A parkland road circuit in the grounds of the Donington Hall estate, opened in 1931; it hosted the pre-war Donington Grands Prix, won by the German Auto Union team in 1937 and 1938, was used as a military vehicle depot in the Second World War, and was revived by Tom Wheatcroft, reopening in 1977. The Melbourne Loop, added in the mid-1980s to attract international racing, lengthened the lap from 3.149 km to about 4.02 km and created the Grand Prix circuit used by Formula 1. Its only World Championship race was the 1993 European Grand Prix, added to the calendar after the planned race at Autopolis fell through; in the rain Ayrton Senna went from fifth to first on the opening lap and won by more than a minute. Without a major rebuild of the pits and paddock the race stayed a one-off; a deal to host the British Grand Prix from 2010 collapsed in 2009 when the leaseholder could not raise the money, and the circuit has been run by MotorSport Vision since 2017, hosting the BTCC, British Superbikes and World Superbikes.
Lap length
4.023 km
Direction
clockwise
Layout described
Grand Prix Circuit with the Melbourne Loop (the layout racingcircuits.info lists for 1986-2009), used for the 1993 European Grand Prix, the only Formula 1 World Championship race there
Gridpedia