Saturday 25th March 1933

The first ‘road race’ car meeting was held at Donnington Park. English law did not permit racing on public roads, but the Donnington course was laid out in private parkland. The original lap length was 2.25 miles, subsequently lengthened to 3.13 miles for the Grand Prixs of 1937 and 1938. On the outbreak of war, Donnington was closed, the army occupying it as a military transport depot until 1956. Tom Wheatcroft purchased the site in 1971, and spent thousands building a museum for historic cars and reconstructing the circuit for car and motorcycle racing.