Save Donington!
 

Thought some of you might want to show your support.

http://www.savedonington.co.uk/ :smt009

Think I shall be going since it's only ten miles away.

Re: Save Donington!
 

It'd be a good idea if someone else bought the circuit off the Wheatcroft family and actually put some money into upgrading the spectator facilities and access for vehicles on race days. It's a great circuit to ride, but I detest going there to watch racing, despite being one of my favourite circuits to actualy watch racing at.

Re: Save Donington!
 

Is there still gonna be WSBK there this year?

Re: Save Donington!
 

apparently not .. the british leg is at silverstone end July. there is a bsb round at donnington mid september

Re: Save Donington!
 

I was brought up in Castle Donington, and my family still live there ...

I've done a fair few laps of the circuit over the years, and learnt to drive my mothers Escort in the service roads around the outside ....I've seen everything race there from bikes to touring cars to super-trucks ......

Needless to say they'll be getting my support ... I don't think the access is too bad at all ....

Re: Save Donington!
 

7 hours to get out of the circuit on a GP day, 5 hours just to get a car out of the campsite at WSB, 4 hours just to get into the circuit on a sunday WSB day. Being denied access to a road I could see the entrance from on the Friday of a WSB weekend when the road was completely clear and there was nothing in sight and making me do a 15 mile detour to end up 100 metres away from where I started - You call that good access?.

I stopped going to Donington to watch racing years ago, and my friends tell me the situation hasn't changed. Last time I was there to spectate we drove down a field and ripped a gate off its hinges to get out onto the road because the security at he main gate were stopping everything from moving for 30 minutes at a time for no good reason. The security guys looking after the gate we ripped down were useless and just walked away as soon as my huge mate got out of my van with a length of rope in his hands. We'd been stuck inside the circuit trying to get out for 4 hours with my then 6 year old son being very patient in his seat in the back.

I won't go back to watch there until Donington's management and Derbysire Police sort the situation out properly. Holding the Sunday Market on the same day as a race weekend is a stupid stupid idea as the market people block all the roads in and out.

Re: Save Donington!
 

I think that you and I were in the same carpark that year. I clearly remember a chap getting out of a van and pulling the gate down. Good on him we were going nowhere.

The access is utter cr*p. The small roads around the circuit just cant cope with the volume of traffic on GP day.

Its a shame I love going there the atmosphere and noise of the bikes is fantastic, its just I always dread getting out on race day. It needs some serious money spending on it.

I am sure I read somewhere that it will take £1 million to put the track back as it was...

Re: Save Donington!
 

The last few years they been closing all the roads, and making it one way in, then reversing it all, and making it one way out .... I've never found it that bad .....

I'm not saying you are wrong ... just that I've never experienced it that bad for a long time now .....

Why don't you come up and check it out !! :-)

Re: Save Donington!
 

I'll be doing my best to make it. Can we organise a small representation from the Org?

Re: Save Donington!
 

They've been doing that since I started going in 2002, trouble is

1. the carparks all get blocked up due to cr*ppy marshalling, having 1000's of cars all trying to exit a field through one gate, created a bottle neck and it gets gridlocked

2. Once you get on the road access out to the M1 also creates a bottleneck and then everything backs up.

Sitting in a field in a car after you've got p*ss wet through for 4 hrs and only moving a 100 metres or so is very very frustrating.

They need to sort the carpark marshalling out and then have a better way of getting everybody out onto the M1