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7-617: The Donington Grand Prix was held just four times, but quickly rose to prominence as one of the most important races in Europe. A fifth race was planned for 1939 but was cancelled due to the start of World War II . The first edition of the Donington Grand Prix took place on 5 October 1935. Circuit renovations were undertaken in preparation for the event, these included improving the spectator lot, installing loud speakers, and erecting new bridges at Coppice-lane, Redgate Corner and

14-553: The Starkey Hairpin. The 1939 edition of the race was originally scheduled for 30 September, with Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union cars scheduled to enter, but was cancelled on 8 September due to World War II . The circuit was closed in 1939 due to the war, when it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot. The circuit reopened in 1977. The Donington Grand Prix Collection

21-480: The international press. In the first two of the four championship events, both Lang and Müller won once while the other failed to complete 75% of the distance. The German round saw Lang retiring early, and Müller finishing 2nd behind Caracciola. This left Müller in the lead in both scoring systems, as published in magazines, with the Swiss round deciding the outcome. Müller finished 4th behind three Mercedes, which gave him

28-468: The old minimum points system that basically counted positions, or the French maximum points system similar to the modern one. Although Hermann Paul Müller would have won the championship on points according to the old system, the president of Nazi Germany 's highest motorsports organisation declared Hermann Lang the champion. Lang was clearly the dominating driver in that season, which was acknowledged by

35-598: The one-off 1993 European Grand Prix . Although not considered an official British Grand Prix , the Donington Grand Prix is widely regarded as being on a similar level of importance. It was the only major international Grand Prix held in the United Kingdom during the 1930s, and paved the way for the United Kingdom's rise to international prominence in Grand Prix Racing after the second World War. 1939 Grand Prix season The 1939 Grand Prix season

42-497: Was created at the circuit which included cars from the Pre-war races, including a 1939 Auto Union car , which did not compete at the circuit, but did mark the first time that an Auto Union car had returned to the circuit following the 1938 Grand Prix. Historic races were organised for 1979 and 1980, these included Pre-war events to commemorate the early Donington Grand Prix races. The circuit returned to hosting Grand Prix racing with

49-545: Was the seventh AIACR European Championship season. The championship winner was never officially announced by the AIACR due to the outbreak of World War II less than two weeks after the final event in Switzerland. The Italian GP initially had been a fifth event, but it became clear well before the war that it would be cancelled due to construction work. At that time, it was also undecided which scoring system would be used,

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