Masters Historic F1

Donington Park

22 July 2020

Our first team visit to Donington Park this year post the Covid 19 lockdown was for the Masters Historic F1 which included Masters Pre-66 Touring car, Endurance and Masters Pre-66 Mini racing. On arrival at a sunny Donington, and after chatting to people online, it was obvious that the main topic of conversation was going to be the Covid restrictions placed on the crowd visiting the event and how they would impact the spectator experience.

So that is what this report is mainly going to be about - our first visit to Donington with socially distancing restrictions in place and how they will affect you, the spectator. 

So before setting off to watch the Historic F1 we needed tickets. The MSV websites are stating that they will restrict the numbers attending events so you need to get your ticket before you travel, which we did.

Selecting the print at home option is the easiest way to get your tickets but a postal option is also available. 

When I have used this option they are never posted early so it’s a bit of a worry wondering if you have navigated the website properly, entered your information and purchased the tickets correctly, but the tickets have always turned up, eventually.

MSV have also said if any event is cancelled due to a response from the Government regarding Covid 19, you will receive a refund or the option to roll the tickets to the same event if it is postponed.

MSV have been true to their word with tickets in the past and have looked after the fans that have purchased season tickets, offering a full refund or 60% off for next year if the season ticket is used this year.

So what did we find at Donington? On arrival the first new thing is that you have to park on the tarmac lake at the back of Hollywood. They won’t let you in anywhere else, we tried. The viewing area is as shown on the map which you can download from the MSV website. Basically it's the outside of Redgate to Coppice where you can take the tunnel to the infield.



There was limited catering at the event we attended infield - an ice cream van, which mid-morning took to the track and moved to the outside of the track where 90% of the spectators were.

It’s a bit of a hike to Coppice from Redgate and if it’s hot like last Sunday was, ensure you take water and snacks. We did and were fine, others didn’t and weren't. I would like think for the big events like BSB and BTCC that there will be more than and overpriced Mr Whippy on sale infield.



Having said that the 99 went down very well while watching mad Minis and Lotus Cortinas, one driven by none other than Tiff Needell, chasing Ford Mustangs through McLeans in the Masters Pre-66 Touring Car race. 

If you don’t want to walk too far from the car park at Hollywood the best viewing area to base yourself for the day will be high up the banking at Starkeys. From here you can see all the way to the Craner Curves on your right and most of McLeans on your left.

Don’t forget your sunblock and a peaked hat as you will be facing the sun all day here, however it’s the UK so don’t forget your raincoat as well.

As for the layout of the track not much has changed over the winter, new fences have gone up at Roberts that put you further back from the action and makes photography harder.

As they were using the national circuit, the tunnel at the Foggy Esses was shut again limiting your angles as a photographer and viewing areas as a spectator, but not by much.

Social distancing was good and there was plenty of room to watch the action without getting close to other spectators. Toilets were also open with enhanced cleaning, according to the digital programme I downloaded from the MSV site.

I didn’t hang around the toilets to find out if the extra cleaning was being done.

For future larger events like BSB and the BTCC it would be helpful to open the entrance to Coppice and the Foggy Esses and also allow you to park there.  This would also help the disabled visitors and give you quicker access to the infield if that is your favourite area. 

The Hollywood entrance will be a bit of a bottleneck for bigger crowds as most visitors today hung around here on the banking and used the grandstand, which was also open.

At larger events the Grandstand seats I'm sure will need to be purchased; for the BTCC they are £4 a seat. Obviously  there won't be as many as normal due to social distancing, so if this where you like to be, and to be fair it’s a great view of the track from the grandstand, get in early to avoid disappointment.

Overall my experience of a socially distanced Donington Park was good. A few areas I would normally go to are out of bounds such as the paddock, but that is a small price to pay to watch racing again.

Will I return to watch racing under socially distance rules? My tickets are already booked for the BTCC and BSB.

Photographic Post Script



Purely Personal – reflections on the 2020 Donington Masters Historic



Report By David Harbey



On the one hand, to even consider running an event like the Donington Historic Masters in mid-July would have seemed unlikely at the end of April – the traditional Donington Historic Festival date. On the other, with pragmatic measures in place, it provided some day visitors with possibly their only opportunity to see and hear current century Le Mans cars and DFV powered Grand Prix cars this year.



All in all, MSV and Masters should be congratulated for putting the event on under the most challenging of circumstances.

One of those challenges was clearly evident when perusing the programme (PDF version available in the week before) was the thin entry lists for a number of the races – especially compared to the HSCC Super Prix the weekend before.

This is most likely accounted for by the larger number of European and American drivers for the Masters events. I very nearly opted for a return to Snetterton to the 750MC clubbie, but decided that the chance to re-acquaint myself with Donington and to catch up, at suitable social distance, with Tony.

Having walked from Redgate with camera, lenses, monopod, step and provisions for the day, I decided to set myself up at Coppice. This allowed for either shooting through the wire, with less fences and gravel in the background than say the Old Hairpin, or to use my favourite spot on the circuit on the inside of Coppice.

The inevitable softish look to the shots from the former is, to my mind at least, just about balanced by the great angle as the cars take the double apex corner with the Derbyshire countryside in the background.

Much of the crowd had gone by the final race of the day – a second encounter for pre-66 Minis – which was a shame as it was as good a race as the first despite the small field. I took my first shots from the remnants of Starkeys Bridge, then back at ground level through the wire at Redgate.

The light was all wrong, there was fence in the way but hopefully you can get a sense of the racing !

More of Davids pictures from the day can be found on his Flickr account.

That concludes our report. Hopefully I will see you trackside, possibly with a mask, some hand sanitizer, but most definitely a camera. Until then stay alert, control the virus, capture the action and most importantly stay safe everyone.