The 50th Festival Recap
What an incredible weekend we had on September 2nd and 3rd, 2023, as we celebrated our Golden Anniversary as a manufacturer with ‘The Caterham 50th Festival’ at Donington Park. It was a jam-packed weekend filled with Caterham action both on and off the circuit. In case you couldn’t join us, here’s a quick rundown of our 50th Birthday Race Weekend.
Sevens Galore!
Our car park turned into a spectacle rarely seen at events (unless it’s Goodwood Revival). Caterham owners showed up in force, bringing over 500 Sevens of various specs, power units, colors, and ages. A whopping 239 Sevens hit the circuit to compete, while over 400 road-ready Sevens graced Donington throughout the weekend. We even had 25 historic Sevens on display, thanks to the generosity of owners and club members.
Project V
Our new electric concept, Project V, continued its UK tour. After its unveiling at Goodwood and a stop at PH25, Project V landed at Donington, giving Caterham fans a chance to get up close. But that’s not all! Project V even took a spin around the paddock, swinging by the main festival area.
Motorsport
It was non-stop Seven racing action. In addition to our Caterham Motorsport official championships (Academy, Roadsport, 270R, 310R, and CSCUK), we were joined by the Graduates and Magnificent Sevens. We crowned our official Motorsport Champions for 2023, reserving the final round of the year for the National Level CSCUK grid to battle it out at the BTCC Silverstone round. For the full race report, be sure to check out the BARC coverage.
Track Parade
Before wrapping up the event with an evening of incredible live music, road and race Sevens united for a monumental track parade. Our special-event Safety Car and Caterham CEO Bob Laishley in a 420 CUP led a parade of over 300 vehicles, consisting of Caterham Sevens (and 21s) spanning fifty years of history.
Experiences
As if the weekend wasn’t enough, we sandwiched all that racing with a big serving of Caterham Experiences. On Friday, we hosted our first Donington Drift Experience in a very, very long time. If you missed out, don’t fret – we have two more dates in 2023 that you can still join by booking online. Donington also played host to the last Caterham Experiences Track Day of 2023. Our Experiences team is hard at work behind the scenes on our 2024 calendar, so stay tuned to see when we’ll be near you next.
New Merch!
After much anticipation, we’re proud to introduce the all-new Caterham Merchandise range. Run by the incredible team at Uncommon, a pop-up shop featured within the Caterham Clubhouse. Uncommon, our new official merchandisers, have extensive experience in the motoring world, having worked with Formula E, Mahindra Racing, Jaguar TCS Racing, Pininfarina, and Maserati. The new Caterham AW23 range is now available to order through the Caterham Shop.
A Huge Thank You!
Lastly, we’d like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped bring the 50th-anniversary race weekend to life. A huge thank you to all the Caterham and Lotus Seven Club members, the supporting volunteers, those who contributed their cars for the timeline, all the marshals, and everyone who attended. We hope you had a fantastic time!
