THE LONG WAIT IS OVER!

It has been a long wait for the officials of the BRSCC South Eastern Centre, but it is finally over! This weekend at Brands Hatch, the Centre will run their first meeting of the 2012, which will feature twenty races over the two days.

Topping the bill, will be three championships from the Caterham Motorsport stable – Tracksports, Roadsports & Supersports, which will field seventy-nine cars between them. Five different winners from six races highlights just how close the competition in the Tracksports is this year. Newark based McMillan Motorsport driver Jon Mortimer is the only driver to have stood on the podium at every round and consequently leads the championship from David Robinson.

2011 Academy champion Elliott Norris’ grip on the Roadsport title race grows ever tighter with the Suffolk driver featuring on the podium at every event. Norris has won one of the two races at every meeting, so with consistency on his side expect his black and bronze car to take the chequered flag first at least once this weekend. If Norris stays true to form, who will take the other race win is likely to come down to one of the two drivers involved in an epic power struggle for the runner-up spot. Alex MacIndoe and Brad Smith are currently level on points, though MacIndoe has the advantage, having had two wins to Smith’s one.

The Supersport championship has provided some of the most exciting Caterham racing this year. In fact, Autosport proclaimed one of the races at Donington as ‘sublime racing’, with a trio of cars repeatedly exchanging position and the final order only being decided on the last corner. The loser in that contest was the black car of Aaron Head, but only once out of six races has the he failed to be the fastest man on the circuit. It should be no surprise then that the 19 year old has taken three victories and ‘heads’ the leader board. Head has been on the podium in every race and helped by the power struggle for second going on behind, has been able to build a healthy margin in the race for the crown. Behind, the four-year battle between Lee Wiggins and Jeremy Webb continues unabated.

Bringing some ‘single-seater’ entertainment to Brands will be the Avon Tyres Formula Ford Triple Crown Championship. This is the first of three rounds, with the other two at Donington & Silverstone respectively. John Murphy will make the long trip down from Liverpool in confident mood, as he has been the form driver in the Northern Formula Ford Post 89 races so far this season. However, Neil Winn, David McArthur and Luke Cooper will be pushing their claims strongly.

With the backing of the Logson Group, the Porsche Championship has gone from strength to strength this season and thirty Boxsters and 924s will line-up for qualifying tomorrow morning. There are three rounds for the Porsches over the weekend and less than a dozen points separate the top four in each class. Thirsk’s Richard Sykes heads the Boxster standings with fellow Yorkshireman Ric Styrin just four points further back. Alastair Kirkham sits atop the 924 points table with Sean Siddall. Rebecca Jackson lies third and will be determined to make in-roads on the top two, at what is Rebecca’s home circuit.

As is always the case, the eclectic mixture offered by the Arrowpak Euro Saloon & Sportscar Championship will turn out a very healthy grid. The Ford Falcon of Andy Robinson is the overall leader but in this championship the main emphasis is on the internal class battles. Ilsa Cox has a healthy lead in Class B, but Ian Craig (Class C), Wayne Schofield (Class D) and Chris Boon (Class E) all hold marginal leads in their respective classes and with two races this weekend the standings could look very different on Sunday evening.

Similar to the BRSCC South Eastern Centre, the competitors in the Dunlop TVR Challenge have had to wait a long time to turn a wheel in anger this season. Eighteen cars from the famous Blackpool marque will be at Brands Hatch across the four classes, with a mixture of new and old drivers.

Brands Hatch provides the venue for rounds five & six of the 2012 Teekay Couplings Production GTi Championship. So far this season the championship has produced three different winners. Simon Hill took a double win in the season opener at Silverstone back in April, last season’s series winner Nick Porter took a victory at Donington Park, and in race 2, after a mere 40 years of trying, John Mawdsley took his first ever victory. In the 8V class, Craig Roberts will be hoping to continue his brilliant start to the season with another class win.

There will be three chances to see the spectacular Sakers Sportscars in action this weekend. Brands Hatch plays host to two twenty minute sprint races, before the Saker Challenge with Enduro Cup teams compete in a forty-five minute endurance race, which is the penultimate outing of the meeting. The series welcomes many Saker teams from Holland this weekend, as this round is classed as part of their championship.