THE SEASON STARTS AT SILVERSTONE
The BRSCC season gets underway this Sunday at Silverstone with the Midland Centre run Caterham Raceday on the 3.66 miles of the Grand Prix Circuit.
However, the first BRSCC action of the 2012 season will take place some 24 hours earlier, on the same circuit, when the Arrowpak Euro Saloons & Sportscar Championship will enjoy a double-header as part of the Britcar Raceday. As ever, the Euro Saloons have delivered an impressive grid – 31 cars will start – headed by 2011 champion Andy Jordan, who returns in his Renault Clio and will be looking to put down a marker as he bids for back-to-back titles. Class winners Ian Roberts & Ian Craig are also back so Euro Saloons will be as competitive as ever.
Four Caterham championships report for duty on Sunday, which is an exclusive ‘Caterham’ raceday with all four having double-headers. First up is the BookaTrack.com Caterham Superlight R300 Championship, Caterham’s premier series. Last year’s to-the-wire title battle between London based driver Jamie Orton and Newbury’s Paul Wilson made for gripping races. Rarely are two drivers so evenly matched. Fantastically, Orton is back to defend and Wilson out to prove he can be a champion. But it only gets better as a raft of top drawer Caterham drivers return to the series, bringing with them R300 race winning and lap record credentials.
The Avon Tyres Caterham Roadsport Championship has traditionally been the closest fought in the Caterham family. That is until Wes Fox dominated the series last year. With an all-new grid and only one of the two Academy champions from last year on it, the Gp1 victor, Elliott Norris, will be looking to emulate Fox’s achievements. But in order to do so he’ll have to do something he’s never done before; win races!
Tracksport is a new name for the Caterham Motorsport ladder in 2012, although the car and championship remain unchanged since its introduction (as Supersport) in 2010. Unlike the lower categories, there is no restriction on professional team support or driver experience. Most are Caterham racers with several years of experience, making this a fiercely fought championship. Former 2010 Academy champion Kurt Brady had his hands full with Wes Fox in the Roadsport championship last year, but Fox is taking a sabbatical from racing leaving Aussie Brady as the pre-season favourite and also odds-on for a win this weekend, having won the opening round last year here on the full GP circuit.
A huge grid of 34 for the Avon Tyres Caterham Supersport Championship simply oozes quality, making a predication for victory extremely difficult. The Wiggins and Webb battle enters a fourth year, with Essex coach-builder Lee Wiggins entering the year with the slight upper hand having finished ahead in 2011. He narrowly missed-out on overall victory (to Reece Somerfield) following bad luck mid-year rather than any lack of speed. Meanwhile, former Roadsport champion Jeremy Webb rounded out the top three after a lacklustre (by his standards) finish to the year.
For the timetable and entry lists click here http://www.brscc.co.uk/SILVERSTONE—CATERHAM-RACEDAY-11-10-05
