RE: Pic Of The Week: Donington's Glory Days

[heebeegeetee]

FourWheelDrift said:

heebeegeetee said:

The tarmac of the old Melbourne loop is still there isn't it (or pre Donny-desecrate it was. Don't they hold a boot sale on it every weekend or summat?)

Here you go - http://wikimapia.org/13530201/Donnington-Park-1930...

left click and drag the image to the right to see where the current loop finishes.

Ta ever so.

[Housey]

Always use to enter Dony from the Melbourne loop before they went all 'Sunday Market'

[Housey]

On the era, a particular passion of mine, I recommend all of Chris Nixon's books on the era and also George Monkhouses book Racing with Mercedes Benz if you can find it and the Bernd Rosemeyer autobiography too is insightful.

[heebeegeetee]

Housey said:

Always use to enter Dony from the Melbourne loop before they went all 'Sunday Market'

Yeah I seem to recall that I used to leave by that access many years ago, and often wondered if it was an old part of the track. It was some years later that I discovered it was indeed a place of legends.

[robspeir]

IT IS VON BRAUstCH AT THE FLYING MERCEDES.

[FourWheelDrift]

robspeir said:

IT IS VON BRAUstCH AT THE FLYING MERCEDES.

It's Manfred von "Brauchitsch" to be exact and not have the censor step in, and there's not need to shout

[williamp]

One other thing: next time you watch the racing, and you see them exit the old hairpin and drive next to the arch of the bridge with the land speed record car on it...

...just remember that they drove through the arch of the bridge in the 30s...

[FourWheelDrift]

Yep, only I think tarmac at Redgate, Hollywood and Craner Curves and some of the new loop might be on the original circuit, the Old Hairpin went further down under the bridge, now beyond the catch fencing, Coppice used to run on further through what was Coppice Farm and the old Starkeys straight was on a line now occupied by the buildings alongside the current straight as it ran down to the old Hairpin.

Found this overlay as I was typing the above. Both are in black....doh, but you can see the different old & new.

[davepen]

Housey said:

Always use to enter Dony from the Melbourne loop before they went all 'Sunday Market'

I think we ended up parked down there for the practice day for the (Senna) Grand Prix. Trying to work out where the leaping car were, and by accident we were parked on the old Melborne loop. Also remember Jonny Herbert stopping in the gravel (at the other end of the circuit) and thinking he's short.

As well as the Mercedes a year or two back, the VSCC did have an Auto Union go round a few years ago - before they branded the event See Red. I think Audi also brought a Pikes Peak Quattro to demo.

Looks like the VSCC meet is moving to May, so hope it isn't too close to Duncan Wiltshire's event.

[steveq135]

"........came to cheer on Dick Seaman"

[JJ78]

cheers for the info guys!

[will261058]

Graebob said:

Really? Nobody? OK, I'll bite then

Article said:

Dick Seaman

Just what I thought. Oh how innocent we were in those days. Reminds me of the film of the Boeing 707 test flight " Tex Johnson and his co-pilot Dick Splash"