor Racing Legends’ Historic Touring Car Challenge with Tony Dron Trophy fielded a grid packed with 1970s and ‘80s touring cars. Jonathan Bailey and Andy Middlehurst took the overall and HTCC win in Jonathan’s potent Kyoseki Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R, while Tony Dron Trophy victory went to Raphael De Borman in a Capri 3.0S.
The beautiful ‘50s sports car racers of Motor Racing Legends’ Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy put on a stunning display of grace, elegance and hard-fought racing. Overall victory and the Stirling Moss Trophy win went to Olly Bryant and Kyle Tilley in a Lotus XV, while Woodcote Trophy honours went to Frederic Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in a Cooper T38.
A popular return to the Donington Historic Festival race timetable was the FJHRA ‘Silverline’ Championship for Formula Juniors. Some 50 of these little single-seaters were entered, necessitating a division into separate races for front and rear-engined grids. Ahead of the event, Ray Mallock was described as ‘the man to beat’ amongst the front-engined Juniors, and he lived up to his reputation, winning in the U2 MK2 designed and built by his father Arthur. The rear-engined race was no less energetically contested. Fresh from his second-place finish at the Goodwood Members Meeting, Alex Ames went one better this time, sweeping to victory in his Brabham BT6.
Ferrari fans enjoyed no fewer than three races for the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic series. Tim Mogridge just squeaked in ahead of Tristan Simpson to take victory in the first race, a mere 0.869 of a second separating the two in their F355 Challenges. Another 355 Challenge driver, Wayne Marrs, took the win in each of the following two races.
The HRDC circus also came to town, bringing with it their enormously entertaining grids. In the HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy Series, the Jaguar XJS of Simon Lewis – sharing the driving with 2016 European Le Mans Series champion Alex Brundle – was first to the chequered flag, while in the Jack Sears Trophy, Guy Smith’s father, Peter, emerged victorious in the Lotus Cortina he shared with young Harri Reynolds.
The 2025 Donington Historic Festival came to a close in exuberant style with the combined HRDC Dunlop Allstars and HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge race. The ‘Allstars’ victory went to Mike Whitaker Snr in a TVR Griffith, while top finisher for the Alfas was Ben Colburn in a GTAm Superformance.
The Donington Historic Festival will return in 2026.
