Great and British at Donington
13 October 2006
A new initiative in British motor racing will arrive at Donington
Park over the weekend of 21/22 October as the final 'Dunlop Great and
British Festival' of the 2006 season takes an excellent 15-race programme
to the East Midlands track.
Organised by the British Automobile Racing Club, the new-for-2006
package of race meetings has been supported by Dunlop in a move created
to bring fans closer to the racing and encourage newcomers to take a
look at the sport in a relaxed environment. The race line-up comprises
some of the best national categories, all of them using Dunlop racing
tyres. Leading sports and saloon car classes will make up the schedule,
with racing throughout Sunday.
Providing four of the weekend's races will be the fabulous Radical
sports-racing cars, one of the core categories in 'Great and British'.
Top of the Radical racing ladder are the mighty 2.6-litre V8-engined
SR8s that will set the pace in the final two rounds of the Dunlop Radical
Enduro Championship. The stunning pace of these purpose-built sports-racers
in a pair of 40-minute races will be a highlight of the weekend as the
season wraps up. Set to be confirmed as champions in the SR8 category
are Phil Quaife and Lee Atkins, having consistently set the pace this
season. It's been a very good year for Quaife, as he has already won
the pro-am category in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, so he's aiming to
make it two titles from a very busy 2006 season. However, they face
plenty of opposition, including Tim Greaves/Stuart Moseley, who raced
the even faster Radical SR9 here two months ago in the Le Mans Series
race, and the pairing of Richard Ince and Derby's Austin Kinsella. In
the concurrent Radical SR3 class, Ben Devlin and James Richardson have
a firm grip on the title contest, but Nigel Redwood has beaten them
several times. Also in the SR3 class is father and son combo Klaas and
Eric Zwart, with seasoned racer Klaas also well known as the founder
of the Ascari GT marque. The Dunlop Radical Biduro Championship has
a brace of 20-minute races for the 1200cc Radical SR4s. James Saggers
leads the points for RPM Motorsport and is set to fend off Guy Hodgkin
for the title.
Sure to be real crowd pleasers are four races for Minis, covering
both the traditional 1960s icon and the much more recent BMW version.
Tremendous racing is assured from the final rounds of the Dunlop Mini
Se7en and Dunlop Mini Miglia Challenges. In the 1000cc Se7ens, Andrew
Deviny looks secure at the head of the points, but it is all to play
for in the 1300cc Miglias. Multiple former champion Bill Sollis has
a slender three-point lead over relative newcomer James Hall once dropped
scores are taken into account, so the calculations are many and varied.
However, Hall knows that he has to win the Donington race to have a
chance of beating Mini veteran Sollis to the title. Equally, if Sollis
finishes ahead of Hall, Sollis will claim the title once more! Meanwhile,
in the final two races of the MINI Challenge, a capacity grid of new-style
MINIs will battle in two classes. In the S Class, young Freddie Nordstrom
has what looks like a secure points' lead over former champion Arthur
Forster, while in the Club Class Gareth Nixon is clear of the chasing
pack.
With a 60-point championship lead and a total of 72 points available
in the final two races, Stewart Linn looks safe at the front of the
AVO Ginetta Championship pack. Dave Devine is the only driver still
with an outside chance of stopping the Linn adding the Ginetta crown
to his previous Westfield title, but with a packed grid there will still
be the usual level of exciting racing from the Ginetta pack. However,
the closest championship finish of the day is likely to come in the
York Fitness Post Historic Touring Car Championship. Once dropped scores
are included, four drivers are covered by just four points, so it really
is wide open as Stephen Primett (Ford Escort), David Howard (Jaguar
XJ12), Neil Bray (Ford Capri) and James Christie (Hillman Avenger) vie
for the crown. Finally, three more excellent grids of classic racing
saloon cars complete the racing, with the final rounds of the IBIS Packaging
Solutions Classic Group 1 Touring Cars, the Waxoyl Classic Thunder Championship
and the BARC/CTCRC Classic Saloons/Historic Touring Car Series.
On Saturday, qualifying starts at 9am, with a single race at 5.45pm.
On Sunday, racing starts at 9.05am, with a public grid walk at 1pm.
Adult admission is £12. Children 15 years and under accompanied
by an adult are admitted free.
BARC
See 2006 series calendar for Great
and British Festivals
Related Story 31.07.2006 - Trucks
Join Great and British Festival at Thruxon
