Retro Racing Spectacle at Donington Park

For the past 15 years, I’ve attended the Donington Historic Festival in one form or another. Watching the event grow from a relatively modest gathering into one of the UK’s premier historic motorsport weekends has been fascinating. Initially, I attended as part of a car club, but these days my focus is firmly on motorsport photography.

This year, I visited the Donington Historic 2026 on Sunday, the final day of a packed three-day Bank Holiday weekend celebrating classic racing machinery. Organised by Motor Racing Legends, the event has now been rebranded from the Donington Classic to the Donington Historic, coinciding with MRL taking over the running of the festival.

MRL had gathering hundreds of classic racing cars for the bank holiday weekend meeting. Basically the Donington Historic 2026 festival celebrated the rich racing history of the circuit. The event showcased the pre-war era through the 1960s to the modern age of motorsports.

One of the standout features of the event was the paddock access. Stunning race cars from every decade were housed in impressive temporary garages, all open to the public. The sheer scale and variety of machinery on display made wandering around the paddock an experience in itself. For spectators, it had excellent access; for photographers, it was an absolute dream and a target-rich environment.

The Racing

Reading through the Donington Historic 2026 programme beforehand, one of the more interesting additions was the unique Generations Trophy, which made its Donington Park debut this year. Introduced last season, the championship is contested by families or relatives competing in the same MGB race car over the course of the season. A huge grid of 36 cars lined up, with around 15 novice drivers taking part. The Whale family claimed the honours after an entertaining race.

GT3 Legends

One of the major highlights of the weekend was undoubtedly the GT3 Legends race. Unlike the MRL cars situated in the open paddock, these modern GT3 machines were tucked away inside the Donington garages, making access more restricted.

Recognising this, the organisers gave fans unprecedented access to the starting grid before the race — a truly memorable experience for enthusiasts and photographers alike.

Once the grid was cleared, 25 cars took to the circuit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GT3 category. Seeing these incredible machines not only running but battling hard on track was spectacular.

The eventual winner of the hour-long race was Jonathan Mitchells in an immaculate Aston Martin V12 Vantage. The Lamborghinis, Ford GT Evo, Audi R8s and the mighty Nissan R35 GT3 were equally impressive and incredibly photogenic.

Historic Grand Prix

Grand Prix cars formed the centrepiece of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association races. Over 30 classic machines took to the grid at the Donington Historic 2026, creating one of the most visually stunning races of the weekend.

Ferraris, Maseratis, Alfa Romeos and Brabhams were all represented among the diverse field. Tom Waterfield’s #40 Cooper T53 won both races, with several more Coopers following closely behind.

Formula 1 Demonstration

Displayed throughout the paddock for visiting fans was an excellent collection of Formula 1 machinery. Thankfully, these cars were not limited to static display duty and instead took to the circuit for demonstration laps.

It was fantastic to both watch and hear these iconic Grand Prix cars back out on track. 

Gerry Marshall Trophy

One of the races I was most looking forward to was the HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy Series. Featuring pre-1983 touring cars, the grid included classics such as the Ford Capri and Rover SD1 from touring car racing’s golden era.

The MG Metro looked particularly strong in the dry conditions before suddenly slowing after effectively deploying its “air brakes”. The rest of the field also reduced pace as the first rain showers of the afternoon rolled in.

Historic Touring Car Challenge

The race that interested me most at the Donington Historic 2026 was the Historic Touring Car Challenge. A brief rain shower certainly wasn’t going to dampen my enthusiasm for these iconic Group A touring cars. Ford Capris, BMW E30 M3s and my personal favourite — the Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R “Godzilla” — all featured on a superb grid.

Andy and Chris Middlehurst in their #7 R32 GT-R suffered a puncture and retirement in race one. Starting race two on row 10 and 20th position they plenty of work to do in the final race.

Following a rapid switch from slicks to wets on the grid, Andy and Chris drove brilliantly through the field to take victory in the R32 GT-R. Darren Fielding finished second in a BMW E30 M3, with Ashley Muldoon completing the podium in another M3.

Best of the Rest

The racing continued throughout the day with consistently large and high-quality grids. Thankfully, the quantity of racing was matched by the quality of machinery on display. The packed timetable featured several intriguingly named races, including the Top Hat Pre-66 and Mad Jack series. Others, such as the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, were a little more self-explanatory.

Away from the racing, the event also included parade laps, classic road car displays and numerous enthusiast car club stands. The trade area offered memorabilia, specialist parts and unique automotive collectables.

The open paddock was especially well received. Allowing fans close access to the cars and crews adds enormously to the atmosphere and gives spectator photographers opportunities normally reserved for accredited media. For anyone building a motorsport photography portfolio, events like this are invaluable.

Photographic Post Script

At this event PistonClick had three spectator photographers track side. Shooting from the spectator area at Donington is always a challenge due to the abundant safety fences. Fortunately we have been going to Donington for years so know the best locations. If you are not familiar with taking photos at Donington Park our track guide will help, you can find it here.

With large grids, iconic race cars, enthusiastic crowds, and excellent spectator access, the Donington Historic continues to establish itself as one of the UK’s premier historic motorsport events. It’s a cracking event for amateur motorsport photographers, with a diverse range of races, cars, and drivers.

The Historic doesn’t have the atmosphere of similar events such as the Goodwood Revival and the Goodwood Members’ Meeting, but it also doesn’t come with the Goodwood price tag. Being centrally located, Donington is also far more accessible for northern classic racing fans than Goodwood.

Having attended both Goodwood and the Donington Historic this year, I still think Goodwood is the better circuit for photography, atmosphere, and seeing the racing stars of yesteryear. However, the Donington Historic Festival is a great event in its own right, and I would definitely recommend it to any race fan or motorsport photographer.

If you would like to see more from the Motor Racing Legends, their next event takes place at Brands Hatch from 19–21 June 2026.

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Thanks to RPW and Daniel Burns Photography for the images used in this review of the Donington Historic Festival 2026. All of the other images are by the editor. You can find all of our previous car show reviews by following the link below.