The British Automobile Racing Club racing season fires into life this weekend at Donington Park, with a packed two-day programme set to launch the 2026 season in style.

After a long off-season, anticipation is high across the paddock-and the opening meeting delivers a hugely varied line-up that blends modern endurance machinery with some of the UK’s most promising upcoming drivers, close clubman racing and historic tin-top racing.

At the top of the bill on Saturday is the Britcar Endurance Championship, kicking off its campaign with a 90-minute contest featuring an eclectic mix of GT and endurance machinery. Expect everything from brands such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche as well as more production-based entries, all sharing the track in an exciting classic multi-class format.

Joining the Britcar action is a mix of tin-top, hatchback and coupe racing. The Classic Touring Car Racing Club (CTCRC) provides a plethora of classes to the weekend race programme.

With grids split across multiple eras – Pre-66, Pre-83, Pre-93, Pre-03, BOSS and Classic and Historic Thunder – fans can expect packed fields, close racing, and a nostalgic journey through touring car history.

Also in action on the Saturday is the Junior Saloon Car Championship – one to always watch at a season opener, with a grid full of teenage racers taking their first steps into circuit racing. Donington Park’s demanding layout provides a stern early test, and with many drivers arriving from karting, the racing is typically close, energetic, and occasionally unpredictable as they adapt to racing in the Citroen Saxo hot hatches.

Joining the BARC season opener on the Sunday is the MG Owners Club Championship. Offering up a mix of historic MGs from the fifties and sixties through to the new millennium – the tightly matched machinery ensures slipstream battles and photo-finish results are never far away.

These races often hinge on consistency and momentum, particularly around a flowing circuit like Donington, where maintaining speed through the Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin can make all the difference. It’s a category known for producing some of the closest racing of the weekend.

Variety continues with the Track Action Racing Club, which brings a real mixed flavour to the meeting on both days. Featuring a wide mix of cars and driver experience levels, it embodies club racing at its purest – competitive, accessible, and unpredictable. Speaking of accessible, another series growing in popularity is the one-make Coupe Cup which has quickly built a reputation for close, hard-fought racing.

With evenly prepared cars and a growing grid, the focus is firmly on driver ability, and that tends to produce tight qualifying sessions and races where small mistakes can cost multiple positions. It’s a category that continues to grow in stature and should provide plenty of action on the Sunday of the meeting.

With a huge variety of machinery and race formats on offer, the opening weekend promises to set the racing tone for the months ahead. Get to the circuit or get the live stream on! We cannot wait!