TOM WHEATCROFT

Tom Wheatcroft has died at the age of 87 after a long illness.  Perhaps not as well known on the international stage as other characters engaged in motor sport, and in particular the world of Formula One, the genial East Midlander will always be associated with Donington Park and his GP collection.  A local man, successful in business as a builder, and a keen motor racing enthusiast, he purchased Donnington Park and its motor racing track in 1970.  Using his own funds he developed it over the years with the European Grand Prix of 1993, won by Ayrton Senna, perhaps the pinnacle of its fame.  The outstanding car in the collection is the blue Rob Walker Lotus 18 in which Stirling Moss won the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.  Also on display is Jim Clark’s championship winning Lotus 25, although there was a dispute with Colin Chapman over this car, said only to be a loan.  In more recent times Wheatcroft leased out the circuit to an independent company called Donington Ventures Ltd, whose failure to raise the funds for the 2010 British Grand Prix raises questions over the circuit’s future.

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