Donington Park Test Days 

I consider Donington Park Test Days and photographing motorsport test days in general the same as going fishing. I set out all excited, cast my hook, not knowing how many fish I will catch or what kind of fish it will be. Or if it will be that elusive prize winning specimen. That’s exactly the feeling I get when I turn up for the many Donington Park Test Days that are held throughout the year. 

For me, that’s what makes test days so interesting as you just never know what is going to turn up. There is little to no information online as to who is attending. Ringing the circuit office won’t give you anymore information that is already available on the official website. So I just grab my gear and head to the track for a days free motorsport entertainment and see what I can catch.

Motorsport Test Days

There is an article in the PistonClick How to Guide Section which goes into detail about testing days. What I want to focus on is my experience of Donington Park Test Days looking at the interesting and unusual cars that turn up. Generally the drivers are happy to chat about their cars, their racing experiences and share racing stories with you. This puts a whole new perspective on my day, motorsport has a rich, diverse history. Capturing images trackside understanding how the car in your frame has arrived at this point in time adds to my day out “fishing”.

Having been a race car driver for around twenty years on short circuit ovals has left me with a passion for all types of motor racing. I built maintained and raced cars which were all funded by myself. This was a struggle, and with that in mind, I love to be around the pits and garages. I understand the passion the racers of today have. I get the hard work and passion that goes on to make this magic sport of motor racing happen. 

Donington Park Test Days June 2024

Which brings me to a test day at Donington back in the summer of 2024, where I was confronted by a packed paddock of every type of car you could imagine. All the garages were taken up, you didn’t know where to look first. Walking around, I came across this amazing car owned by Ben Eastick. 

Now, you have to forgive me, all of you out there that know nearly every car that appears on a race circuit, but I’m afraid I don’t. I have been going to Donington for the last three years. There are photographers there who can tell you almost everything about every car they see. But my motor racing knowledge is for a sport a million miles away from circuit racing. I stopped to look and photograph what I thought was the best-looking race car there that day. I approached and asked asked Ben, the driver and owner who was just standing there, exactly what the car was. To my surprise, he poured his heart out to me about this car and what it meant to him.

Bentley T-Type Special – the early years

Ben started talking about his father, Barry Eastick, who used to race in the Bentley Drivers Club and how he knew someone very high up at the Rolls Royce /Bentley factory. Spotting the two demo rolling chassis that they had built to show off the new Rolls Royce model; Barry asked if he could buy one off them to race with. To his surprise, they agreed under certain conditions and so for the princely sum back in the very early 70s, he paid £1100 for it. So he now had the problem of getting someone to make a body. Barry turned to a company located close to his Sugar processing factory called Lyncar, who built the body you see now. 

His father raced the T-Type Special, I believe, just a few times with it before unfortunately crashing it in the wet. Deciding that this car was a bit too much for him to handle he had it rebuilt but without the supercharger sitting in front of the 6.2-litre engine. Fitting it it with mudguards, lights and a horn he then used it for a few years to drive from his home up the M4 to work each day!  

Bentley T-Type Special – off to the USA

It wasn’t too long before he sold the car to another driver who raced it for a while, then it was sold to a collector in the USA where it languished for years in a museum. Ben was only a child during this period, but when a little older, he vowed to one day own the car himself and have it back in the family. He kept his ears open to hear of any chance of it coming on to the market. Eventually it did, in an auction, but Ben didn’t want to wait for that and contacted the American owner. This bold approach paid off as the seller was happy to see the car go back to its original home.

Bringing the Bentley T-Type Special home

And so, the car came back to the U.K. and had a full nut and bolt rebuild to bring it up to the best condition possible. Some new upgraded parts were added, keeping with the original specifications to make the handling much better. There’s lots more information online as this is a very well-known car. Ben Estick has given many interviews and has gone on to be quite successful with the T-Type, winning the odd race as well. As for the other chassis that was built, SSSC-1, it’s sitting in a museum. I believe in the US exactly as it was built with no body on it. Ben’s car has the chassis number SSSC-2 which stands for Silver Shadow Special Chassis 2. 

A year later, almost to the day, Ben was back at Donington again with the Bentley and recognised me immediately. We had another lovely chat, he told me how the original gearbox was an ordinary road-going example and was the car’s Achilles heel. Two new one-off gearboxes had been manufactured that were much stronger. Unfortunately, the gearbox failed that day, which put an end to any more track time for Ben and the Bentley T-Type Special. 

Photographic Post Script

I will be off on more Donington Park Test Days “fishing” trips this year. With a bit of luck capturing the interesting and unique motorsport legends that test around the Donington Park Circuit. Hopefully Ben and the Bentley T-Type Special will make another appearance and we can continue the story of this unique race car.

Camera equipment used to capture these images were the Canon RP R6 and R7 body’s. I used a variety of lenses, 16-35mm F4, 24-105 F4, 70-200 F2.8 and 100-400 F5.6-8 for the long shots. 

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