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Donington Park, East Midlands

DONNINGTON PARK, East Midlands

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911UK

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Please review this Trackday Circuit on this thread........

Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit
Castle Donington
Derby
DE74 2RP


http://www.donington-park.co.uk/circuit/

donington_park.jpg
 
Re: Donington Park Circuit, East Midlands

User Review-1 said:
I had a great time at Donington. By packing out 2 sessions with a group booking of 20 cars (various makes) it meant that we avoided the issue of agressive locals in stripped out hatches. Similarly by getting our porsches at the front of the queue for our session (novices) it meant we went most of the 20 minute session before catching up with the traffic. There was little else on track capable of catching us even though we're fairly new to track driving.

Craner curves is a great thrill to drive and a lot easier than I'd imagined it would be. I found the double apex at Coppice the most difficult to get right but really enjoyed the challenge of working at it each time. Starkey's straight was great fun for simply burying the throttle and seeing what you could max out at before braking for Goddards. Redgate is also great fun but I don't think I ever got the line right and had one minor moment there when I got it completely wrong


User Review-2 said:
I did one of Doningtons own track days last December.
It was one of the cheaper offer days and it will be the last I attend.
Discipline throughout the whole day was appalling, being as it was a cheaper day it had brought the Nova and Cosworth guys out to play..
It turned into more of a drifting day than a track day, mud was strewn across the track along with the kitty litter..
Many people were complaining due to receiving damage to windscreen's etc.
They happily cut you up on the turns and followed you around the bends on the outside.
It was a sessioned day and if we put three laps together without a Red flag then that was it.
No one had a clue which way to exit and enter the track/pitlane which caused queues and two actual collisions!

It was a wet day and most drove accordingly, the top of the circuit was very slippy and when the rain stopped the circuit seemed to become even more greasy, it may however have been that speeds increased during those periods.

Cafe was OK for the food and costs,
Pit garages were all wet or flooded.

I took my chances on a non- Porsche day admittedly, enjoyed the circuit and will probably return later this year.

User Review-3 said:
"I took my chances on a non- Porsche day admittedly"

And that is the problem I am afraid!!

I did one of these days October 2005, me in the Porker and Mrs Melv in her Alfa-Romeo -her first full track day......When I compalined about the over-aggressive driving of others (I was in the pax seat in her car) and overtaking on the right (briefing was for the left!!) I do not think the organisers did a blind bit about it........However, did not sound as bad as your day -you have my sympathy!!
 
Re: Donington Park Circuit, East Midlands

User Review-4 said:
My favourite circuit, perfect for high power Porsches

I've driven it where we have used both configurations (PG & National) and my personal preference is the GP circuit as the Melbourne hairpin is great fun and the car really moves around with all the loading it has.

From the first corner the excitement really builds as you look through Hollywood to the famous Craner Curves, and to experience them taken at speed is something else as the car wants to push out wide and spit you onto the grass.

The run back up through Starkeys Bridge and Schwants Curve gives you a chance to settle the car down again for McLeans which is taken pretty fast (3rd gear in the RS). Let the car drift out wide going through Coppice and there is plenty of grip out there and carry your speed down Starkeys Straight, but don't forget to brake pretty hard for the Esses.

I take the Esses as straight as I can and let the car go wide again we can get on the power again for the run down to the hairpin. The track dips on the decent to Melbourne so the brakes take a real hammering here, and you need to get the turn in point spot on to make the exit and run back up as smooth as possible.

The final corner into Wheatcroft Straigh again wants to push the car out onto the grass but you can afford to go a bit wide there as the kerb is there but don't jump on the power too soon otherwise you will be trying to catch a nice spin (Rowan Atkinson seems to struggle here too).

Lap over, time to start the rollercoaster ride again. Fantastic.

User Review-5 said:
I have done a few days at Donington. The National Circuit is much nicer than the GP.
Top tips - Turn in very late to Redgate, don't brake in the Craner Curves & forget the 2nd apex at Coppice.
This track can get very slippy when wet.

User Review-6 said:
I like donnington gp or std. track a lot of people that i have raced against on the gp track do not like it for some reason (they all moan about melbourne loop + goddards).a nice flowing track which after hours of driving always leaves you thinking NEXT TIME i will go faster, one major part of this track is hollywood-cranercurves-old hairpin get that right and you should be on your way to a relatively quick lap.
 
Even as a relatively new track driver I can recognise a great drivers circuit when I get a go on it. This is definitely one of them :D . 4 stars from me. 8)

Those tips from reviewer 5 look to be just what I need and will be trying them out in a few weeks time :)
 
A quality circuit, once you can take craner at full pace, get a faster car then go back and master it again.
 
Does anyone have any more tips for Redgate apart from go in deep? In particular, when can I get back on the power? Last time I was concerned that because it tightens after the apex, if I got on the power too soon I'd be in the gravel before reaching the run down through Hollywood.
 
Boxsey said:
Last time I was concerned that because it tightens after the apex....

If it's tightening after the apex, then you're still turning in too early. Turn in as late as you dare, and it will make sense. :wink:
 
ARAF said:
Boxsey said:
Last time I was concerned that because it tightens after the apex....

If it's tightening after the apex, then you're still turning in too early. Turn in as late as you dare, and it will make sense. :wink:

I would agree in such a corner, based on the images and videos.

Boxsey, the same theory with that last corner at Brunters, so you almost have to feel you driven past it then turn in much harder and power all the way
 
Also similar then to the tight, slow right at Pro-drive on the big circuit (that took us on to the straight that lead to the drift corner). :idea:

Thanks guys (including my buddy and newest 911UK member :wink: ) I'll give it a go next Sunday :D
 
Boxsey said:
Also similar then to the tight, slow right at Pro-drive on the big circuit (that took us on to the straight that lead to the drift corner). :idea:

Probably more like the 2 fast right handers on the speed circuit at opposite ends ? i.e. turn in too early and you wil have to correct

btw, and make sure you blow the bloody doors off (and have the video cam on!)
 
Review by Boxsey

Car : 964 C2
Weather : Dry but misty in the morning
Date: October 2007
Track : GP circuit
Driver ability : improving novice
Format : 20 minute sessions (novice, intermediate, expert)

My second time at Donington but the first time on the full GP circuit which adds the Foggy esses (chicane), the melbourne hairpin and turns Goddards into a very tight left hander. This addition (IMO) adds technicality to the circuit and turns it into one that is very hard on brakes because add Redgate to the above 3 hard braking points and your brakes get very hot. So much so that in my second session my pedal went soft after 4 laps. This was a combination of my standard textar pads being 50% worn and me braking to hard. Once cooled down I enjoyed the rest of the day by being more sympathetic with the brakes (earlier and more progressively).

The points about Redgate and Coppice earlier in the thread were spot on for me on the day. A very, very late turn-in makes this corner a delight to work. By progressively feeding in the power I could get into 4th gear by the time I'd straightened up for Hollywood which meant I was getting to Craners at a much higher speed (approx 100 mph for me) than I had done on my last trip. Ricardo60 was on the same day and he too liked the deep turn-in for Redgate best of all (he'd tried various other lines through the day before I got in the passenger seat). However, I found to my cost that now I was arriving a lot faster at Craners that I had to be careful of not turning in too early - there's quite a dip on the left of the track just before the apex. I did this once and ended up in a big spin. Although there was no harm done (quite a safe place to come off really) I remembered to dab the brakes to settle the car and turn in later in the rest of the sessions.

I also enjoyed coppice a lot more this time by heeding the advice in a post above. For me it was keep in 3rd, brake lightly, turn-in and hit full power as I clipped the kerb of the first apex. Then just keep on the power and let the car drift to the left of the track ignoring the second apex. By doing this I could get to over 110 before the next braking point (Ricardo60 was getting to just over 130 in his GT3). I was quite impressed by this because the braking point is a lot earlier than if you were on the National Circuit.

Then came the new bit. Foggy esses is really fun and pretty straight forward in a 911 - brake hard, down to 2nd, turn in, clip the first apex and then power all the way over the 2nd apex, let the car drift to the left, straighten up and change up. The next bit was a swine. Easily the tightest hairpin (in my short career) I've ever tried and no camber to help you. For me it was go deep, lift off, big turn-in, progressive power until the car was straight. Goddards was equally as difficult and complicated by being slightly blind - if you got to the crest where you could see the turn fully, you had missed the braking point. The best way I got through there with speed was a very late turn-in and aim for the kerbs on the inside of the bend. But put too much power on and you ran out of track on the right (a few came off there). The funniest thing I saw was an instructor keep his pupil to the left on the approach and hug the inside kerb (at low speed) all the way round. He actually overtook two of us using this line!

In summary, I found the melbourne loop frustrating and entertaining but realised that it is a very key area to a quick lap time. In the very last session I had some laps that I felt like I had strung the corners together nicely. I started at 4th in the pit lane queue and by the end of the 20 minute session the closest car to me (my mate in his Boxster S was the full length of the pit straight behind me. Time to move up a group perhaps :wink: .

A couple of pics from the day (sorry no video :( )

Stringing a few laps together got me into this position on the track.

PA200984.jpg


That very tight hairpin created a lot of body roll! :lol:

PA201042.jpg


Ricardo60 showing how easy it is in a GT3 :wink:

PA200999.jpg
 
Nice write up :D

An interesting comment about the 'melbourne loop', does that mean you would look to do another day at Donny with the loop or not ?
 
911UK said:
Nice write up :D

An interesting comment about the 'melbourne loop', does that mean you would look to do another day at Donny with the loop or not ?

In hindsight I would say the track is much better with the loop. More of a challenge. But I must ensure that the brakes are up to scratch before I go next time* as I could have gone a fair bit quicker if I wasn't worrying that I was going to lose them. To be fair we were warned at the briefing of how much harder the GP circuit is on brakes. They were right!

*Pagids and new fluid are going in this weekend in readiness for Oulton Park next week.
 

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