The British Automobile Racing Club kicked off its 2024 season in action-packed style at Donington Park this past bank holiday weekend (March 29/30) with no less than 12 different championships taking centre stage on the world-famous Grand Prix circuit.

Following months of excitement, anticipation and preparation, a bumper crowd flocked to the Leicestershire venue to witness an Easter extravaganza of wheel-to-wheel entertainment and high drama. 

Headlining the two-day meeting was the coveted British Endurance Championship in association with Motorsport UK, which lifted the curtain on its brand-new campaign with a spectacular two-hour contest. 

Boasting a monstrous grid of GT3 and GT4 machines, battles took place up and down the field however there was no denying PB Racing with JMH at the front of it – as Peter Erceg and Hugo Cook teamed up to claim a commanding victory in their Audi R8 GT3.

After coming close to the coveted crown last year, Erceg entered the campaign as one of the title favourites and he duly lived up to the hype as he punched in a superlative lap in qualifying to net pole position. He did so on his own too due to Cook travelling down from Oulton Park at the time of the session. 

Sharing the front row of the grid with the Lamborghini GT3 of John Seale and Jamie Stanley, Erceg wasted no time in making his escape from the chasing pack as the lights went out, carving out a substantial advantage during his stint before handing the reigns over to Cook.

When Cook took over at the wheel, the Audi outfit were relatively untroubled for the remainder of the contest with Seale and Stanley trailing by a lap at the finish. Completing the overall podium was the impressive Xentek Motorsport entry of Josh Steed and Ban Sidhu in their Porsche GT4. 

Further endurance thrills and spills were also provided over the course of the weekend by the Britcar Trophy Championship, which staged two frenetic 50-minute races under the flightpath of East Midlands airport. 

Race one proved to be an all Ginetta affair at the front as Seb Dubois survived a chaotic opening few laps to eventually take a comfortable victory over Datum Motorsport. Avoiding a number of clashing cars on the opening tour, Dubois showcased his talents as he carved his way to the front and ultimately triumph by more than 11 seconds in his G56 GTA. 

Behind, Maurizio Sciglio and Marco Anstasi – two of last year’s benchmark drivers in the series – enjoyed a superlative scrap to round out the remaining positions on the podium.

Britcar Trophy’s second bout proved to be just action-packed as the Sim Dynamics with Jabbasport SEAT Cupra Gen 1 of Chris Bialan and Simon Mason edged out Axel van Nederveen to claim a famous victory. 

Bialan and Mason battled their way to the front of the field from the second row of the grid and looked an irresistible force however all eyes would be focused on van Nederveen as he carved his way from dead-last to finish a couple of seconds away from the top step of the rostrum. 

Action aplenty best characterised the Classic Touring Car Racing Club – which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in association with the BARC this year – across the weekend.

Joe Ferguson made a wheel-perfect start to the new season in the Everard Garage Equipment Pre-66 Touring Cars as he claimed victory by more than eight seconds in race one. Things were a lot closer in race two however as Peter Mutlow Smith triumphed following a time-penalty for Tom Bell. 

Stuart Waite was perfection personified as he claimed overall honours in both amalgamated Pre-83, Pre-93 and Super Tourer races. Back behind the wheel of his BMW M3, last year’s Pre-93 champion reigned supreme in style whilst the Super Tourers in particular faced mechanical heartache.

The Edmundson Electrical Classic Thunder showcased another flame-spitting grid once again and two familiar names, Bryan Bransom and Kevin Clarke – tallied a win apiece. Capping off the CTCRC action were a pair of races from the Pre-03 Touring Cars and Blue Oval Saloon Series, both of which were won by Piers Grange.

Concluding the weekend’s action at Donington Park were also races from the Mini 7 Racing Club and British Superkart Racing Championship. 

Former British Touring Car Championship title winner Andrew Jordan was unstoppable in the Dunlop Mini Se7en Championship race to take two wins whilst Jeff Smith and Endaf Owens shared the spoils in the Dunlop Mini Miglia Championship.

In the Super Series by the British Superkart Racing Club, Liam Morley visited the top step of the rostrum twice whilst Tom Rushforth claimed the remaining victory that was up for grabs.

To view the full classification of sessions results from Donington Park, click here.