Photographing the Ligier LMP3 at Donington Park 

So here I am again at Donington Park. It’s 7:30am, the wind-chill factor is a bitter –2°C, and my fingers are already numb. So why am I here?

To answer that, we need to go back to last year, when I received a friend request from Grahame Tilley, a well-known UK racing driver. I duly accepted, and that simple click led to a steady exchange of messages, followed eventually by phone numbers.

It turned out Grahame had seen some photos I’d uploaded to the social media group Personal Photos of Donington and wanted to get in touch. We hit it off straight away, and before long he mentioned that he owned three cars and was planning to bring two of them to Donington. Not for himself to drive, but to give two other drivers some valuable track time. He asked if I’d like to come along and photograph the day.

I didn’t need asking twice.

The Ligier LMP3

The first car is a Ligier LMP3 Gen 1, built in 2015 with an early VIN—number 03. It runs the Nissan 5-litre V8 engine. A far cry from the smaller V6 found in the newer Gen 3 cars. On full chat, this thing sounds absolutely glorious.

The car was bought new by Inter Europol Competition. Europol raced it across Europe in various championships, including the Le Mans Series. When the Gen 2 car was launched, it was sold to the 360 Racing team, who campaigned it in much the same arenas. Eventually, following the arrival of the Gen 3 cars, it was sold again—this time to Grahame, in late 2023.

Grahame competed with it in the Masters Series during the 2024 season, enjoying a good deal of success. Unfortunately, a ruptured triceps tendon curtailed most of his 2025 campaign. Then came more bad news: the Masters Series was sold to a French company, who decided to drop all but one UK round and move the championship almost entirely to Europe.

Around the same time, Grahame decided to retire and sell his business—the company that had largely funded his racing. With that income gone, the cost of racing across Europe became prohibitive, leaving him with the difficult decision to sell the car. Hence the For Sale sign on the tail fin.

Sennan Fielding

Not long after, Grahame received a call from his good friend Sennan Fielding. Sennan asked if he could borrow the car for the day to get some practice in. Grahame agreed—on one condition: don’t break it.

Sennan, like most drivers, started in karting, racing against and becoming good friends with George Russell. He progressed through various European categories before branching out into racing and coaching worldwide. Sennan has just returned from six weeks in the UAE coaching Formula 4 drivers, then headed to Finland for ice racing with McLaren.

As if that wasn’t enough, Sennan has also been invited to race in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Racing an LMP2 car as part of the IMSA Championship. As I write this, he’s there testing ahead of the race in mid-March—which is really why we’re here today.

Despite never having driven this Ligier before, Sennan was immediately on the pace, setting a lap time quicker than the car has ever achieved at Donington. Proof, if any were needed, that the old girl can still show a clean pair of heels.

The Ginetta G55

The second car is a Ginetta G55, which Grahame raced himself a few years ago before handing driving duties over to his son. Unfortunately, work commitments have kept him out of the cockpit for the past eighteen months, and the car has been sitting in the garage ever since.

That changed when Harry Yule, a young and promising driver, came along. Harry began karting in 2017, competing at British, European, and World Championship level before moving into Ginetta racing. His car from last season is currently being converted into a Ginetta G56 GT4, leaving him without a car to practise in.

A deal was struck for Harry to hire Grahame’s G55 for the day. This allowed him to log valuable seat time ahead of the upcoming GT Cup Championship.

What’s Next

I’ll be back with Grahame in a couple of weeks for the media launch and testing of the GT Cup Racing Series, where he’ll be driving a Lamborghini Super Trofeo. We’ll also be taking a deeper look at Grahame’s racing career and how he’s progressed through the years.

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