Lotus Exige

This is a photograph that I took as I was leaving the Donington Park circuit at the end of the SeeRed meeting in May 2011.

It’s probably a Lotus Exige a car which was produced by Lotus from 2000 to 2021 with various different engines, but since the DVLA says that the vehicle details for P3 SKE could not be found I’m unable to give a more precise definition.

1957 Cooper Mk XI

This is a photograph that I took at McLeans Corner during the Scratch Race for Formula 3 (500cc) Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Leading is Nigel Ashman in a 1957 Cooper Mk XI, closely followed by Richard Ellingworth’s 1954 Kieft F3.

Starkeys Bridge, Donington Park

I took these photographs at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

What are apparently the remains of what was once a bridge always intrigued me. It’s called ‘Starkeys Bridge’ and apparently that is the way it was originally built in 1834 as a ‘Garden Feature’ for Donington Hall which is over to the right in my first photograph and outside the circuit.

I remember seeing photographs taken at pre-war meetings at Donington Park where the circuit actually passed through one of the arches of the bridge. The large spark plug in my second photograph was a commentary tower.

Formula Junior Racing

This is a photograph that I took at Redgate Corner during the Front-engined Formula Junior Racing Cars race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Brian Mitcham in his 1960 Mallock U2 Mk2 is leading the 1959 Elva 100 of Mark Woodhouse which is being driven by his son, Jack Woodhouse.

1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser

This car took part in the Flockhart Trophy Race for Pre-1961 Front-Engined Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser of Stuart Harper, which was shown in the programme of the event as a 4.2 litre Kurtis Indy Roadster, and here is having a tow back into its place in the paddock. It was driven in the race by Frederick Harper. This is the car that Ray Crawford took to the Indianapolis 500 race in 1957 and 1958 as the Meguiar Mirror Glaze Special, but failed both times to qualify for the race. Ray Crawford took part in the Race of Two Worlds round the banked oval at Monza with the car in both 1957 and 1958, one-sided exhibition events that pitted American Indianapolis cars against a motley collection of European cars. The race in both years consisted of three heats with the winner being the best car over the three races. In 1957 Ray Crawford's results in the heats were seventh, fourth and retired, and in 1958 tenth, eighth and fourth.

1933 Napier Railton

The VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2011 featured demonstration runs by Brooklands Museum's 24 litre Napier Railton, and here it is at Coppice Corner during one of the runs.

The car was created by Reid Railton, Chief Engineer at Thompson & Taylors Racing car works at Brooklands and intended for racing at the Brooklands banked circuit and also for world speed record attempts. A note in the programme of the event tells the story of the car:

'Commissioned by John Cobb, this car had to be equally suited to also tackle the coveted hour and 24 hour world speed records, usually on foreign soil. Named the Napier-Railton, it was a bespoke special powered by a 24 litre Napier Lion aeroplane engine whose twelve cylinders were arranged in three banks of four and drove via a three speed gearbox to a 1.66 to 1 rear axle. Railton designed all this specially and fitted it into a massive chassis frame with deep side rails passing underneath both front and rear axles. Suspension was by double cantilever springs at the rear with an identical system to the Sunbeam Tiger and Tigress he had designed earlier using semi elliptical units at the front. The only part he had derived from another car was the steering box and column from a Speed Six Bentley. The racing bodywork, similar to the Sunbeam's was made by Gurney Nutting.'

The car was successful from the start, winning races at Brooklands and setting the lap record at 143.44 mph which was still standing when the track finally closed in 1939. Between 1933 and 1936 the car took several world speed records at Montlhéry and Bonneville Salt Flats, the fastest being 100 miles at 168.59 mph. After the Second World War the car was used for a time by Sir Geoffrey Quilter for testing parachutes and later was acquired by the Hon. Patrick Lindsay who used it in VSCC races. After having several other owners it was acquired by the Brooklands Museum in 1997.

1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser

This car took part in the Flockhart Trophy Race for Pre-1961 Front-Engined Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser of Stuart Harper, driven in the race by Frederick Harper, which was shown in the programme of the event as a 4.2 litre Kurtis Indy Roadster. This is the car that Ray Crawford took to the Indianapolis 500 race in 1957 and 1958 as the Meguiar Mirror Glaze Special, but failed both times to qualify for the race. Ray Crawford took part in the Race of Two Worlds round the banked oval at Monza with the car in both 1957 and 1958, one-sided exhibition events that pitted American Indianapolis cars against a motley collection of European cars. The race in both years consisted of three heats with the winner being the best car over the three races. In 1957 Ray Crawford's results in the heats were seventh, fourth and retired, and in 1958 tenth, eighth and fourth.

1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail

This was one of the competitors in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of Michael Thorne, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,460cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1925 Bugatti Type 35

This car took part in the Williams Trophy Race for Pre-1934 Grand Prix Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1925 Bugatti Type 35 of Duncan Pittaway. The Type 35 had a 1,991cc straight-8 engine and was the most successful racing car of its era.

1955 Cousy 500cc

This car took part in the Short Scratch Race for Formula 3 (500) Racing Cars at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

The leading car is the 1955 Cousy No.2 of John Jones, the second of two cars built by Frenchman Georges Cousy with a flat opposed twin two-stroke engine of his own design. Behind him is the yellow 1952 Kieft CK52 of Rodney Delves. There's a thriving 500 Owners Association with details of lots of the cars that have competed in 500cc racing since it started in 1946.

1959 BRM P25

This car competed in the Flockhart Trophy Race for pre-1961 Front-Engined Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's Anthony Ditheridge's 1959 BRM P25, although the programme of the event shows it as number 140. BRM’s in-period Project 25 classification covered the engine design alone, the spaceframe chassis structure comprising Project 27. This car is he ninth of the team’s 2½-litre 4-cylinder Type 25s to be built and was the fourth to use the `1958 spaceframe Project 27 chassis in place of an original semi-monocoque design which had been used for the preceding five cars. Those semi-monocoque BRM Type 25s built from 1955 to 1957 are recorded within the team archive as cars ‘251’ to ‘255’. The subsequent six pure spaceframe cars built 1958-1959 were then referred to as ‘256’ to ‘2511’, even though their Project 27 chassis frames were numbered in sequence ‘27/1’ to ‘27/6’. Hence, this car was referred to in contemporary BRM team records – which survive today – as ‘259’, while its specific chassis frame stamping reads – again perfectly correctly – ‘27/4’. The P25 was said to be the fastest of the 1954-1960 Formula 1 era, partly due to the oversquare (102.87 mm bore x 74.93 mm stroke) engine allowing for larger valves to be fitted. The car was plagued with reliability problems, however, and the only Grand Prix win was Jo Bonnier's victory in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix in chassis 258.

The car behind the BRM is the 1956 Willment Climax of Barry Cannell which took part in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race, and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,963cc Climax FPF engine.

1930 Riley Brooklands

This car took part in three races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011, including the two hour long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-war Sports Cars.

It's James Potter's 1930 Riley Brooklands with a tuned version of the Riley Nine's 1,087cc 4-cylinder inline engine. The Riley Nine was designed by two of the Riley brothers, Percy and Stanley, and the Brooklands was the work of John G Parry Thomas and Reid Railton who shortened the chassis by some 15 inches and fitted an undershield the full length of the car. The engine had high compression pistons, special camshafts and 2 carburettors, increasing its output to 50bhp.

1933 Napier Railton

I took this photograph at Coppice Corner at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

At this meeting there was a series of demonstration runs by this Napier Railton car from Brooklands Museum that was created by Reid Railton, Chief Engineer at Thompson & Taylors Racing car works at Brooklands and intended for racing at the Brooklands banked circuit and also for world speed record attempts. A note in the programme of the event tells the story of the car:

'Commissioned by John Cobb, this car had to be equally suited to also tackle the coveted hour and 24 hour world speed records, usually on foreign soil. Named the Napier-Railton, it was a bespoke special powered by a 24 litre Napier Lion aeroplane engine whose twelve cylinders were arranged in three banks of four and drove via a three speed gearbox to a 1.66 to 1 rear axle. Railton designed all this specially and fitted it into a massive chassis frame with deep side rails passing underneath both front and rear axles. Suspension was by double cantilever springs at the rear with an identical system to the Sunbeam Tiger and Tigress he had designed earlier using semi elliptical units at the front. The only part he had derived from another car was the steering box and column from a Speed Six Bentley. The racing bodywork, similar to the Sunbeam's was made by Gurney Nutting.'

The car was successful from the start, winning races at Brooklands and setting the lap record at 143.44 mph which was still standing when the track finally closed in 1939. Between 1933 and 1936 the car took several world speed records at Montlhéry and Bonneville Salt Flats, the fastest being 100 miles at 168.59 mph. After the Second World War the car was used for a time by Sir Geoffrey Quilter for testing parachutes and later was acquired by the Hon. Patrick Lindsay who used it in VSCC races. After having several other owners it was acquired by the Brooklands Museum in 1997.

1931 MG C-Type Montlhery

I took this photograph at McLeans Corner during the Williams Trophy Race for Pre-1934 Grand Prix Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1931 MG C-Type Montlhery of Barry Foster which has a 746cc supercharged engine. The MG C Type was developed from a car designed for International speed record attempts which was based on the 847cc MG M Type with a supercharged engine reduced to 743cc to try to capture speed records in the under 750cc class H. In January 1931 Captain George Eyston succeeded in setting speed records for this class with several runs at the Montlhery race track in France at over 100mph and the subsequent production MG C-Type was given the tag 'Montlhery'. On the left is the 1928 Bugatti T35 of Bruce Stops.

1959 PM Poggi FJ

I took this photograph at Redgate corner during the Front-engined Formula Junior Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011. 

It's the 1959 PM Poggi of Michael Waller and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,089cc Fiat engine. Built in Modena by Eugenio Poggi with some input from Alberto Massimino, who had previously worked for Stanguellini, only a handful of these cars were produced.

1923 Talbot 10/23

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's a 1923 Talbot 10/23, created by Georges Roesch who increased the size of the 4-cylinder inline Talbot 8 engine that had been designed by Louis Coatalen from 870cc to 1,074cc. The Talbot 10/23 also had a lengthened chassis and more powerful brakes.

Formula Junior

Two Formula Junior cars at Redgate Corner during the Front-engined Formula Junior Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Leading is Peter St Barbe in his 1959 1,086cc Elva 100 closely followed by Gordon Russell in Pat Barford's 1959 1,098cc Gemini Mk II.

1930 Lea Francis Hyper Sports

This car took part in two races, including the 2 hours long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-war Sports Cars, at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1930 Lea Francis Hyper Sports of Charles Cook, which is also known as the S-Type and has a 1,496cc supercharged 4-cylinder Meadows engine. There's a Lea Francis Owners Club for enthusiasts and owners of these cars.

1955 Cooper Mk IX

I took this photograph at McLeans Corner during the 5 lap Scratch Race for Formula 3 (500cc) Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Leading is John Turner in his 1955 Cooper Mk IX, followed by Frederick Harper who was competing in the Invited Class in a 1950 Cooper Mk IV with a 1,100cc engine. After the Second World War motor racing in the UK was slow to re-start, partly because of petrol rationing and the cost of running a suitable car. Home-built ‘specials’ powered by 500cc motorcycle were created to provide a reasonably cheap way means of getting involved in the sport. John Cooper and Eric Brandon, with the assistance of John’s father Charles, decided in 1946 to build two cars, and in 1947 in the second post-war race meeting to be held Eric Brandon won the first race to feature 500cc cars. In 1950 this 500cc class of racing was adopted by the FIA as a new Formula 3, and John and Charles Cooper went on to build a series of these 500cc cars, eventually graduating to Formula 2, then Formula 1 culminating in Jack Brabham winning the World Drivers’ Championship in 1959 and 1960 in the 2½ litre Cooper Climax. There's a 500 Owners Association for enthusiasts and owners of these cars.

1933 Talbot 105

This car was in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's a 1933 Talbot 105, chassis 33880, and is a replica of the Talbot AV 105 Alpine Team cars with a 6-cylinder inline 2,969cc engine, number AV336.