BRSCC & TCR UK BRING TOURING CARS & CO TO SNETTERTON
Snetterton in Norfolk plays host to the British Racing & Sports Car Club for the second time in as many months in 2024, only this time we’re bringing touring cars out to play!
Returning to the same venue which launched the season several weeks ago, TCR UK is out in force for their second event of the season, and with it comes a seriously impressive line-up of supporting championships on the timetable, including its four regular support series plus Minis and prototypes.
The TCR UK Touring Car Championship burst into life a few weeks ago at their opening rounds at Brands Hatch, with another band of tin-top stars getting the championship’s seventh season underway. As you’d expect, there was plenty of action and many talking points from the weekend, which included three different winners to begin the year – Viktor Andersson taking his and Lynk & Co’s first wins in the championship on their debut, along with Adam Shepherd in his first CUPRA outing and a long awaited inaugural victory for Callum Newsham.
TCR UK now heads to Snetterton with plenty of unpredictability still in the air. While some drivers starred at Brands Hatch, others never really got the moment to truly shine. One that had mixed fortunes was defending champion Carl Boardley, who comes to Snetterton third in points behind Newsham and Shepherd. Despite no victory from Brands, two second places mean he’s banked a solid haul of points to begin strong, and keeping the the momentum up for all three drivers at the top will be key.
Also be on the lookout for other regular front runners such as Joe Marshall, Brad Hutchison and Luke Sargeant, while Ryan Bensley takes the Pro Alloys Racing Lynk & Co back from Viktor Andersson and is set to make his TCR UK debut in the car at Snetterton. The Gen 1 Cup for older cars should also provide its own competition and entertainment, with Will Beech, Rick Kerry and Mark Smith set to be its main contenders.
TCR UK’s support series promise to bring just as much action. One that certainly always does is the Milltek Sport Civic Cup, which is playing its part in producing graduates to TCR UK and beyond. Resident champion Max Edmundson’s title defence was near perfect with two wins and a fourth helping him already take a commanding lead in the standings after just one event. Despite taking a win and his first in his new FN2 model, former champ Alistair Camp’s up and down fortunes leave him fourth going to Snetterton, behind newcomers Spencer Stevenson and Josh Files, who both proved their pace in spades over the opening two days and have plenty to build on.
On top of that there’s plenty more strong drivers in the field that are certain to be threats. Just like Camp, both Will Redford and Lewis Kent had varied luck all weekend but proved themselves to be challengers for race wins, as did Harvey Caton who came close more than once but didn’t get the rub of the green. Look for all of the above and more to be contenders amongst a healthy grid.
It’s already the third event of the year for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship after the non-points Silverstone races before Brands Hatch saw them get off the mark on the scoreboards. The BRSCC’s young racing stars of the future have produced some great, clean and intense racing so far and with Snetterton as their next stop, the battles are set to continue.
Wins so far this year have gone to Jenson O’Neill-Going, Finn Leslie and Jacob Hodgkiss. O’Neill-Going has been a winner at both Silverstone and Brands Hatch, but Hodgkiss’ consistent trio of second places at Brands helped him take the initial points lead going to Snetterton. All three have been the initial pace setters this season, but other challengers have also proven themselves early on. The likes of Jenson Mason, Alfie Garford, Thomas Merritt and Tommy Harfield have looked solid too, all of which looking to improve their places in the standings with more strong performances.
Their more senior Ford driving counterparts in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship also proved to be as action packed as many expected, with three different winners over the triple header of races and five drivers taking to the outright podium. Zachary Lucas and Alastair Kellett were expected front runners who took a victory apiece, while Am class racer Daniel Lewis put in an exceptional drive to win race three overall on the Sunday.
Snetterton’s long straights will certainly give the ST240s a chance to really stretch their legs, with a handful of drivers having gotten in some pre-season mileage testing as part of the TCR UK media day here several weeks ago. Gary Miller produced some of his best performances ever at Brands with podiums and made progress he can build on at Snetterton, while Lucas Hayden made a supreme senior debut in Pro class with a podium in race three, and John Cooper had great speed but rotten luck which denied him a solid points haul. Others like Joseph Knight, Morgan Kidd and Simon Horrobin all had a mix of fortunes up and down the order, while Am class chasers of Dan Lewis will include James Pope, Archie Johnson, Caitlyn May and Henry Howarth.
To call the Audi TT Cup Racing Championship’s first outing as a points scoring championship a success would be something of an understatement. A full grid of 34 cars ended up racing at Brands Hatch, producing plenty of top class tin-top racing amongst a entry stacked with talented drivers of all ages and experience levels.
Carl Swift ensured he was the early pace setter with the first two championship wins, but was pushed most of the weekend by Matt Luff who took pole in qualifying. Matt had a weekend to two halves after second in race one was followed by spinning down the order in race two, but has to be a contender from the outset. There’s so many good drivers to also mention, but some standouts given their early results and current points standings include Bradley Burns, Harry Yardley-Rose, top Masters driver Sean Smith, Will Stacey, Adam Blair and Ross Makar.
Brands Hatch also saw the kick-off for the new Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup season, and they also provided plenty of their own excitement for the Brands Hatch spectators. Robbie Kenning and Dick Trevett both shared a win each, but that wasn’t the whole story as both races showed there’s several contenders looking to inherit Rhys Claydon’s crown.
With Kenning in Claydon’s title winning car from 2023, he stands a good chance of keeping up that car’s lineage, but there were others that inserted themselves into the picture from the outset. Considering that Jon Moore, Mark Eales, Dan Willars and Matthew Simpson were all names that managed to finish in the top six at Brands, all of them are names to watch for, as will be Mike Williams who led race one until his engine gave out. If he’s able to fix it before Snetterton, he’s also sure to be a contender again.
Cast your mind back to Silverstone in March and one series that certainly produced an excellent spectacle was the ZEO Prototype Series. Sporting plenty of rapid sports prototypes, they produced quite a spectacle at their season opener with a strong entry and lots of variety on the grid. Snetterton will certainly give this weekend’s grid to play to the strengths of several different cars.
The high powered cars will love the long straights, while the lighter and more nimbler machines will benefit through the technical sections, meaning there could be a surprise or two up and down the grid. Expect the usual mixture of Radicals and Pragas, plus unique cars like Mike Jenvey’s self-prepared Jenvey-Gunn and the debut of the Bicknell PS7 in the hands of Graham Cole. That’s the beauty of ZEO Prototypes – sometimes, you just never know what may turn out!
As if all of the above wasn’t exciting enough, how about some equally intense racing from a real fan favourite – the mass ranks of the exceptional Mini 7 Racing Club. No matter where they race, they guarantee fantastic racing and something of an incredible spectacle in both of their grids.
Jeff Smith goes into the third weekend of the M7RC season as the points leader in the Mini Miglias, with a four point leader over an early tie for second place between Ben Colburn and Ian Curley with Aaron Smith and Martin Wagner completing the top five, while several other top drivers have a lot of ground to make up early on. Josh Evans is top of the Mini Libre contenders that race on the same grid, with Huw Turner and Peter Hills on his tail.
From the Mini Se7ens, Andrew Jordan is bidding to add the crown here to his previous Mini Miglia title success, but there’s still the usual contenders in this championship trying to beat his door down. They include Ross Billison, Joe Thompson, Spencer Wanstall and Damien Harrington, while Michael Winkworth is top of the pile in the Se7en-S ranks with Matt Ayres, Andy Hack and Jonathan Page all ready to hunt him down.
Written by Scott Woodwiss
