The morning began with Donington Park shrouded in a thick layer of fog, but the atmosphere in the paddock remained upbeat as teams prepared for the season opener. It wasn’t long before the haze lifted and sunshine broke through, setting the scene for a full day of racing.
A busy timetable ensured there was no shortage of action, with a varied mix of grids taking to the circuit. From the Junior Saloon Car Championship to Britcar endurance, alongside Pre-66 machinery and early 2000s touring cars, the program offered something for every motorsport fan.
Phil Baines Photography (Left) Dan Knight Automotive Media (Right)
The Junior Saloons provided an ideal curtain-raiser. Packed with Citroën Saxos and driven by an enthusiastic young field, the opening races were full of energy and intent, highlighting the depth of emerging talent and offering a strong indication that the future of the sport is in capable hands.
Under clear blue skies at Donington Park, the Britcar Endurance Championship delivered a frenetic and heavily interrupted 45-lap contest during Race 3 of the BARC in the Park meeting, where strategy, composure and survival proved just as important as outright pace.
Britcar provided the headline race of the weekend, although it quickly became a stop-start affair dominated by repeated safety car periods. The race was neutralised in its infancy following a dramatic incident involving pole-sitter Tom Walpole in the #117 TrueMix Racing KTM X-Bow GTX. Exiting Goddards in the opening stages, the car spun and slid into the pit lane entry, making heavy contact and requiring extensive recovery. The incident brought out a lengthy safety car period, immediately shaping the strategic picture and compressing the field before the race had truly settled into rhythm.
That early interruption proved to be a sign of things to come. Multiple safety car deployments punctuated the race throughout, repeatedly bunching the pack and forcing drivers to deal with relentless restarts. Maintaining tyre temperature, judging braking points, and reacting cleanly under pressure became just as critical as outright speed.
At the head of the GT field, Dean Burden produced a calm and controlled drive in the Toro Verde GT Cayman GT4 RS to secure overall victory. Managing each restart with precision, Burden was able to hold track position and gradually build a margin when racing conditions allowed. Despite the stop-start nature of the contest, he avoided trouble and executed a faultless race to take the chequered flag after 45 laps in a time of 1:30:31.926. Despite the interruptions, Burden remained firmly in control throughout to take a comfortable win.
Behind him, the Team BRIT McLaren 570S GT4 of Bobby Trundley and Aaron Morgan delivered a strong and consistent performance to claim third overall and second in class. Running reliably throughout and staying clear of incidents, they capitalised on others’ misfortune to secure a well-earned podium finish.
Dave May and Mark Skeats followed in their Ginetta G55 Hybrid, adding another solid result after keeping their race tidy amid the chaos, while Julian McBride’s BMW M3 rounded out the leading GT runners with an equally measured drive.
The Challenge category saw Mark and Peter Cunningham emerge as clear class winners in their Porsche 991.2 Cup, finishing an impressive second overall. Their race was built on consistency and discipline, particularly through the repeated safety car phases where mistakes were easy to make but costly to recover from. By staying out of trouble and maximising each stint, they were able to firmly establish themselves at the front of their class.
Although their finishing position did not reflect it, one of the standout performances came from Jamie Falvey in the Dallara EXP. Demonstrating the outright pace of the car, he set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:30.595, underlining what might have been possible without earlier setbacks that left him down the order. The Challenge field as a whole was heavily affected by attrition, with the #117 KTM X-Bow’s early retirement one of several non-classified entries in a punishing race.
In the Trophy category, Carl Garnett and Finn Leslie guided their Project 29:7 Racing Ginetta G56 GTA to class victory with a composed and consistent drive. In a race where interruptions made rhythm difficult to establish, their ability to remain clean and disciplined paid dividends. Ian and Elliot Wilson followed closely behind in a similar Ginetta, while others in the class showed flashes of pace but were ultimately hampered by lost laps during safety car periods or time spent in the pits.
Further down the order, the toll of the race was evident. A number of crews failed to reach the classification threshold, while others lost significant ground through incidents, mechanical issues, or simply being caught on the wrong side of safety car timing. With mixed grids and staggered pit strategies heavily influenced by the constant neutralisations, piecing together the final order proved a challenge in itself.
Ultimately, this was a race defined not just by speed, but by resilience. The repeated safety car periods demanded unwavering concentration from drivers, with each restart presenting a fresh challenge and an opportunity for positions to change. In such conditions, those who combined patience with precision rose to the top.
As the field took the chequered flag in the late afternoon sunshine, it was clear that this had been a true endurance test in every sense. From the early drama at Goddards to the final sprint to the line, the Donington Park encounter showcased exactly what Britcar racing is about — close competition, unpredictable twists, and the constant balance between pushing hard and simply making it to the finish.
The historic machinery added further depth to the day’s action. The Pre-66 grid once again proved a crowd favourite, as Minis went wheel-to-wheel with Cortinas and rumbling American V8s. The sight of them dancing through the Foggy Esses, often slightly sideways, before powering down the straight remains one of the most evocative elements of any Donington Park meeting.
The CTCRC Pre-93, Pre-03, Boss and Thunder field provided another fiercely competitive contest, showcasing a broad mix of cars and close racing from the very start. As with much of the day’s programme, the safety car was called into action on more than one occasion, highlighting just how hard-fought the battles were across the grid.
Taken as a whole, it marked a strong and thoroughly entertaining start to the season — a busy, incident-filled day that delivered plenty of action and set the tone for the year ahead.
