The second day of this year's Donington Historic Festival provided some sensational action across seven races, as hundreds of cars spanning multiple decades returned to racing action.
The first race of the day came from the 'Mad Jack' for Pre-War Sports Cars, as over 20 cars showcasing a century of motorsport nostalgia engaged in battle. Rudi Friedrichs went from third on the grid to victory in his 1932 Alvis Firefly Special, demoting the pole-sitting Frazer Nash TT of Rob and Josh Beebee in the process. Louis Fox moved up three places to secure third place in his Bentley 3/4 1/2 Litre.
From the oldest cars at the event to the newest - the first GT3 Legends contest of the weekend for GT3 machines from 2006 to 2012 featured 25 cars with a mix of V8, V10 and V12 engines. The Aston Martin V12 Vantage of Jonathan Mitchell claimed victory ahead of the similar car of Graham Davidson, with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Richard Neary completing the podium, but only just! The Nissan R35 of Charlie Kennedy was just three tenths of a second behind at the chequered flag.
A packed grid of 34 MGBs contested the Generations Trophy race, with father/son pairing Nick and Harry Whale claiming victory from Rod and Toby Adlington, while pole-sitting father/daughter duo Patrick and Aimee Watts were just 1.678s behind at the end of the hour-long event.
The weekend's Historic Motor Racing News Pre-'63 GT action came to a conclusion with a second race, won by the Jaguar E-Type of BTCC legend Steve Soper and his driving partner Toby Partridge. David Alexander and Rich Fores were second in a Lotus Elite, with the Dyson/Dorlin duo third in another E-Type.
Following a lively demonstration session from F1 cars spanning the 1970s, 80s and 90s, Grand Prix machinery of an even greater vintage put on a show in the first Historic Grand Prix Cars Association race of the event. Tom Waterfield emerged victorious in a Cooper T53, just three quarters of a second clear of the Brabham BT3/4 of Tim Child. Will Nuthall claimed third in another Cooper T53, a similar distance behind and only 0.181s ahead of yet another Cooper, this time steered by Friedrichs, with the top-four covered by less than two seconds at the flag.
The opening retro saloon car race was the penultimate event of the day - the first of this weekend's two Historic Touring Car Challenge contests. It went the way of Ashley Muldoon and James Kellett's BMW E30 M3, ahead of Darren Fielding's near identical car, with the sole Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 of Julian Thomas completing the podium.
A two hour epic for the Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup brought the day's competition to a close, with the E-Type of Lukas Halusa and Alex Ames taking the flag ahead of Connor Kay and Dominic Mooney's Lotus Elan.
The Donington Historic Festival comes to a conclusion tomorrow, with eight further races to look forward to, plus the arrival of the Gerry Marshall Trophy, Allstars with Classic Alfa Challenge and Top Hat Pre-'66 Touring Cars, courtesy of the Historic Racing Drivers' Club.
The massive car club displays, F1 demos and off track entertainment package all return tomorrow (Sunday) for the final day.
Tickets for this weekend's event are available upon arrival, with reductions for 13-15 year olds and free entry for under-13s. For more information, click here.