Donington Park Event Report

The final round of Trackday Trophy’s 2025 Grand Prix Grand Slam took place on Sunday 20 July, when a bumper grid of production and production-based saloon, hatchback and sports cars took on the extended Donington Park circuit configuration.

Qualifying

Harts Racing’s father and son duo of Phil and James Hart exchanged fastest laps with the Team Air Supply Porsche 944 in the early exchanges, with the latter higher-classed car holding a slender advantage.

However, as a damp track began to dry, the lap times started to drop. Unique Racing’s Charlie Palk looked sharp, quickly bettering his own times to set the benchmark for competitors to beat. Ultimately, Palk’s impressive time of 1m57.567s could not be bettered and the VW Scirocco claimed the front of the grid.

Paddock Performance Racing’s Michael Rawlings joined Palk on the front row, while AIM Technologies’ Livesy/Lake qualified third in their first Trackday Trophy outing. Wayne Cockerill (Aindale Racing) edged out early pacesetters Hart/Hart for the bragging rights of being fastest Class C qualifier. Algar Racing’s Roe/Murphy rounded out the top three C qualifiers.

A fantastic qualifying session by George Wright saw the Citroen Saxo driver qualify fastest in Class D and an impressive P7 overall. Hills Motorsport’s Kalsi/Hills weren’t far off Wright, with fellow Mazda MX-5 competitor Colin Wells (BC Cars Motorsport) qualifying just behind, third-in-class.

Race

A strong opening lap saw Rawlings jump into the lead. Polesitter Palk wasn’t far off the tail of the leading BMW E36, while Cockerill and Wright maintained the lead of their respective classes through the opening exchanges.

Both Hart/Hart and Roe/Murphy were enjoying strong starts and looking to make inroads on the Class C lead, while the Hills Motorsport brother pairing of Stott/Stott had got the leap on Wells in Class D. Despite the challenging conditions, drivers were adapting well and there was plenty of overtaking on display to entertain those watching along. STAL Powered for Racing’s Steven Orant was one of those hitting the ground running, making his way through the Class D field.

Once each car had made it’s required two-minute pitstop, Palk was still in front. Rawlings was pushing hard to keep the leader honest, while Cockerill’s impressive race continued – not just leading Class C but maintaining his position third overall. Just as impressive was Wright in the Class D Saxo, who was continuously battling the higher-classed cars around him.

With just over fifteen minutes left of the race, Rawlings managed to get past Palk for the race lead. Palk was clearly keen to make amends and was immediately on the back of Rawlings. An entertaining battle ensued, before Palk managed to make a decisive move on Rawlings.

Elsewhere, a number of cars were enjoying storming drives through the second half of the race. Both Burton Power Racing cars, Tommy Valentine and Andy Burton, had maneuvered themselves into the battles for their respective class podiums, while: the Wolf Motorsport Reade/Reade brothers, Cameron Mclean (CM Racing) and Wright/Allatt were all climbing quickly through the order.

Out front, Charlie Palk wouldn’t relinquish his lead again, taking the checkered flag first to make it two wins from two races in the Unique Racing VW Scirrocco. Rawlings battled hard and was rewarded with the second step on the Class B podium, while a resurgence through the field saw Wright/Allatt earn the final class trophy. David Zakrzewski and Aaron Mullarkey rounded out the top five B finishers.

Wayne Cockerill didn’t put a foot wrong all race and took a deserving victory in Class C, finishing third overall. Mclean’s sterling drive to the finish was rewarded with the second step of the class podium, with Valentine completing the class top three ahead of David Griffiths and Michael McKeegan.

George Wright’s exceptional drive resulted in the Class D winners trophy and the #58 driver will have greatly enjoyed his ongoing battles with the higher-classed cars. Orant had put in a really solid display to continuously gain on his class rivals through the race, eventually finishing less than 4.797s behind Wright. Kalsi/Hills missed out on second by just 0.951s, but should still take great satisfaction from a solid drive to the podium. Burton and Wells finished fourth and fifth in Class D respectively.

Congratulations to all!

Trackday Trophy will return on Saturday 9 August on the Oulton Park International circuit, for Round 5 of the 2025 season.

Photo: Gary Hawkins Photography