Mad Jack Race Coming to Donington Historic Festival

With this year’s racing installment just around the corner, Donington Historic Festival has announced that the latest highlight of the event will be the ‘Mad Jack’ – a race named in honor of Richard ‘Mad Jack’ Shuttleworth, the pre-War racing driver famous for his daring exploits in both aeroplanes and cars. He was also the winner of the first ever Donington Grand Prix, in 1935.

The race, scheduled for the weekend of April 30th to May 1st, promises to be an action-packed 45-minute, 2-driver extravaganza that fields the most dramatic and entertaining sports cars from the pre-War era.

Among the vehicles invited to take part are some huge 8-liter Bentleys, Type 35 Bugattis and Alfa 8C Monzas, 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,” says organizer Duncan Wiltshire.

Among the 300 other vehicles that are taking part in the action-packed Donington Historic Festival are Group C sportscars, pre-72 sports-racing cars, 1972-85 Touring Cars and much more. There will also be Group B rally cars and historic karts, along with a trade village featuring art, photos, books, clothing, and a classic car mart.