Donington Results
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
Well, that's the first meeting in the bag, but it wasn't easy.
Firstly, a huge thank you and respect to all of the hardworking, resilient Marshals, Officials, ES Team, Recovery, Rescue, Medics, circuit team and all others involved in the running of our weekend. There was a collective effort and will shown to keep the timetable moving and give every category the maximum track time they could, finding solutions to whatever was thrown their way. The club and its members are particularly grateful to you all for staying on late yesterday, to ensure our Verum Builders New Millennium series got a meaningful race.
Cold weather, cold tyres, changeable conditions, early pit wall damage, oil spills, cars in gravel and even the odd injury, all conspired to make the running to timetable a real challenge.
It was heartening to hear thanks from the many drivers who did enjoy the event. Motor racing with the CSCC is still a sanctuary of excitement and escapism from the stressful world we live in.
At Marshal check-in, we asked for your round trip mileage, when handing across the £10 cash gesture from our drivers and the club. It was eye-opening just how far many of you travel to support us. As a number of you said, you don't do it for the money, but to be out of pocket, having in some cases driven hundreds of miles and paying for a hotel, is just superb. Despite the long days and cold weather, we hope the up-close action and big grids made it worth it.
In amongst the drama there was some truly excellent racing. Given that it was the first meeting of the year and there were almost 400 entries, there were very few cases of car-to-car contact. Please keep this up, well done. Marcus Pye is carefully crafting his race reports, we will bring this to you in the coming weeks, along with video highlights from the barely-thawed Marc Peters.
TSL Timing Results are here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/261364
Click 'view pdf book' to see the full breakdown of lap charts and pit stops.
Every race was live-streamed, you can look back at them now by clicking the links below (Saturday's stream is going to be updated shortly). Thank you to Digitex for coming in early on Sunday morning, to cover the Jaguar race that had been moved, it is appreciated.
CSCC Lead Commentator, Mark Werrell did his usual, professional job on Saturday, but had to head to the medics and hospital on Sunday morning for some checks. We're pleased to report that he did make it back to the circuit on Sunday afternoon. A further thank you to Marcus Pye, who stepped in without hesitation to cover comms yesterday, alongside Chris Dawes.
Official CSCC Photographer David Stallard has already processed and uploaded literally thousands of photos, from every session. David has kept his prices the same as last season, please contact him for a CSCC driver package offer. The photos used in this article are all his.
We wish Andrew Windmill a speedy recovery from what was a big accident into the pit wall on Sunday. It was a relief to hear that Marshal, Ben Senior, was shaken but uninjured by debris, after Oliver Faller found the pit-wall in the cold, damp conditions during Saturday qualifying.
A final word about race control decisions made in the heat of the moment, following a few comments of concern from drivers. When you are on the pit wall, in a race car or perhaps watching the live stream, it can be easy to wonder why nothing appears to be happening in the moments after an incident occurs. Or, perhaps you might question why was a particular decision made at all.
As a club, we should say that we're not the decision makers over what happens on track, but we are kept informed and often consulted with (which is refreshing and welcomed). The Motorsport UK Clerks who volunteer for CSCC events have been carefully selected over many years, forming a trained, licenced team who care about your welfare AND try to make the best decisions for your racing. You may not be able to see things happen from your vantage point, but rest-assured, when an incident happens, the race control room is immediately alive with information, instructions and action. If a driver is likely to have sustained an injury, you want medically trained doctors and rescue crew to be the first ones to attend, depending on where they are located this may take some minutes. There is no point being frustrated at the nearest Marshal, who may be new, have no medical training and has other responsibilities; medical situations should be left to specific, trained team members.
Are the decisions made by race control always correct? No, of course not, but, we have trust they are made with the very best of intentions and experience in that moment.
If any member has a specific concern or question about any incident at any circuit, please contact David or Hannah in the office and they will do their best to share what they know, so you get a balanced view.
The Motorsport UK Clerks welcomes interested drivers to attend race control when they are not racing, to get a taste of what goes on; it can be eye-opening and valuable for a driver. A well-run race control might appear something like air traffic control during a public holiday, but with 'pilots' seemingly intent on finding new and creative ways to throw them challenges!
