Donington Park 1937 Beta 1
by Luna


History

Donington Park motor racing circuit was the first permanent park circuit in England, which also ended the race circuit monopoly that Brooklands had held since 1907.

Fred Craner was a former motorcycle rider who had taken part in seven Isle of Man TT races,and was by 1931 a Derby garage owner and secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club. Craner approached the then owner of the Donington Hall estate, Alderman John Gillies Shields JP,to use the extensive roads on his land for racing.

The original track was 2 mile 327 yd (3518 m) in length, and based on normal width unsealed estate roads. The first motorcycle race took place on Whit Monday, 1931. For 1933 Craner obtained permission to build a permanent track, with the original layout widened and sealed at a cost of £12,000. The first car race was held on the 25th March, followed by three car meetings further that year. The first Donington Park Trophy race was held on 7 October 1933, and the 20-lap invitation event was won by the Earl Howe in a Bugatti Type 51.

In 1935 the first 300-mile (480 km) Donington Grand Prix was won by Richard "Mad Jack" Shuttleworth in an Alfa Romeo P3. In the 1937 Donington Grand Prix and 1938 Donington Grand Prix, the race winners were respectively Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari, both in Auto Union 'Silver Arrows.'

The circuit at Donington Park was closed in 1939 due to World War II, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot.


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NOTES:
It's beta, so obviously incomplete and a bit of a mess in places. If you find any major problems (e.g track won't load, CTD) please let me know; other minor issues I'm probably already aware of so no need to remind of them... 
There is AI but it's poor - I only made it to test frame-rate during a race... which is also poor.  Probably best to stick to hot-lapping for the time being.

And finally, please do not use any of the files (3dos, mips, srbs, etc.) while the track is in the beta stage."


Luna

