The 1936 Donington Grand Prix was a non-championship Grand Prix that was held on 3 October 1936 at Donington Park in North West Leicestershire, England. It was the 39th race of the 1935 Grand Prix season. The race, which was 120 laps, was won by Hans Ruesch and Richard Seaman, who both drove 60 laps each.

The race was also the final event for the 1936 British Racing Drivers Club Gold Star championship; going into the race, B. Bira led the table, and only Richard Seaman could catch him. Seaman however had to win and to hope that Bira did not score a point, with fifth place being worth one point.

Entries No.DriverEntrantCar1 Cyril Mervyn WhiteC. Mervyn WhiteBugatti Type 512 Thomas Cholmondeley-TapperT. Cholmondeley-TapperMaserati 8CM3 Antony Powys-LybbeA. Powys-LybbeAlfa Romeo 8C 23004 Philip JuckerP. JuckerAlta IFS5 Percy MaclureP. MaclureRiley 2000/66 Reg ParnellR. ParnellMG Magnette7 Hector DobbsDenis ScribbansE.R.A. R9B8 Peter WhiteheadP. WhiteheadE.R.A. R10B9 Darcy TaylorD. TaylorBugatti Type 5110 Charlie MartinC. MartinAlfa Romeo Tipo B11 Thomas ClarkeT. ClarkeDelahaye 135S12 Hans RüeschH. RüeschAlfa Romeo 8C3514 Douglas BriaultD. BriaultERA R6B15 Reggie TongueR. TongueERA R11B16 Arthur DobsonArthur DobsonERA R7B17 Ian ConnellI. ConnellAlfa Romeo 8C 230018 B. BiraPrince ChulaMaserati 8CM19 Austin DobsonAustin DobsonAlfa Romeo 8C 230020 Pablo CurtisP. CurtisSalmson L421 Tommy WisdomAlan SelborneDelahaye 135S22 Laury SchellAlan SelborneDelahaye 135S23 René CarrièreAlan SelborneDelahaye 135S24 Christian KautzC. KautzMaserati 4CMSource:

Non-participants

A number of reserve drivers were nominated, but did not get to take a turn at the wheel. The most notable of these was Eileen Ellison, who was reserve to Cholmondeley-Tapper, and who took part in official practice.

Pablo Curtis

The only entry which did not turn up was that of Pablo Curtis, an obscure driver from Luxembourg who was claimed to be a national champion, but who had also withdrawn from the Albi Grand Prix and Shelsley Walsh hill climb events earlier in the season. His only actual appearances seem to have been a handful of 1936 events, including the 24 hour Bol d'Or (in which he finished 5th in the 1.1 litre racing category, in his blown Salmson, despite retiring in the 16th hour) and a class victory in a hillclimb at Ars-la Châtre, where a track was later built.

Qualifying

The grid was decided by ballot rather than practice times; Seaman had been fastest in practice, setting a time of 2m 02, four seconds faster than Rüesch, who was in turn just under a second faster than Bira. The cars lined up on the grid in rows of 4, albeit asymmetrically, alternating between two groups of two and a middle group of two with cars on left and right.

Race

The event proved to be more successful than the preceding year, with a much bigger entry, and more overseas interest. The race was also broadcast over radio from 4.15pm, commentary coming from F. J. Findon of the Light Car magazine and motorcycle racer Graham Walker, father of future commentator Murray. Up to 15,000 spectators attended in autumn sunshine and Cholmondeley-Tapper, taking advantage of the fortuitous grid draw, led the first lap as favourite Bira stalled. By the time Bira got going, he had lost nearly 2 laps, and Rüesch took the lead after 4 laps - which he would in fact never lose. By 20 laps his lead over Charlie Martin and Cholmondeley-Tapper was over a minute, and at half-distance - when he handed over to Seaman - the lead over Martin and Whitehead was nearly a lap. After Seaman brought the Alfa home, the competitors were allowed to continue for 10 minutes in order to complete the race distance, Arthur Dobson completing the 120 laps just within the time limit, and the other runners were flagged off; Bira's recovery drive to fifth meant that he pipped Seaman to the Gold Star title.

The main incident in the race was caused by Arthur Dobson's oil filler cap coming loose; this led to a spillage of oil around the circuit, a number of cars going off (including his brother Austin), and the damage from the off-course moment caused Tapper's steering to break. The last runner was shared by Kaye Don and Tommy Wisdom; it was Don's first appearance in a race in two years, and he took over from Wisdom at half-distance, but - with second gear missing - could not make the race pace, and the transmission trouble cost Delahaye the team prize to E.R.A.

Race results Pos. No.Driver(s)Car LapsTime/Retired1 12 Hans Rüesch Richard SeamanAlfa Romeo 8C35 1204:25:22 2 10 Charlie MartinAlfa Romeo Tipo B 1204:28:253 8 Peter Whitehead Peter WalkerERA R10B 1204:31:354 15 Reggie TongueERA R11B 1204:32:295 18 "B. Bira"Maserati 8CM 1204:33:196 16 Arthur DobsonERA R7B 1204:35:067 3 Antony Powys-LybbeAlfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza118 Flagged off823 René Carrière Alan SelborneDelahaye 135S 118 Flagged off917 Ian Connell Kenneth EvansAlfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza 115 Flagged off1019 Austin Dobson Andrew LeitchAlfa Romeo Tipo B 115 Flagged off11 11 Thomas ClarkeDelahaye 135S 114 Flagged off1222 Laury SchellDelahaye 135S 114 Flagged off13 14 Douglas BriaultERA R6B 113 Flagged off14 9 Darcy TaylorBugatti Type 51 112 Flagged off 15 21 Kaye Don Tommy WisdomDelahaye 135S 100 Flagged off ret 7 Hector Dobbs Denis ScribbansERA R9B 67 Engine ret 6 Reg ParnellMG K3 Magnette 58 Axle shaft ret 24 Christian KautzMaserati 4CM 55 Piston ret 2 Thomas Cholmondeley-TapperMaserati 8CM 42 Steering ret 1 Cyril Mervyn-WhiteBugatti Type 53 23 Propellor shaft ret 4 Philip JuckerAlta IFS 23 Oil pressure ret 5 Percy MaclureRiley 2000 1 Big endSource:

External links

Race footage

References