Victory at the 10th Donington Historic Festival

Whilst this weekend's annual Donington Historic, unfortunately, occurred behind closed doors, it was nevertheless an absolute joy to be back on track and a fantastic opportunity to see some familiar faces. We were very fortunate that the weather held out too, with only a gentle sprinkling of rain over the two days of the event and warmer temperatures retained throughout. The team was out in force and when not racing, we were proudly displaying a selection of our latest cars available for sale to the many drivers and preparers who attended the event. We proudly supported the official 'live stream'- internet broadcast- for the racing throughout the weekend, enabling those who were unable to join in person a fantastic means to enjoy the racing from the comfort of their sofas. The live stream accrued just under 20,000 views over the weekend and whilst it was embedded on our site, it was widely distributed by Historic Motor Racing TV on YouTube and across social media, including that of our friends at Goodwood - much appreciated!

Whilst the DK team were very much on hand at the mobile showroom for those who were able to attend the event, the DK presence was also very strong on the track, with Acquisition Consultants Harvey Stanley and James Cottingham both in action driving seven cars between them! David Cottingham shared his 500 TRC with Adrian King in Saturday's combined Woodcote and Stirling Moss Trophy - they won their class whilst James sharing with Olly Bryant in the Ecurie Ecosse Tojeiro Jaguar won the race overall after a thrilling battle with Chris Ward in a Lister-Jaguar.

For 2021 DK have had a crucial role in the inception of two new race series, on Saturday this saw the inaugural round of Amon Cup, an 80 Minute all GT40 race. This race saw DK's James and Harvey in different GT40s lining up on the grid alongside each other in 3rd and 4th behind Bryant and Hanson. James took the lead at turn one in the ex Scuderia Bear car (#1029) and by Lap 3 the DK boys were running first and second once Harvey had passed the Bryant car where they would remain for almost half an hour before Gordon Shedden managed to squeeze past into the lead. After the pitstops and handing over to their respective co-drivers, the Harvey finished in 3rd position with the ex-Scuderia Bear car sadly having retired due to brake fade and a resulting overworked gearbox. Gordon Shedden and Miles Griffiths - the victors and winners of round 1 of the Amon Cup and recipients of the trophies handed out by Alex Amon, son of legendary GT40 driver Chris Amon.

Sunday saw the Pall Mall Cup - a 3 Hour race for Pre 61 Sports Cars, Pre 63 GT cars and Pre 66 GT cars - and teams can be made by using a car from each team. "Team DK" consisted of the Lister Jaguar of Max Girardo to be shared by James Cottingham, the AC Cobra of Richard Cook to be shared with Harvey Stanley and the DK "Huffaker” 1962 E-Type shared between James, Olly Bryant and Harvey. Sadly an engine failure saw the Cobra retire early on in the race but both Lister and E-Type carried on running 4th and 5th with just 10 minutes to go when tragically electrical gremlins ended the race for the Lister which was in P4 overall. However, this meant the Pre 63 E-Type inherited a remarkable 4th place finish and commanding victory in the Pre-63 Category. Overall victory went to Lotus XV of Roger Wills and Tim Harvey beautifully driven to a well-deserved victory.

Images courtesy of Luke Gilbertson & Andrew Coles with kind thanks.