Just over a month since the rescheduled 2020 Legends Cars National Championship with MRF Tyres season got underway in spectacular style at Croft, the all-action category will resume at Donington Park in Leicestershire this coming weekend, 22nd/23rd August…and with live television too!
Rounds three and four of the Legends campaign will provide the usual fantastic blend of wheel-to-wheel, bumper-to-bumper entertainment, and with all six races from Donington to be streamed live online via YouTube and Facebook a real treat is in store for armchair enthusiasts.
Jack Parker (Wolverhampton) will arrive in the East Midlands with the championship lead after a terrific opening weekend at Croft last month. With two race victories and plenty more podium silverware besides, the popular series front-runner will be determined to continue the momentum.
Chasing hard, though, is a wealth of talent led by five-time former Legends Cars champ John Mickel (Horsham) and 2019 title winner Miles Rudman (Sutton Coldfield). Unsurprisingly, both performed strongly at Croft during the season curtain raiser with Rudman taking a race win.
Fourth in the standings is the impressive Daniel Clark (Darras Hall), back in Legends this year for his first full season in the championship since the mid noughties. Just 15 points shy of Rudman after the opening six races, Clark – who is joined on the grid by his wife Elby – has more recently been a force in Superkarts, winning the 2017 MSA British Superkart crown and the 2018 IRK KZ UK Karting title.
Sy Harraway (Weston-super-Mare) was in sensational form at Croft with a superb hat-trick of wins, and it might have been more too save for some misfortune along the way. Fifth in the standings head of Donington, Harraway is sure to be in the thick of the podium battles as always.
Rounding out the championship top six is Will Gibson (Camberley) who bagged a couple of podiums at Croft. Notably a previous winner at Donington’s 1.98-mile National Circuit, after a consistently competitive weekend to begin the 2020 season he is certain to be fighting for the big points again.
Heading the next pack is multiple Masters Cup champion Paul Simmons (Lingfield) who has a slim 20 point cushion over Nick Bridgeman (Baldock). Another 20 points shy is Croft podium finisher Connor Mills (Upminster) with Neil Shenton (Middlewich) only a further 50 points behind.
There will also be a new face on the grid at Donington Park, reigning Division 1 British Superkart Champion and Dutch Superkart Grand Prix race winner Andy Bird (Calne) makes his debut. The Wiltshire driver, who is a multiple title winner in Superkarts, will reignite his old rivalry with former Superkart racer Daniel Clark. As a non-championship runner, Bird will start all races from the back.
Broadcaster 247.tv to beam live coverage from Donington
In very exciting news, the Legends Cars National Championship welcomes the return of live coverage next weekend through broadcaster 247.tv who will be streaming all of the action from both days of the Donington race meeting on YouTube and Facebook.
In addition to the two full days of action next Saturday and Sunday, 247.tv will also be producing a one-hour highlights programme exclusively featuring the Legends Cars which will be broadcast on FreeSports – available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and BT TV.
Commentary is set to come from highly respected motorsport broadcaster Dave Goddard, a familiar voice to fans of the Legends Cars National Championship having been circuit commentator at a number of events over the years.
“We’re really excited to be filming and broadcasting the Legends Cars, among the other categories like the British Truck Racing Championship – hopefully this will be the start of a lovely relationship”, said Adrian Battersby of 247.tv, “While we’re new to circuit racing, we have covered Rallycross and Brisca F1 for a number of years and we’re certainly not inexperienced in live sports broadcasting with many live sports such as Rugby, Football and cue sports for nearly 20 years.
“We aim to put on a really good show, bring the very best of the action throughout the grid, and to be able to bring both days live all day through You Tube and a Facebook live stream is fantastic. We will also be bringing a one-hour highlights show exclusively about the Legends to the Freesports TV channel as well, so some fantastic coverage for all of the drivers and their sponsors.”
Legends Cars National Championship owner Phil Cooper added: “We really are absolutely delighted to once again have live coverage of the racing available from Donington, and we’re looking forward to working with 247.tv to bring all the excitement of the Legends Cars to fans in their own homes. It’s equally fantastic for the drivers, teams and sponsors.
“We’re also delighted to say Nathan Anthony, who will obviously be familiar to fans of the Legends Cars as one of our most popular drivers in the No.29 Se-Van, will be working with the TV crew and interviewing drivers on camera as well as assisting the commentator during our races.”
Cooper continued: “Croft was a fantastic start to the season, some incredible action right throughout the grid and with over 20 cars expected again at the weekend we’re set for more of the same. Jack Parker obviously has the early lead in the championship, but the depth of talent out there means it’s anyone’s guess who will be the winners at Donington.”
Qualifying for day one of the Legends Cars action at Donington will get underway at 09.00 on Saturday, 22nd August, with Heat One following at 11.15, Heat Two at 13.10 and the round three Final at 15.05.
On Sunday, 23rd August, day two qualifying will begin at 09.55, Heat One is set to start at 12.05, Heat Two will follow at 15.20 and the round four Final is scheduled for 17.25. Keep an eye on the Legends Cars social media pages before the event for links to the live online coverage.
Provisional Legends Cars National Championship with MRF Tyres Standings:
1st Jack Parker, 1000pts; 2nd John Mickel, 940pts; 3rd Miles Rudman, 895pts;
4th Daniel Clark, 880pts; 5th Sy Harraway, 860pts; 6th Will Gibson, 790pts
