Gibson Technology
Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson as'Zytek Engineering' in 1981. In 1981 Gibson founded'Zytech Group' with two main divisions: Zytek Automotive, based at Fradley, Staffordshire. In 2014, Zytek Automotive was sold to German engineering company Continental AG, whereas Zytek Engineering remained under Gibson's leadership and was renamed Gibson Technology. Zytek Automotive is a specialist powertrain and vehicle engineering enterprise, part of Continental AG, a German engineering company, since 2014, it designs and integrates electric motors into a range of cars and commercial vehicles. The current family of electric motors ranges up to 170 kW; the UK facility can accommodate up to 6,000 E-Drive integrations a year in batches as low as 100. Zytek has designed electric engines for the initial 100 smart fortwos, which took part in a market trial by selected British customers as lease vehicles from 2007 to 2009; the 70 kW integrated drivetrain installed in the Modec electric vehicle is designed and manufactured in house by Zytek, as well as the drivetrain in the E Vito Taxi.
Gordon Murray Design and Zytek Automotive developed an all-electric three-seater city car, the T.27, made possible through a GB£4.5 million investment from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board. With a total cost of £9m, the research and development project allowed the consortium to develop a prototype, unveiled at the Royal Automobile Club in June 2011; the T.27 road debut was held in November 2011 at the RAC Future Car Challenge. Gordon Murray Design is negotiating with three possible manufacturers for production of the T.27. Zytek Motorsport is the brand name used for the Zytek Groups motorsport product range and applications. In 1987, Zytek bought the British Alan Smith Racing outfit in order to expand its motorsports involvement; the team supported the Jordan Grand Prix team in Formula 3000 before the team chose to concentrate on engine development. Zytek would return to running a motorsports team in 2004 when the company entered the Le Mans Endurance Series with their first sports car, the Zytek 04S, able to finish second in the team championship in 2005 due to two overall victories.
Zytek Engineering continues to campaign in the Le Mans Series as well as in the American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2002, Zytek bought some of the remains of the defunct Reynard Motorsport from International Racing Management; these assets included the rights to the Reynard 02S Le Mans Prototype, of which only one had been completed since the company's demise. Zytek supplied an engine to the existing chassis, would therefore built further copies under the name Zytek 04S, offering both the chassis and engine as a complete package. Due to changes in the prototype regulations in 2006, Zytek upgraded one of their existing 04S chassis while building a third all-new car, named the 06S. Further regulation changes in 2007 required the team to build an new car, the Zytek-07s, which campaigned in both the LMP1 and LMP2 classes of the Le Mans Series. Zytek's GZ09S proved an immediate success in 2009, taking the LMP2 Le Mans Series Team Championship with Quifel-ASM and the Driver's Championship with Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla.
In 2009 Zytek Engineering became the first manufacturer to score a podium with a hybrid LMP. The car, run by Corsa Motorsports, finished on the podium on its debut at Lime Rock; the Zytek Q10 Hybrid is a non-invasive parallel hybrid system, consisting of a motor-generator and inverter. Its purpose is to recover energy wasted during deceleration and subsequently use this energy to assist the internal combustion engine during acceleration; the Z11SN has won the LMP2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2011 and 2014, the Le Mans Series in 2011, in the hands of Greaves Motorsport and Team Jota. In 2017 the rebranded company became the supplier of a 4.2-litre, normally-aspirated V8 engine, producing 600 hp, for the LMP2 Class for the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Two of the many LMP2 cars powered by Gibson engines finished on the overall podium, one had led the race overall for some time until a recovering factory Porsche reclaimed the lead.
In 2018, Gibson's new LMP1 engine, the 4.5 litre aspirated GL458, was installed into Rebellion Racing's pair of Rebellion R13s and DragonSpeeds BR Engineering BR1. The engine brought Rebellion's R13s to a 3-4 finish behind the Toyota TS050 Hybrids. In February of 2019, ByKolles Racing announced that they would be switching to the Gibson GL458, dropping the Nissan Nismo VRX30A 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6, for their CLM P1/01. Gordon Murray Zytek Automotive Gibson Technology
France
France the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean, it is bordered by Belgium and Germany to the northeast and Italy to the east, Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans; the country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice. During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia.
The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia which became the Kingdom of France in 987 emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world; the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Protestants. France became Europe's dominant cultural and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. In the 19th century, Napoleon established the First French Empire, his subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870.
France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War; the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s and retained close economic and military connections with France. France has long been a global centre of art and philosophy, it hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually. France is a developed country with the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP, tenth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, human development.
France is considered a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, La Francophonie. Applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name "France" comes from the Latin "Francia", or "country of the Franks". Modern France is still named today "Francia" in Italian and Spanish, "Frankreich" in German and "Frankrijk" in Dutch, all of which have more or less the same historical meaning. There are various theories as to the origin of the name Frank. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English, it has been suggested that the meaning of "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation.
Another theory is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon, which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. However, it has been determined that these weapons were named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around; the oldest traces of human life in what is now France date from 1.8 million years ago. Over the ensuing millennia, Humans were confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras. Early hominids led a nomadic hunter-gatherer life. France has a large number of decorated caves from the upper Palaeolithic era, including one of the most famous and best preserved, Lascaux. At the end of the last glacial period, the climate became milder. After strong demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia, metallurgy appeared at the end of the 3rd millennium working gold and bronze, iron. France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic period, including the exceptiona
Eurocup Mégane Trophy
The Renault Eurocup Mégane Trophy was a one-make racing series created and managed by Renault Sport. The series has raced with the Renault Mégane Renault Sport since 2005 as part of the World Series by Renault; the Renault Eurocup has run with various models under differing names since 1976. The Eurocup use; the series use cars according to era and the championship name is so altered: Coupe d'Europe Renault 5 Alpine Coupe d'Europe Renault 5 Turbo Europa Cup Renault Alpine V6 Turbo Europa Cup Renault 21 Turbo Europa Cup Renault Clio Renault Sport Spider Elf Trophy Renault Sport Clio Trophy Eurocup Mégane Trophy Eurocup Mégane Trophy Mk. II Here is the current scoring system for races in the Eurocup Mégane Trophy:There was a point awarded for pole position up until prior to the start of the 2010 season. Renault Clio Cup Dacia Logan Cup Sports Renault DriverDatabase driverdb.com Cup Racers renaultoloog.nl World Series by Renault: Megane Trophy official website World Series by Renault - Eurocup Megane Trophy official website 2
Renault
Groupe Renault is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, in the past has manufactured trucks, tanks, buses/coaches and autorail vehicles. According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, in 2016 Renault was the ninth biggest automaker in the world by production volume. By 2017, the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance had become the world's biggest seller of light vehicles, bumping Volkswagen AG off the top spot. Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque and subsidiaries, Automobile Dacia from Romania, Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea, AvtoVAZ from Russia. Renault has a 43.4% controlling stake in Nissan of Japan, a 1.55% stake in Daimler AG of Germany. Renault owns subsidiaries RCI Banque, Renault Retail Group and Motrio. Renault has various joint ventures, including Renault Pars; the French government owns a 15% share of Renault.
Renault Trucks known as Renault Véhicules Industriels, has been part of AB Volvo since 2001. Renault Agriculture became 100% owned by German agricultural equipment manufacturer CLAAS in 2008. Together Renault and Nissan invested €4 billion in eight electric vehicles over three to four years beginning in 2011. Renault is known for its role in motor sport rallying, Formula 1 and Formula E, its early work on mathematical curve modeling for car bodies is important in the history of computer graphics. The Renault corporation was founded in 1899 as Société Renault Frères by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand. Louis was a bright, aspiring young engineer who had designed and built several prototypes before teaming up with his brothers, who had honed their business skills working for their father's textile firm. While Louis handled design and production and Fernand managed the business; the first Renault car, the Renault Voiturette 1CV, was sold to a friend of Louis' father after giving him a test ride on 24 December 1898.
In 1903, Renault began to manufacture its own engines. The first major volume sale came in 1905 when Société des Automobiles de Place bought Renault AG1 cars to establish a fleet of taxis; these vehicles were used by the French military to transport troops during World War I which earned them the nickname "Taxi de la Marne." By 1907, a significant percentage of London and Paris taxis had been built by Renault. Renault was the best-selling foreign brand in New York in 1907 and 1908. In 1908 the company produced 3,575 units; the brothers recognised the value of publicity that participation in motor racing could generate for their vehicles. Renault made itself known through succeeding in the first city-to-city races held in Switzerland, producing rapid sales growth. Both Louis and Marcel raced company vehicles, but Marcel was killed in an accident during the 1903 Paris-Madrid race. Although Louis never raced again, his company remained involved, including Ferenc Szisz winning the first Grand Prix motor racing event in a Renault AK 90CV in 1906.
Louis took full control of the company as the only remaining brother in 1906 when Fernand retired for health reasons. Fernand died in 1909 and Louis became the sole owner, renaming the company Société des Automobiles Renault. Renault fostered its reputation for innovation from early on. At the time, cars were luxury items; the price of the smallest Renaults at the time were 3000 francs. In 1905, the company introduced mass production techniques and Taylorism in 1913. Renault manufactured commercial cargo vehicles in the pre-war years; the first real commercial truck from the company was introduced in 1906. During World War I, it branched out into ammunition, military aircraft engines and vehicles such as the revolutionary Renault FT tank; the company's military designs were so successful that Louis was awarded the Legion of Honour for his company's contributions. The company exported engines to American automobile manufacturers for use in such automobiles as the GJG, which used a Renault 26 horsepower or 40 hp four-cylinder engine.
Louis Renault enlarged Renault's scope after 1918, producing industrial machinery. The war led to many new products; the first Renault tractor, the Type GP was produced between 1919 and 1930. It was based on the FT tank. Renault struggled to compete with the popular small, affordable "people's cars," while problems with the stock market and the workforce slowed the company's growth. Renault had to find a way to distribute its vehicles more efficiently. In 1920, Louis signed one of its first distribution contracts with Gustave Gueudet, an entrepreneur from northern France; the pre-First World War cars had a distinctive front shape caused by positioning the radiator behind the engine to give a so-called "coalscuttle" bonnet. This continued through the 1920s. Only in 1930 did all models place the radiator at the front; the bonnet badge changed from circular to the familiar and continuing diamond shape in 1925. Renault introduced new models at the Paris Motor Show, held in September or October of the year.
This led to confusion about model years. For example, a "1927" model was produced in 1928. Renault cars ranged from small to large. For example
Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Luiz Zonta is a Brazilian professional racing driver. Born in Curitiba, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter; the following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, in 1991, he won the title. He continued karting until 1992, finishing fourth in the São Paulo Karting Championship before progressing to single-seaters for 1993, he finished 6th in the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship, in 1994, came fifth in the Brazilian Formula Three Championship. A year Zonta won both the Brazilian and South American Formula Three Championships. Moving to Europe in 1996, Zonta competed in the International Formula 3000 Championship for Draco Racing, winning two races and finishing fourth overall. In the same year, he became the first Brazilian to compete in International Touring Cars, with Mercedes. In 1997, he won the Formula 3000 championship, he took home the "Golden Helmet" award for best international driver for his efforts. The Jordan Formula One team signed him as their official test driver following his championship, in 1998, he was signed by McLaren boss Ron Dennis.
Zonta tested with the McLaren Formula One team in 1998, concurrently won the FIA GT Championship and the "Golden Helmet" award in the "world prominence" category. In October 1998 after winning the FIA GT championship, Zonta signed up with the B. A. R. Formula One racing team as one of its race drivers for the 1999 season, after rejecting offers from Jordan and Sauber. In 1999, Zonta started as a Formula One racing driver alongside 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve at new team B. A. R. Zonta injured his foot in an accident during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, was forced to miss three races, he had a large accident at Spa-Francorchamps, finished the season with no championship points. Zonta remained with B. A. R for the 2000 season, scoring his first world championship point with a sixth place in the opening race, he had another large accident when his front suspension broke during testing at Silverstone, but continued the season, scoring points in both the Italian and United States Grands Prix, to finish 14th in the championship.
Replaced by Olivier Panis for the 2001 season, Zonta became the third driver for the Jordan team, replacing the injured Heinz-Harald Frentzen for one race, again when Frentzen was sacked, but was overlooked to replace him for the remainder of the season. In 2002, he decided to focus on the Telefónica World Series. Zonta was hired as test driver for the Toyota F1 team in 2003, retaining the position in 2004. Toward the end of the season, the team sacked Cristiano da Matta from a race seat, Zonta drove in four Grands Prix. In Belgium a brilliant fourth place went beckoning when engine failure struck three laps from the finish. In Suzuka the team hired Jarno Trulli and Zonta had to sit the event out, however the team allowed him to compete in his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, which he finished in 13th, he continued as a test driver for Toyota alongside veteran French pilot Olivier Panis. At the US Grand Prix that year, he stood in for an injured Ralf Schumacher and took his place on the grid, only for Toyota, like the other six Michelin-shod teams, to withdraw from the race due to safety concerns.
2006 saw. Ricardo Zonta was confirmed as test driver for the Renault Formula One team for the 2007 season on 6 September 2006. In 2007, Zonta entered the Stock Car Brasil series in parallel with the work for the Renault team. In 2008, Zonta kicked off his sportscar career by contesting the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot Sport, driving the #9 car alongside Franck Montagny and Formula One tester Christian Klien, he is driving in the Grand Am Championship in America with Krohn Racing, while being the team owner and driver of Panasonic Racing in Stock Car Brasil. † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance. † Driver was classified as he completed over 90 % of the race distance. Official website Ricardo Zonta career summary at DriverDB.com
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic known by its short-form name, Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with a temperate continental climate and oceanic climate, it is a unitary parliamentary republic, with 10.6 million inhabitants. Other major cities are Brno, Ostrava and Pilsen; the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe. It is a developed country with an advanced, high income export-oriented social market economy based in services and innovation; the UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development. The Czech Republic is a welfare state with a "continental" European social model, a universal health care system, tuition-free university education and is ranked 14th in the Human Capital Index, it ranks as the 6th safest or most peaceful country and is one of the most non-religious countries in the world, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance.
The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire along with the Kingdom of Germany, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Italy, numerous other territories, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Beside Bohemia itself, the King of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown, holding a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. In the Hussite Wars of the 15th century driven by the Protestant Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Catholic Church. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, eradicated Protestantism and reimposed Catholicism, adopted a policy of gradual Germanization; this contributed to the anti-Habsburg sentiment. A long history of resentment of the Catholic Church followed and still continues. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian Kingdom became part of the German Confederation 1815-1866 as part of Austrian Empire and the Czech language experienced a revival as a consequence of widespread romantic nationalism. In the 19th century, the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I. Czechoslovakia remained the only democracy in this part of Europe in the interwar period. However, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, while the Slovak region became the Slovak Republic.
Most of the three millions of the German-speaking minority were expelled following the war. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections and after the 1948 coup d'état, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence. In 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed and market economy was reintroduced. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. The traditional English name "Bohemia" derives from Latin "Boiohaemum", which means "home of the Boii"; the current English name comes from the Polish ethnonym associated with the area, which comes from the Czech word Čech. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, who brought them to Bohemia, to settle on Říp Mountain.
The etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning "member of the people. The country has been traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the east, Czech Silesia in the northeast. Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14th century, a number of other names for the country have been used, including Czech/Bohemian lands, Bohemian Crown and the lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas; when the country regained its independence after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the new name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak nations within the one country. After Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, the Czech part lac
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, the surrounding Donington Park Estate is under lease by MotorSport Vision until 2038. Part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the period between the First and Second World Wars when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship. Used as a military vehicle storage depot during the Second World War, it fell into disrepair until bought by local construction entrepreneur Tom Wheatcroft. Revived under his ownership in the 1970s, it hosted a single Formula One race, but became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championship. Leased by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd in 2007 the hope that Formula One racing could return to the track, the incomplete venture failed to raise sufficient financial backing during the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.
DVLL lost the rights to the British rounds of both Formula 1 and MotoGP, in its bankruptcy returned the track to the Wheatcroft family in December 2009. Under Wheatcroft's ownership, the venue underwent significant work, with the track restored to use in 2010, before major upgrades in the following five years. At the end of 2010, it was announced that Donington would become home to an annual historic motorsport event, the Donington Historic Festival, with new events being added. Since 2010, significant investment across the venue has seen major improvements made to its infrastructure, while the circuit has become a regular fixture for top class motorcycling in the form of the Superbike World Championship. In January 2017, the circuit business and a long term lease on the estate was purchased by MotorSport Vision, with the purchase cleared by authorities in August of the same year. Significant investment has seen facilities at the venue brought up to modern standards, with a new restaurant, toilet blocks, large new grandstand and new circuit offices, as well as other detail changes.
As well as improving the infrastructure, MSV has made additions to the race calendar, with additional major events planned for 2019 including extra rounds of the British Superbike Championship and British GT. Donington Park motor racing circuit was the first permanent park circuit in England, which 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, was by 1931 a Derby garage owner and secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club. Craner approached the 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 in length, based on normal width unsealed estate roads. The first motor cycle 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 followed by three car meetings further that year.
The first Donington Park Trophy race was held on 7 October 1933, the 20-lap invitation event was won by the Earl Howe in a Bugatti Type 51. In 1935 the first 300-mile 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 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. In 1971 the circuit was bought by business man and car collector Tom Wheatcroft, who funded the rebuilding of the track. Wheatcroft moved his collection to the circuit, in a museum now known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition which opened in 1973, has the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world; the motor racing circuit re-opened for cars on 28 May 1977, as per the original pre-war opening, the first post-war meeting was for motorcycles.
The first postwar car race meeting was organised by the Nottingham Sports Car Club, sponsored by local Lotus dealers, J A Else of Codnor. That first car meeting nearly didn't happen, as the local ramblers tried to assert their rights to retain access to footpaths at the eleventh hour; the meeting went ahead as a "Motor Trial", a legal loophole that curtailed the use of single seater racing cars for that opening meeting. The NSCC continued to run race meetings at Donington until the Donington Racing Club was formed and a licence to run race meetings obtained; the Melbourne Loop was built in 1985 to increase the lap distance to 2.5 miles and allow the track to host Grand Prix motorcycle races – at 1.957 miles without the loop, the circuit was deemed too short. This shorter layout remains as the National circuit, used for most non-Grand Prix events. In recent times Donington has held meetings of MotoGP, the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbike Championship, as well as the 1993 European Grand Prix.
Other events taking place at the track include a 1000 km endurance race for the Le Mans Series in 2006, the World Series by Renault and the Great and British Motorsport Festival. On 26 August 2007, the circuit hosted the British Motocross Grand Prix, with a purpose-built motocross circuit constructed on the infield of the road circuit. In 2007, Wheatcroft via the holding company Wheatcroft & Son Ltd, sold a 150-year lease on the land on which the track and museum are located to Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd. In July 2008, it was announced that DVLL had won the rights to the British Gra
Pietro Fittipaldi
Lotus
