At the first Donington Historic Festival, 30 April – 1 May 2011, Motor Racing Legends will be running no fewer than four races. The latest of these to be announced is the ‘Mad Jack’ for pre-War sportscars. The race is named in honour of Richard ‘Mad Jack’ Shuttleworth, famous for his daring exploits in both aeroplanes and cars, and the winner of the first ever Donington Grand Prix, in 1935.
The ‘Mad Jack’ will be a truly spectacular 45-minute, 2-driver race, for the most dramatic and entertaining sports cars from the pre-War era. To help things go with even more of a swing, our good friends at eCar Insurance have agreed to sponsor this, the first ever running of the Mad Jack race. The support from eCar will be sure to guarantee a great weekend for every Mad Jack competitor.
We will be inviting 8-litre Bentleys, Type 35 Bugattis and Alfa 8C Monzas, the sort of cars which are raced flat-out, in hairy, four-wheel slides, along with a full array of pre-War models from such marques as Aston Martin and BMW, through to Talbot and Frazer Nash.
While sports cars from the 1930s might not have the straight-line speed of more recent machinery, the wheel-to-wheel action can provide some of the most dazzling and memorable spectacles of an entire race weekend, with the extravagant, eccentric, ‘elbows-everywhere’ drivers clearly visible as they fight with the huge steering wheels – and the cars’ narrow tyres scrabbling for grip in the corners.
The Mad Jack will take place at 3pm on the Saturday afternoon of the Donington Historic Festival, 30 April 2011. Motor Racing Legends will also be holding rounds of the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy, the Stirling Moss Trophy, and the new JD Classics Challenge for 1972-85 Groups 1, 2 and A Touring Cars. See www.doningtonhistoric.com for more details about the Festival.
