It is with a heavy heart that bikesportnews.com has to report that legendary Donington Park owner Tom Wheatcroft has died.

The 87-year-old finally succumbed to cancer, passing away at his home this morning. Mr Wheatcroft has always lived within a 30-mile radius of the circuit and was famous for cycling from his parents' home in Leicester to Donington Park to watch pre-war motor racing instead of going to school.

Mr Wheatcroft drove tanks during World War II, returning to set up a successful building business. Sad that racing had left Donington Park, he set up his own motor racing team in the 1960s.

By the 1970s he was in a position to indulge his passion for the sport and he established a team to run a Brabham BT30 Formula 2 car for Derek Bell. He also bought a BT26 for a selection of F1 races although it was not very successful. The F2 program, however, was a big success and Bell finished second in the European Championship.

In 1971, Mr Wheatcroft bought part of the 1,100 acre Donington Hall estate, including the famous pre-war racing circuit, for £100,000. At his own cost, he rebuilt the circuit and moved his classic car collection to the estate, the largest collection of motor racing cars in the world known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition.
Mr Wheatcroft was a personal friend of bikesportnews.com director Sir Robin Miller, who said: "Tom was a great man with a great sense of humour and a sense of how things ought to be done properly. His contribution to motorsport in the UK cannot be quantified and he will be sorely missed. 
"Having spent a lot of time with Tom, both socially and professionally, I am very saddened by his death. Racing, and Donington Park, will be a poorer place without his humour, voice and expertise."