First racers out on track were the 1970s and 80s touring cars of the Historic Touring Car Challenge and Tony Dron Trophy, getting qualifying under their belts ahead of tomorrow morning's race.

The first race of the day was Motor Racing Legends 'Mad Jack' for Pre-War Sports Cars. Some of these sprightly machines have passed their centenary, yet they are driven as hard as ever. Gareth Burnett took victory in his Alta Sports, some 16 seconds ahead of Rudi Friedrichs in the Alvis Firefly Special, followed by Rob Beebee and Josh Beebee in the Frazer Nash TT Replica. The race pays tribute to Richard 'Mad Jack' Shuttleworth, the daredevil aviator and racing driver who run the inaugural Donington Park Grand Prix in 1935. This year's race celebrated the 90th anniversary of Shuttleworth's achievement. 

Next up was the second of the two U2TC races for pre-1966 under two-litre touring cars. Friday's race had seen Le Mans winner Guy Smith take a decisive victory in the Ford Lotus Cortina, and he scored the double, beating the field to the chequered flag once more. Once again it was a one-two-three for Lotus Cortinas, with Guy's father Peter and Harri Reynolds taking second place, and Friday's second-place finisher Jonathan Mitchell scooping third.

There was then a lull in the racing - but not in the track action - as the Super Touring demo got underway. Stabled together in the paddock, these throwbacks to one of the greatest eras of touring car racing, had already delighted festival visitors with their period livery, which triggered innumerable memories of 1990s motorsport, and seeing them out on track only strengthened that nostalgia. 17 of these timewarp machines absolutely belted round Donington Park, including the Vauxhall Cavalier in which David Leslie won his first BTCC race, the Alfa Romeo 156 in which Fabrizio Giovanardi won the 1998 Italian championship, and the last Audi Quattro ever built. It was a superb display.

The superlatives continued with the next race - the first of the two GT3 Legends battles of the weekend. Motor Racing Legends had attracted two dozen of these monsters for its new series' DHF debut, and the sight of them hurtling towards Redgate will long remain in the memory of those lucky enough to witness it. After 50 glorious minutes, victory went to Jonathan Mitchell in the Prodrive-built Aston Martin V12 Vantage, almost a minute ahead of the Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZO6 R of Matt Holme and 2013 BTCC Champion Andrew Jordan. Christian Albrecht was just over a second behind, bringing his McLaren MP4 12C home in third place. We can hardly wait for tomorrow's race!

During the lunchbreak it was the time for track parades, the traditional car club parade showcasing cherished classics from the many, many car clubs attending the event preceded by a simply enormous batch of exotica from Supercar Driver. Another highlight was the pit walk - the GT3 Legends cars were proudly on display, allowing spectators a much closer look at these iconic machines than they might otherwise expect.

Qualifying for the stunning Fifties sports car racers of the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy grid followed, and then it was time for an absolute belter... Donington Park once again reverberated to the sound of Formula One engines, when the ex-Jenson Button Williams-BMW FW22 and the ex-Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton B198 treated us to a few magical laps of F1 nostalgia.  

Racing then continued with sixty minutes of HMRN Pre '63 GT action. In a grid packed with some of the finest halo cars of the early 1960s, three Shelby Cobras reigned supreme, taking all the podium spots. The 260 shared by Indycar legend Dario Franchitti and Gregor Fisken grasped the chequered flag ahead of the Cobra of John Spiers and Nigel Grensall, with Matt Holme coming in third place. 

The second of three Superformance Ferrari Club Classic contests then ensued. Wayne Marrs took the win - a significant improvement on his DNF the day before - while Gary Culver took second, followed by Tristan Simpson in third. These races are always hotly contested - so who will finish victorious tomorrow is anyone's guess.

Saturday ended in epic style with the two-hour Royal Automobile Pall Mall Cup. This has traditionally been a three-hour endurance race, but the decision to condense it into two hours certainly heightened the tension! In a last-minute twist, victory went to Motor Racing Legends owner, Shaun Lynn and his son Max in their Lotus Elan, followed by Marcus Oeynhausen/Andy Newall in the Jaguar E-type and Rudi Friedrichs/Gary Pearson in the AC Cobra.