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Donington Park’s Grand Prix circuit hosted the penultimate round of Trackday Trophy in 2022, with the Leicestershire circuit welcoming a sold-out grid of competitors all vying for success.
A bright and dry qualifying session awaited drivers on Sunday (18th September). For quite a few, this would be their first foray onto the Melbourne loop and an invaluable learning curve. As the session roared into life, impressive lap times began populating the timing sheets. Alex Di Donato set the early pace in his Peugeot 205 GTI, before a battle for pole developed between Kevin Sterling and EST Performance’s Read duo. The pair exchanged fastest laps on a couple of occasions, before Kevin Stirling set a stellar 1:49:655 to claim pole position for his Renault Clio RS. Alex and Dan Read would have to settle for second in class B, while early pacesetter Alex Di Donato lined up third in class. Wayne Cockerill put together a magnificent lap to secure class C pole, almost a second quicker than nearest rival Pascall/McKee. Rawlings/Zakrzewski rounded out the top three in C. The ever-competitive class D was topped by Connell/Nolan, ahead of Colin Wells and Drew Fletcher.
A few spots of rain immediately before race start only added to the excitement of spectators, with anticipation levels peaking as 41 cars lined up on the grid. Despite a solid getaway, polesitter Kevin Stirling was sent tumbling down the order with an early spin. This paved the way for Read/Read to lead class B over the line at the end of lap one, before their VW Golf was swiftly overtaken by a fast-starting Alex Di Donato. An immense launch from Rawlings/Zakrzewski saw the Dubshack Motorsport car rise from 10th on the grid to 5th at the end of lap one, before a gearbox failure ultimately put end to their charge.
After a brief safety car period to recover a car on the Melbourne loop, Read/Read of EST Performance had regained the lead and the pairing didn’t look back from there, eventually taking the checkered flag to secure their first overall win. Victory was made even more sweeter considering the duo were without power steering for the duration of the race! A hugely impressive recovery drive after his first lap spin saw polesitter Kevin Stirling finish in second, while Semprini Racing rounded out the class B podium courtesy of another solid drive from Evans/Hart. An epic battle in class C was eventually triumphed by Aindale Racing’s Wayne Cockerill – picking up his first class win in Trackday Trophy! In spite of gearbox issues, Pascall/McKee (JPRacing) battled their way to finish second in class, narrowly ahead of the consistently-quick Damian Chrupczalski. Class D provided great entertainment all race and it was polesitters Dave Connell/Nolan who utilized their strong pace to secure the class victory. Colin Wells followed up class victory at Snetterton with second on the D podium, ahead of Drew Fletcher in his Mk3 Mazda MX5.
A huge congratulations to all our podium finishers, who each put in fantastic drives to best a large field. Donington Park provided a wonderful race and we cannot wait to see more of the same at the season finale at Brands Hatch in November.