Donington Park Circuit Visit with Old Melbourne Loop - Circuit Tour 2018 Part 3
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Donington Park Circuit Visit with the Old Melbourne Loop!
Video report of my visit to the Donington Park Circuit on July 25, 2018 as part of my Circuit Tour through Northern France and England. With special thanks to Simon Smith for the voice over!
The day started with a visit to the Donington Museum, with Tom Weathcroft’s Grand Prix Collection. Unfortunately, this museum would close it's doors later that year.
On the Donington Circuit I would get a tour around the track and the old Melbourne Loop. But there was also a motorcycle event that day, so I had to wait till the end of the afternoon. In nhe mean time I filmed some action on track.
When it was my turn, the safety car driver took me for some laps on the Donington GP Circuit, and the National Circuit. First a slow lap, and then at high speed.
After some onboard laps he we went to the old Melbourne Loop. Here he also drove a slow lap first, then two high speed laps.
At the end he took me to the Banger Race Track, for some drifting and donuts :)
About Donington Park Circuit:
Donington Park is a race track that opened in 1931. It is located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. Today it's the oldest operational circuit in the UK.
During WWII it was used to store military vehicles. After WWII it fell into disrepair until bought by local construction entrepreneur Tom Wheatcroft in 1971.
Under his ownership it revived and beacame the home of the British Grand Prix of the MotoGP championship. It also hosted a single Formula 1 race in 1993. It turned out to be a legendary rain effected race, won by Ayrton Senna.
Since 2006, Donington Park is part of the MotorSport Vision Group, run by former Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer.
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#CircuitsOfThePast #CircuitTour2018 #DoningtonPark
10:15 The "old layout" that the safety car driver took was actually the 1st version of the Donington Park circuit, from 1935 to 1936(Comparing the 1935-36 circuit and the 1937-39 circuit on Wikipedia, in the 1935-36 layout, the Red Gate corner was placed much sooner after the Melbourne Hairpin).
thank you for a great video i like what you do for bringing these old tracks to life
You're welcome :)
None of the current track is original. The old Melbourne loop joined a track which follows the shape of the current track. It went under Starkeys Bridge. Which if you look is still there. Some of the service Road is part of the old circuit. There was also lots of trees on the middle too!
Looking at this afresh I'd have to say they really gave you the full treatment, Herman!
Well done Donnington Park!
Yeah that was a very cool visit :)
When I was a child my dad 'accidentally' drove around the circuit when it was being rebuilt. That was a cool day.
Very sad to see that the museum is closed. That was one of the best museums on the planet.
Yeah I was lucky I visited it that year. I had no idea about the nearing closure of it.
Fab .in the late 1980s after everyone had left for the day after smaller club meetings I used to do half a dozen laps of the old Melbourne loop in my Chevette. 1275cc and Mazda 323 GT. Proper fun. I nearly ran out oc brakes at the hairpin once so definitely time to go home. Great memories.
Cool! I once ran out of brakes at Hockenheim and almost went into the same gravel trap like Vettel would do much later in 2018.
I am 99.9% certain the Safety Car Driver is right because I saw a Top Gear segment back in the 1990's where Tiff Needell went on a lap of the old circuit, plus there was a diagram of the different circuit layouts in The Guinness Guide To International Motor Racing.
Interesting. If you find a video from it, let me know.
I only live about 10 miles away from Donington so used to visit all the time, especially to watch the bike GP's in the '80's.I know that the current track openend again in 1977 when Tom Wheatcroft took it over. From what I have read the old track was raced on back in the '30's and closed when WW2 started. Used to also race around the old track with some friends on our motorbikes back in the mid' 80's. Visted the museum and also a motorcycle accessories shop that used to be there back in those days. The surrounding parking areas in the fields around the track would be packed full of bikes, great memories.
Thnks for sharing this memories.
Thank you for the great video Herman. Even the wife thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep it up
Certainly a very professional video. Congratulations!
Thank you!
I can remember a chap on a black 1200 bandit pulling wheelie's up that old part of the track in the early 90s at one of the gp's there was tents pitched on the grass and some very naughty drunk ladies walking around topless, a night I'll never forget. And a great bike gp the next day
Thanks for sharing this story :) In the 1990's I visited the 24 Hours of le Mans several times. During the event a part of the Bugatti Circuit was used as a camping site. Once a few guys raced with motorcycle between the tents. Unfortunately there were no topless ladies ;) At least not on the camping site, they were in the striptease at the fairground.
The extra section that the driver took you on is new to me as well, although it must have served some purpose as it is purpose made. The original put garages used to be on the right hand side after the hairpin. The best way to get a feel of how the old circuit would have looked is to watch videos from a game called ‘Spirit of Speed’ and the track layout from 1937 is featured in the game. It shows the original bridges, buildings, and landscape etc
I'll have to enquire on the Autosport Nostalgia forum.
@@w0033944 Let us know what they say :)
@@Circuitsofthepast Hi Hermann - the thread is here:
forums.autosport.com/topic/212619-pre-war-donington-alternative-layout/
@@w0033944 Thank you. It caused a lot of confusion, but in the end they also came to the conclusion the safety car driver was wrong.
I also made the 1937 layout for a game called rFactor a few years ago. From my extensive research, I couldn't find the layout featured in this video either.
shame theyve tarmaced a good portion of the grass at the melbourne loop. when i first went there in 1982 i was astonished to turn in off the road and see the melbourne hairpin right in front of me and a sunday market going on. there's plenty of maps online showing comparisons between the old and current layouts. craner curves and mcleans probably the only bends that still are the same.
This circuit is over 80yrs old. For example the auto union type c is 83yrs old
Edit: I love this channel 🤩 it makes me happy
Great to hear that :)
My great grandfather, John Gillies (aka J.G.) started up this race track along with Fred Craner
Did you know that J.G. had to pay the farmer who farmed at the Coppice Farm money before each race?
I didn't know that. Thanks for the inside information!
@@Circuitsofthepast I used to live at the Coppice House and am the Shields family historian and have some original documents that has not been seen by anyone regarding how the farmer (it might have been a relation of his as J.G. always bought down his own people from Scotland - am still working on that) took him to court for running the race through the farm yard.
not to sure about the words of the car driver about the old loop unless it was for national racing pre-war never used for the pre-war grand prix as there is plenty of photos of the Mercedes and Auto Union cars leaping off that hill as they charged back towards redgate on another lap
Absolutely - as I said above in response to "El Chasco", Rosemeyer et al wouldn't have accelerated hard over the brow had there been a 90 degree bend at that point!
So what happened to Starkey’s and the Dunlop Bridges? Both were iconic parts of the track, in years past.
don't know about starkeys but the Dunlop was taken down when the plans for the track to hold the F1 GP came about and the circuit was put on a 100 year lease they were going to build new pits on the infield with a pit entry on Coppice corner so the Dunlop bridge was dismantled and was sold to Chris Evans (the one-off top gear and TFI Friday) at an auction.
alas the rebuild and track extension never happened and the track was left in a terrible state and tom took it back and got it repaired, alas when Tom died his son took it over and has no interest in cars or racing so now the track is run by MSV (Jonathon Palmer) and the museum was closed after Wheatcroft jnr had filled the biggest hall with tanks and WW2 items (he's a massive collector of Nazi artifacts)
shame all this happened it is my nearest track and is amazing for spectators and racing the museum was brilliant but now is closed.
all because a son did not have the same love for a sport that his dad did
David Ball - Oh man, that’s tragic. :(
@@GregzVR Evans has offered to have it built back (the Dunlop bridge) but when it was taken down the people behind the bid for the F1 British Grand Prix (Donington ventures leisure Limited) took all the metal out of it and sold it for scrap and about the same time the FIA brought in new rules for buildings and overpasses for racetracks the dunlop bridge did not meet those rules
shame as i've been over it and it was as iconic at Donington as the one at Le Mans
David Ball Yeah, every bit as iconic as the Le Mans one. I’ve been over the LM one a few times, never Donington.
@@GregzVR we are opposites never been to Le Mans (i will one day) but spent many a happy weekend at donington from BTCC, British GT and many classes was even at the old hairpin when Nigel Mansell had his famous crash in the TOCA shootout in 1993
I think that the instructor confused the 35-36 layout (first appearance of the hairpin) with the 37-39 layout (the Melbourne hairpin version), because the 35-36 hairpin is much shorter
I don't agree. It isn't the position of the Melbourne Hairpin/Loop that's in question, but what came immediately afterwards. Period footage shows cars leaping at high speed over the brow of the hill after the hairpin, but they wouldn't have done that had there been a left-hand bend there. In addition, I've seen several versions of the pre-War circuit in map form, before the Loop was added, after it appeared and after it was extended. None of them shows that twisting sequence after the Loop.
1:10 *'Roger Williamson' there is a memorial tree planted in Abbey Park. Leicester where he was from. Understand Zandvoort is being brought back on the GP Calendar in 2020*
Yes it is, but the site of the crash is now a golf course. This week I visited it. In a month I will upload a drone flight over this section.
BTW: There is also a memorial for Roger Williamson and Piers Courage at Zandvoort.
@@Circuitsofthepast Thank you.
Looking forward to this one!
Yeah, I think this is one of my best videos :)
I killed myself in a mini on assetto corsa down the Melbourne loop last week (I hit a pebble at the top of the hill, speared off into the barrier, rolled, hit a pre war vintage car parked on grass, somersaulted over barriers & cardboard cut-out spectators & ended up in in the forest! Even better, it had a Hunt name & Hesketh racing Teddy bear livery)
And why the museum closed it's doors?
When Tom Wheatcroft died the ownership passed to his son Kevin he has no interest in cars of motorsport but is crazy about collecting WW2 and Nazi items he even owns one of Hitler's beds (and yes he does sleep in it).
when he took over he emptied the biggest hall and stuck panzer tanks German staff cars and even a torpedo boat in there, this was of little or no interest to anyone going to a race meeting, alas he slowly told the car owners to get there cars until the place was emptied and closed.
the talk was Jonathon Palmer wanted to run it and made an offer to buy the building but was refused by kevin i guess it will get flattened and be rented out like a few plots around the outside of the track have been, it's a shame that track is very special to me as it's the only major circuit within 45 minutes of where i live and have been going since childhood
I think that's appalling to not have that senna car there anymore as this was undoubtedly one of his last great victories. Oh dear Kevin, what did you do!
@@philrussell5258 Whilst I admit it's a shame the museum closed, you can't blame a son for not sharing all their father's interests and passions. Otherwise we'd never have had these race tracks in the first place. Each to their own. Military museums are also very popular, but as you say, many people visiting Donington were probably not interested in such things.
Did any one buy Donington Park: The Pioneers by John Bailie?
Can I visit the museum?
Not anymore, it's closed.
@@Circuitsofthepast but then how did you visit it
@@Satoru45678 That was about 3 months before closing.
@@Circuitsofthepast oh ok
can it not be a old pitlane ?
Too wide. It's more of an open racing track whereas a pit lane would be more restrictive. Just a thought.
What the oldest cricuit in Great Britain
Oldest Brooklands. Oldest operational I guess Donington Park.
Nice
Thank you.
7:06 I didn't know Jean Pierre Jarier drove a van.
I think it was Nigel Mansell ;)
Here we go folks! Hope this helps! ruclips.net/video/MMXTw-cIql8/видео.html
Interesting video. I drove the road next to the striaght from Coppice to the chicane. Now I realize a part of it was the old track. So I think I have to revisit Donington Park.
That little extra loop looks like fun! Even going straight up the hill looks like fun! Wish they would have keep the "old" circuit available for racing, instead placing buildings right in the middle of the "old" route!! LMAO I hate when these so called "designers" destroy a track for "Safety" sake or "modernization"! smh
Now with the old Iconic foot Bridge, They could Widen the span so that it is much safer for the vehicles on the track so that if a vehicle goes of course it would not hit the span, but also safer for the fans enjoying the racing action. BUT NO "That would Cost too Much money to do!!" Their most favorite saying!! They lack common sense, those Bunch of bleeping idiots! lol
Yes it was fun that extra loop. Especially the two times he drove ot at speed. The kink at the beginning of the descent was even more fun. The safety car always airborned there. You can see it on the camera movements.
So sad to see the Melbourne Loop in that state after the glory days, culminating in the 1994 GP
The lost part of the Melbourne Loop is the pre-war version. The F1 GP at Donington was not in 1994 but in 1993, and won by Ayrton Senna. Sad enough one of his last victories.
@@Circuitsofthepast Thanks for the info. Was the reason the old Melbourne Loop was abandoned because it was in a different county??
@@koolstup The Melbourne Loop is still there, only shorter. And the new hairpin is still named the Melbourne Hairpin. The old section was abandoned because it was too dangerous with the jump.
Thank you for the great video Herman. Even the wife thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep it up