Donington Golden Jubilee Event for Caterham's Evergreen 7

18 November 2006

The Caterham 7 celebrates its 50th birthday in 2007, and to commemorate its landmark year Caterham Cars is to host a Golden Jubilee weekend of Caterham racing action at Donington Park next summer.

Scheduled for Saturday 2 June and Sunday 3 June, the Golden Jubilee event is the star feature of Caterham's wide-ranging motorsport plans for the coming season and will bring together all of the manufacturer's UK and European race series for a celebration of the world's most-raced car.

"The three October Caterham Festivals held since 2000 proved fantastically successful and enormously popular with competitors and race-goers alike," said Caterham Cars director of motorsport Magnus Laird, "and we felt that for the 50th birthday of the 7 a summer event would be an excellent idea, and Donington Park is a wonderful venue for it with its central England location and excellent transport links."

The Caterham Festivals each attracted around 300 racing Caterhams, and it's hoped that the Golden Jubilee will break all previous records, with races for the Eurocup & Masters, the Superlight Challenge, Roadsport and Roadsport B Challenges, the Academy and the three Caterham Graduates Club series, as well as open races and events for some of the 20 Caterham championships organised in 11 different export markets.

The Golden Jubilee is just one facet of Caterham's exciting motorsport plans for 2007, revealed this week. Other highlights include:

The Circuit Driver Caterham Academy
Circuit Driver Magazine, the only UK publication dedicated solely to the needs and interests of track users and amateur racers, is the new headline sponsor for the Academy. Introducing upwards of 50 new competitors to motor sport every season, the Academy's value-for-money blend of race training and the sampling of diverse motorsport disciplines, including sprinting and hillclimbing, will continue in 2007 with the addition of a Caterham Motorsport Club-run ‘handling day' to the schedule.

The Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge
Having attracted in excess of 60 drivers in 2006, the Roadsport and Roadsport B grids provided yet again a superb second rung on the motorsport ladder for drivers wishing to progress their careers after sampling the Academy. The format will remain largely unchanged for 2007, with seven double-header meetings planned including one at the Northern French circuit of Croix-en-Ternois. The Roadsports will enjoy twin 30-minute races at each meeting, and the Roadsport Bs twin 20-minute events.

The Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge
Caterham's long established tyre partner, Avon, is to lend its name in 2007 to the Superlight Challenge, Caterham's premier UK-based championship. It's a more than appropriate association as the Superlight Challenge will once again be a chief supporting event to the Avon-serviced British Formula 3 Championship and the Avon Tyres British GT Championship. The championship will be open to both the Cosworth-powered ‘C400' Superlight model, successfully introduced in 2006, and the older R400 with its K-Series powerplant. All meetings will feature twin 30-minute races.

The evo Caterham Eurocup
Following its long and successful association with the Academy, evo magazine is to link up with Caterham once again, this time to support the Eurocup, which for 2007 will sport a radical new look featuring an exciting sprint and feature race format.

The Eurocup will be open to Superlights and to the lusty CSR 260, as well as to other racing Caterhams, and will feature a total of 21 races at seven meetings held at Europe's top International circuits. Venues already secured for the calendar include Hockenheim and Nürburgring in Germany, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Donington Park and Brands Hatch in the UK. Events at the Portuguese Grand Prix circuit of Estoril and a top French track are planned also.

Each meeting will feature three races: two non-stop 30-minute sprints and a 60-minute endurance race featuring a mandatory pit stop.

The Eurocup will boast three distinctly separate championships for one- and two-driver teams – the CSR Masters, which will be open to CSR 260s contesting all 21 races; the Eurocup Sprint title, for Superlights and other Caterhams opting only to contest the two shorter races at each meeting; and the 21-race Eurocup Endurance title for Superlights and other cars equipped with long-range fuel tanks.

"It's a very exciting new format for the Eurocup," said Laird, "and one which we believe incorporates the best features of sprint racing and the best of endurance racing on to a single, highly cost-effective grid. Combining things this way means we are able to secure track time at the very best circuits in Europe and to condense a 21-race programme into as short a period as possible. And drivers wishing to share the cost burden with a team-mate can do so, and still get more than an hour's track time each, at each event."

Backers for Caterham Motorsport's UK and European race series include Bilstein, Brian James Trailers, Cheesman Products, Circuit Driver, Comma, Cooper-Avon Tyres, Demon Tweeks, evo, HSBC Insurance Brokers, Mitchell Cotts, Motorsport News, Stack and Steel Fabrications Ltd.

See series calendars for all 2006 Caterham Championships

Related Story 16.11.2006 - Avon Tyres to Back Caterham Superlight Challenge