Donington Park GP – 26/27th September 2026 Race Report, Video, Images and Results

Posted on: October 8th 2026    •    Posted in: Race Results

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SRCC Championship Finals Donington GP Circuit 26-27 September 2026.

The sports 2000 Championship came to its conclusion on the Donington Grand Prix circuit. Michael Gibbins came to the event as championship leader with a 22 point advantage over his closest rival Richard Johnson, with Mackenzie Walker in 3rd place a further two points down. With a possible 48 points available across the three Championship races the race for the title was still open.
All of the top runners were entered, with Ben Cater returning for this final event. Last month’s driver of the day Matthew Harbot was looking to continue his good Donington form. Nick Bates continued to brush off the racing cobwebs. Peter Williams was having his second race of the season, with Andy Chittenden having his first run of the season.
Sadly the University of Wales team, were reduced to one car when Tim Tudors engine expired during testing. Without a spare engine Tim was forced to withdraw. On the plus side John Iley was feeling quite confident that his season long problems may finally have been resolved. The issue tracked down to a faulty sensor.
Adrian Ridge used the Friday to replace a broken throttle cable and reset his gear ratios.

Qualifying

After a wet and windy night on Friday, Saturday morning dawned bright and clear with a sunny day predicted for qualifying and racing. There was a certain amount of relief around the paddock after the heavy rain of their last visit to Donington in August.
In qualifying John Iley’s prediction of having found the problem with his car appeared to come true. John setting personal bests before a gear selection problem, led to a precautionary ending to his run. At the head of the times, Michael Gibbins continued to show he was on top form. Setting a lap time of 1m 32.074 that had many of his fellow competitors talking in admiration.
It would be James Barwell, who took the challenge to Michael, consistently being the second quickest car in qualifying along with Mackenzie Walker who has always featured in the battle at the front. Richard Johnson initially gave chase until his front brake calipers dropped out. Braking issues also plagued his brother Nick when he picked up a stray bolt from the track that scoured his brake disk.
Ben Cater would be an early pit caller, his drive shaft breaking after the Melbourne loop but he was able to coast the car into the pit lane. Adrian Ridge was also another early pit caller. Adrian having brake problems also. His were proving a little more difficult to trace than the Johnsons. Many possible faults could have caused the issue but with the car cooled and rested there appeared to be full braking again.
Tom Stoten was another who had problems in qualifying an issue with the steering rack curtailed his qualifying to 3 just 3 laps. Placing him at the back of the Duratec grid with 20 cars in front of him.
The grid order for the first of the three races would be Michael Gibbins and James Barwell sharing row 1, Mackenzie Walker and David Houghton on Row 2, Richard Johnson and Paul Trayhurn Gunn TS11 Class DB on Row 3, Nick Johnson Lola T88/90 Class B and Matthew Harbot Row 4 David Williams Van Diemen RF94 Class B and John Iley completing the top 10. The Historic grid comprised Paul Streat Lola T87/90 sharing row 1 with Mike Fry TIGA SC79 , Chris Snowdon Cabir and Patrick Clifton TIGA SC85 sharing the second row. Patrick driving his father’s, Chris, car.

Race 1

As all the cars made their way to the assembly area Patrick Clifton’s team were working frantically on an electrical issue that had drained his battery. After attempts to start the car on the button, it was a late push to join the grid leaving to go on track.
At lights out it was Michael Gibbins who led the field into Redgate on the first lap with James Barwell close in his wheel tracks, Richard Johnson had passed the two cars from Row 2 to take third from Mackenzie Walker and David Houghton. Paul Trayhurn and David Williams occupied the next two positions from John Iley who had gained two places on the first lap to be 8th, Nick Johnson was 9th and Nick Bates 10th. Steve Ough had a terrible first lap dropping down to 21st place and last in the Duratec placings.
Paul Streat headed the Historic pack from Chris Snowdon, Mike Fry and Patrick Clifton.
On lap 2 Andrew Noble had a frightening moment went his front upright broke going through the Craner Curves. Not the place for things to fail but Andrew was able to guide it to a safe position and racing could continue.
For the first 4 laps the head of both fields remained static. James Barwell with his mirrors filled by Richard Johnson and Mackenzie Walker gradually dropping back from Michael Gibbins who had his sights focused on the Championship and the race win.
Down the order places were changing. After a blighted qualifying session Ben Cater was moving up through the order from his 18th placed grid position, to be 11th by lap 4. Nik Johnson passed John Iley on lap 2 to chase after class rival David Williams.
On lap 5, Mackenzie Walker moved up to 3rd place from Richard Johnson looking to take 2nd place from James Barwell. Lap 6 saw the start of some definitive changes in the race order.
Richard Johnson moved back into third place Mackenzie close in his wheel tracks both increasing the pressure on James Barwell who could not explain the difference in the car’s performance between qualifying and the race. From being close to Michael’s pace he was now struggling to stay with the Championship leader. Ben Cater retired to the grass at the end of the Pit lane with his second broken drive shaft.
Matthew Harbot moved up to 9th place with John Iley filling the final top 10 spot. Nik Johnson had reduced the gap to class rival David Williams to a second with a lap time almost a second and a half faster than his rival. On the following lap Nik would take the class lead.
Lap 7 with James Barwell trying hard to maintain his speed had a spin at Goddards dropping him down to 6th place behind class DB leader Paul Trayhurn. The race order now mirrored the Championship order prior to the start of the race. Michael Gibbins leading Richard Johnson from Mackenzie Walker.
On the next lap, Matthew Harbot had his engine fail on the run up to Macleans. Trying to pull off the racing line with no power those following him had to make some quick decisions, which resulted with cars taking to the grass and in the case of Roger Donnan running into the back of the stricken car. John Iley, Nick Bates and Peter Williams all getting caught up in the melee.
John came into the pits after some quick work from the University of Wales students he was back on track. Matthew was able to pull safely onto the grass, Roger continued with his damaged car, as did Peter Williams who collected a lot of grass in his excursion. The beneficiary of the incident would be Tom Stoten who had been working his way through from the back of the grid. With the retirement of John moved up to 9th place.
Lap 10 would see further changes in the order. David Williams slowed with fuel pressure problems. He persevered to the finish to gain some valuable points in this triple header finale. Patrick Clifton retired to the pits with suspected clutch failure and Tom Stoten now moved up to 8th place from his back of the grid start. Peter Williams retired at the bottom of the Craner curves close to the recovery gate when his engine cut out. At first he believed the problem to be related to the grass perhaps causing overheating, but closer examination led to the culprit being a blown fuse.
Lap 11 created the most dramatic twist to the Championship story. Michael Gibbins pulled into the pit lane to retire with a blown engine. The Championship battle would go all the way to the Final race of the weekend. Three drivers would all be in contention for the Duratec Title
Richard Johnson took over the lead of the race harried all the way by Mackenzie Walker still looking for the first win of the season. David Houghton finishing third from James Barwell in 4th place. Paul Trayhurn finished 5th winning class DB, Nik Johnson was in 6th place taking class B honours in 7th place was Tom Stoten, Nick Bates 8th Roger Donnan 9th and Steve Ough 10th.
The Historic Race was won by Paul Streat, Chris Snowdon and Mike Fry. This race deciding the final Championship positions in the Historic Classes. Despite his retirement Patrick Clifton won Class B, and Mike Fry was the winner of Class C. The champion and Class A winner being Chris Snowdon. All the Duratec Classes were to be decided.

Race 2

Sunday morning arrived with some very tired people in the paddock. Following Michael Gibbins retirement on Saturday there were lots of generous offers of help from fellow competitors and his Championship rivals. Michael’s dad Alan made a six hour drive down to Kent to collect their spare engine. While Michael removed the blown engine again with assistance from within the paddock. The engine had been covered in fire extinguishant which made the exercise more labour intensive to ensure there was no corrosive material left in the rear of the car.
Roger Donnan’s car had suffered front end damage. That was assessed by the University of Wales students and they set to work on repairing that and finding some replacement bodywork. When Alan Gibbins returned the team was ready to help with the installation. Two cars were ready for racing. The car that did not make race 2 would be Patrick Clifton. They had replaced the clutch overnight but there was too much to do for the car to be ready. It was finally put back on the trailer prior to race 3. Not the best end to the year after a really strong race at the previous Donington Meeting.
The other retiree would be Matthew Harbot. His engine had blown too. They will regroup over the winter to return for 2027.
The grid for the second race was based on the second fastest lap from the Saturday qualifying. The major difference from the Race 1 grid would be in the absence of Matthew Harbot class rivals Nik Johnson and David Williams would be sharing row 4 on the grid with John Iley lining up alongside Nick Bates on Row 5. The added complication would be the weather. After a pleasant September Saturday, Sunday was cloudy, windy and showers predicted this being Race 13 on the timetable would it be an omen.
After a quick shakedown lap following the formation lap for the Clubmans Sports cars, the Gibbins team were happy to confirm there were no issues with the installed replacement engine and it would be safe for Michael to take up his pole position.
Under an overcast sky on a drying track following a shower in the preceding clubmans race. The second event in this triple header started. David Houghton made a good start bringing himself up to second place behind Michael Gibbins unfortunately a little too good as he was accorded with a penalty for a jumped start. In third place would be Paul Trayhurn with Mackenzie Walker 4th Richard Johnson 5th and James Barwell 6th giving chase. James not being able to get the car off the line with David Williams in 7th place leading class B. Followed by Nick Bates and Nik Johnson.
On lap 2 the rain returned and as the leaders entered Redgate for the start of their third lap, cars scattered. Michael along with Richard Johnson managed to skate through the gravel trap. However James Barwell and Paul Trayhurn tangled as they pirouetted leaving them stranded on track. The race went under the control of a safety car, but with a partially blocked track and the rain continuing the race was suspended under a Red flag enabling the cars to return to the paddock. To change tyres and set up.The following Allcomers race had already started to change to wet tyres, so they were put out next whilst the Sports 2000 drivers were able to decide what to do in the changing conditions. Unfortunately for Paul and James they had suffered too much damage to take part in the remainder of the race now shortened to 10 minutes. When the Marshals went to look at the track they found oil that had come from the pit exit which was a contributory factor to so many cars leaving the track.
The order for the restart would be, Richard Johnson, Michael Gibbins, David Houghton, David Williams, Nick Bates, Nik Johnson, Steve Ough, Tom Stoten, John Iley, Peter Williams. Mackenzie Walker all the way back in 11th place.
After 2 warming up laps, the cars came back to the grid. Track conditions were tricky around the circuit. Michael Gibbins took the lead again slicing through the gap between Richard Johsnon and David Houghton,but this time he had Richard Johnson sticking with him David Houghton was third with Nick Johnson up to 4th place from Tom Stoten in 5th, Steve Ough 6th Peter Williams 7th, Mackenzie Walker, Andrew Noble and John Owen. Tom Stoten appearing to relish the conditions. A spin at the Mebourne Hairpin dropped himself and John Iley down through the pack.
David Williams had a spin and at Goddards and Mike Turner retired to the pits with fuel pressure problems.
Mackenzie Walker and Ben Cater, were keen to recover positions they had lost previously. With Mackenzie and Ben being 7th and 9th respectively by lap 4. On lap 5 Tom Stoten had a quick spin at the old Hairpin which dropped him down to 9th place. John Iley came into the pits with a loose rear wheel and Andrew Noble suffering Fuel pressure problems both retired.
At the flag a lap later it would be Michael Gibbins who took the win, taking him closer to the Championship title but remaining in his wheel tracks would be Richard Johnson taking second place in the race and staying in the title hunt. 3rd in the race was David Houghton, 4th Nik Johnson winning class B. Mackenzie Walker finished 5th from Ben Cater in 6th place Steve Ough won the DB Class finishing 7th followed by Peter Williams second in Class DB 8th, Tom Stoten 9th and completing the top 10 John Owen. Chris Snowdon got the better of Paul Streat after a race long dice to take top spot in the Historic race with Mike Fry rounding out that podium.

Race 3

For the last race, the weather settled and all cars were back on their dry slicks. The entry was now down to 20 cars. James Barwell’s car had suffered too much damage to take part. Other non starters were Andy Chittenden and Andrew Noble. The grid being formed from the finishing order of Race 2. The two Championship rivals starting on the front row.
Richard Johnson was not going to make it easy for Michael leading at the end of lap 1. The two already having an advantage of over a second clear of the pack. In third place it was David Houghton followed by Mackenzie Walker, Ben Cater was 5th Nik Johnson 6th Steve Ough 7th Tom Stoten 8th Peter Williams 9th and Nick Bates completing the top 10. Chris Snowdon had beaten Paul Streat off the line to lead the Historic Race.
On lap 2 Michael Gibbins came through in the lead by over a second. On lap 3 Ben Cater dropped down the order, promoting Nik Johnson to 5th place. The driver on the move through the field was Paul Trayhurn. After spinning out of Race 2 Paul had a lot of positions to make up but by lap 4 he was up to 6th place. David Williams was making progress too, but he would be hampered by a penalty for a jump start. In the Historic Race it would be Chris Snowdon looking to repeat his race 2 win leading from Paul Streat.
On lap 3 John Owen became the only retirement of the race when his throttle cable broke. Roger Donnan and Andrew Ridge were repeating their dice they were joined by Mike Turner. Mike and Roger gradually easing away from Adrian as the race progressed.
At the front of the field Michael Gibbins kept a measured control gradually easing further away from Richard Johnson. On lap 6 Paul Streat, regained the lead of the Historic Race. As the laps ticked down Richard Johnson found himself defending as both David Houghton and Mackenzie Walker were following closely. Behind that trio the field had strung out. Nik Johnson in 5th place had a healthy lead over Paul Trayhurn in 6th place and the same advantage back to Tom Stoten in 7th place. The contest for 8th place and second in the DB Class was closely contested between Peter Williams and Nick Bates. Nick making a mistake at the Melbourne hairpin on the last lap dropping him down the order.
The Final result would be a Win for Michael Gibbins, which gave him the overall Championship along with Duratec Class A. Richard Johnson after a hard chase would be second in the race, third David Houghton, from Mackenzie Walker in fourth. Nik Johnson came home in 5th taking the class B race winner as well as the Duratec Class B win in the Championship. 6th Paul Trayhurn winner of class Derek Bell, 7th would be Tom Stoten, 8th Peter Williams who had been harried very closely by Nick Bates 9th Ben Cater 10th after a weekend of overall positive improvement in the car would be John Iley. 11th would be Derek Bell Championship winner Steve Ough.

At the end of the race meeting there were many thank yous to the Sponsors JSE and Ancaster Leisure for their support during the year. Especial thanks to the Students from the University of Wales who assisted both Roger Donnan and Michael Gibbins to have race ready cars following Race one. The Pink ladies and Chloe’s Café for the Hospitality provided throughout the season. Kevin Gibson for providing all the images throughout the year. Lilly Yallop who has provided the Social media coverage for the season and Paul Streat for keeping the points and championship standing up to date over the weekend.

One final mention to Mark Fletcher who joined the commentary team for the live stream of the races. His knowledge of the Championship, the cars and the teams, greatly enhanced the broadcast for those at the circuit and at home.
Congratulations to the Champions of 2026. The next event for the Sports 2000 as they entered the classes 50th year and the SRCC 25th year will be the awards dinner on 23rd January 2027.

Many thanks to Alan Jones for this report and his help and support over the past season.

Driver of the Day

The Driver of the Day Award went to the Team of the Day, the Gibbins family who returned to home collected a fresh engine and brought it back to Donington so that Michael could complete the season and take the Championship title.

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Full results are available via the Results Page. Here

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Race Images

Many thanks to Kevin Gibson of KJG Photography for these Images from the event.

Driver of the Day

Race 1 Images

Race 2 Images

Race 3 Images

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