4-HOUR ENDURANCE
The latest on this must-see event.
The Cmm-backed Endurance Legends event will play host to the first round of the European Classic Series. Classic Bike Trackdays will put on the Endurance Legends event at Donington Park over the weekend of May 6-7 and it promises to be an unmissable weekend of classic race action. CBT’S Darin Frow said: “We're very pleased to confirm that Endurance Legends will also host the first round of the 2017 European Classic Series. As the debut ECS event in the UK, this means that visitors to the Endurance Legends event will see the best European endurance teams compete on British Tarmac for the very first time. It also means the 4-Hour endurance grid is already provisionally full, subject to any cancellations of course! “We are confident that International Classic Grand Prix race and Lansdowne classes will also have full grids, and each of the track sessions are over half full already as well. It’s all amazing news and to say that we are over the moon about it would be an understatement.”
The event promises to be a corker, a real smorgasbord of classic motorcycle and classic racing entertainment. The undoubted highlight will be the 4-Hour Classic Endurance race on Sunday, complete with practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday. Over the weekend fans can get a chance to see the machinery up close and personal during pit walks and a grid walk before the start of the race. The big 4-Hour race itself will be subject to a full-on ‘Le Mans’ start, which has to be seen to be believed. Remember there are still slots available for the track day action, which takes place between practice, qualifying and race. You’ll be enjoying the same track as the race stars: if your machine is from 1995 or older, of course. If you book on to the track sessions you immediately qualify for weekend entry tickets to the event – so why not make it a weekend away? With live bands playing on the Saturday night, you may as well make a weekend of it! Suzuki GP and the Vintage Parts Programme will be a big part of the weekend’s entertainment with Barry Sheene’s 1976 and 1977 500cc world championship winning Suzuki RG500S on display (see news for more on these amazing machines) as well as a TL1000 Anniversary parade, which will mark 20 years of the raucous V-twin: more than 150 of these machines are already coming. Donington Park circuit, near Castle Donington, Leicestershire is the heart of two-wheeled motorsport and has been for decades. Current plans for the weekend include the use of the pre-1985 National circuit, of 1.957 miles, allowing the use of the Melbourne Loop for special events over the course of the Endurance Legends weekend – although sadly the Loop will not now be used for drag/sprint demos, which is a shame, but there will be plenty of sideshows, trade stands and live entertainment to take its place. Darin explains: “We are putting so much into this event – not just money – but time and effort to get it spot-on for the classic motorcycle enthusiast. What we want this event to be is like the Phillip Island Classic, where teams from all over the globe come together to battle it out on one of the finest circuits of the world – Donington Park.”