Watch our live coverage of Donington Historic Festival:

Pre-War Sports Cars

Entry list
Race 1 Classification
Race 2 Classification
Full Results Booklet

Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy

Entry list
Race Classification
Full Results Booklet

HMRN Pre ’63 GT

Entry list
Race 1 Classification
Race 2 Classification
Full Results Booklet

Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup

Entry list
Race Classification
Full Results Booklet

Generations Trophy

Entry list
Race Classification
Full Results Booklet

HRDC ‘Top Hat’ Pre-’66 Touring Cars

Entry list
Race Classification
Full Results Booklet

Historic Touring Car Challenge

Entry list
Race 1 Classification
Race 2 Classification
Full Results Booklet

GT3 Legends

Entry list
Full Results Booklet

Three days. 18 races. Ten decades of motorsport. Almost 400 racing cars on track. Live coverage. That was the Donington Historic Festival 2026.

Donington Historic Festival is the prestige historic event at Donington Park, a centrepiece to the circuit’s calendar and the curtain-raiser for the 2026 Motor Racing Legends racing season.

With packed grids, legendary machinery and one‑off motorsport icons taking to the circuit, the 2026 Donington Historic Festival promises to be a weekend that lives up to the hype, and then some. The event is already at full capacity for the Royal Automobile Pall Mall Cup, GT3 Legends, Generations Trophy and Top Hat Pre‑’66 Touring Cars, as well as for both the Historic Grand Prix Car Association and Formula Junior Historic Racing Association grids.

In addition to the competition, spectators will enjoy Formula 1 demonstration runs and more than 50 stunning machines from the Supercar Driver community, creating a standout showcase of modern performance cars, alongside all the club vehicles exhibited in the infield.

Donington Historic Festival will be livestreamed on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May, with full coverage of both days free on the Motor Racing Legends YouTube channel.

Nestled in the peaceful countryside of Leicestershire, Donington Park is the oldest circuit still in operation in the United Kingdom. The first races took place there in the 1930s, notably Grand Prix races between the Mercedes cars of Bernd Rosemeyer and the Auto Union cars of Tazio Nuvolari. In 1993, the circuit hosted the Formula 1 European Grand Prix. The race remains legendary for Ayrton Senna’s masterful performance in the rain.

Donington Park is a challenging but rewarding track with a mix of fast, flowing corners and technical sections. The magnificent Craner Curves sweep down into the Old Hairpin, a feisty turn that rewards bravery and commitment but can bite the unwary. Maclean’s and Coppice are vital to a good laptime, with the latter a long, fast turn leading directly onto the back straight.

For 2026, DHF returns to its roots on the National Circuit, a shorter lap that leads to more intense racing whilst still providing a strong overtaking opportunity with great spectator viewing at its flick-flack final chicane.

The chicane is not the only great place to watch at Donington Park. The outside of Redgate offers great views of race starts, whilst crossing through the infield tunnel and heading to the inside of that first turn is perfect for watching drivers fighting to control machinery, particularly in Pre-War Sports Cars.

Try, too, the hard standing directly in the centre of the circuit. There’s a variety of food on offer here, and a chance to see cars all the way from the Craner Curves to the Maclean’s; almost half the lap. Few circuits in the world boast a better view.

Donington Park’s long history is covered in almost its entirety at DHF26. Some grids highlight classic periods in the circuit’s past, whilst others fill gaps sadly left by the venue’s dormant period. 

The ‘Mad Jack’ for Pre-War Sports Cars celebrates Richard ‘Mad Jack’ Shuttleworth, who won the first British Grand Prix here in 1935. Split over two 40-minute races in 2026, the grid is open to sports cars from 1920-1941. These cars are each pretty much unique, and well worth seeking out in the open paddock (above). Their details and craftwork are entirely different from today’s machines.

Donington has a very strong relationship with GT3 racers. Connected especially with British GT Championship, where it has hosted many incredible ‘Donington Decider’ races over the years, it also hosted the FIA GT1 World Championship when, confusingly, the field was made up of GT3-spec machinery. GT3 Legends celebrates this magnificent category as it turns 20 this year, with two 50-minute races.

So many great touring car battles have been fought at Donington Park, including last year’s Historic Touring Car Challenge race, that it’s always a treat to see tin tops here. With both the mighty BMW E30 M3 (above) and Ford Sierra RS Cosworth turning 40 this year, both 40-minute races will be an evocative spectacle.

After the circuit’s revival in the late 1970s, the British Saloon Car Championship was a regular visitor. HRDC’s Gerry Marshall Trophy celebrates this period of mighty tourers, with Group 1 and 1½ cars the stars. Look out for the Rover SD1, which turns 50 this year, facing the likes of the Ford Capri and Chevrolet Camaro.

During the 1950s and ‘60s, the circuit was dormant and awaiting its revival. We can imagine what racing in this period would have been like, though, with a circuit that perfectly suits mid-century racing cars. 

The Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy celebrates 1950s sports racers. The Jaguar C-Type, and Jaguar itself, won Le Mans for the first time 75 years ago this year, and Rudi Friedrichs’ example (above) will compete for Woodcote Trophy honours.

1960s GT cars are a wonderful spectacle here. In the Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup, pre-’66 GT and touring cars compete for honours in a two-hour endurance race. The event runs into the evening on Saturday, and the podium cars have the honour of driving straight to hospitality to celebrate.

Earlier cars make up the HMRN Pre ’63 GT field, which features two races for these wonderful and glamorous machines. 2026 sees an innovation as car owners race the first of two races solo. This 25-minute race is followed on Saturday by a 40-minute, two-driver affair.

Single-seater flavour of the period is provided by the pre-’66 Grand Prix machines of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA), and Formula Junior machinery in the FJHRA ‘Silverline’ Championship. The HGPCA has two races and is home to some of the finest racing cars of the period, from exotica like the Maserati 250F and Ferrari 246 Dino to cars from the so-called ‘Garagistes’, upstart British marques Lotus and Cooper with their mid-engined revolution. The FJHRA, meanwhile, has two 20-minute races, one for front- and one for mid-engined cars. These little cars launched hundreds of racing careers and still provide outstanding action today.

Demonstrations will be a highlight too. 1990s Formula 1 machinery (above) will leave an impression, without doubt, whilst Supercar Driver’s two parades – hypercars on Friday and Porsches on Saturday – will surely provide memorable spectacle.

Selected car clubs will be invited to parade at each lunchtime, with all clubs invited to parade at the end of each day, subject to conditions.