BRSCC SPRINT AND ENDURANCE ENTERTAINS CROFT CROWDS
In dry and mostly sunny conditions, the BRSCC enjoyed two days of excellent club motorsport on the fast and challenging Croft circuit in North Yorkshire, with a very healthy mix of sprint and endurance racing on the timetable. With Fun Cup and SuperSport Endurance for long-distance fans, and Fords and Audis for sprint fans, it was entertainment guaranteed from start to finish.
The blazing sun beat down on the Fun Cup Endurance Championship contenders as they began the first of their two races over the Croft weekend, with a one-hour sprint kicking off racing action for the event. Multi-time champions UVio/ Hofmann’s Motorsport got the luck of the grid draw with pole position for the sprint, but they were beaten to the lead at Turn 1 by fellow former champs Sheradize UK, with the pair joined by FF Corse in a leading trio. FF Corse took their turn in the lead a couple of laps in, before a charging Vapeclub w/ EDF took over while UVio made their first stop.
Vapeclub held the lead through the first pit stop window, with UVio slotting into second ahead of Sheradize. Throughout the second stint, it was defending champions Olympian-GRD making moves up the field to run as high as second at one point. After the second round of stops, UVio were back in front and went on to take their first Fun Cup win in two years, while Vapeclub picked up an excellent second place ahead of Sheradize in third, with Olympian wrapping up fourth ahead of GCI Racing.
Team Disruptive led through Clervaux from the outset of race two, but it wasn’t long before Vapeclub worked their way to the front, while race one winners UVio carved through from the back of the field. FF Corse and Red River Sport were the first frontrunners to stop in the opening pit window, while the first safety car appeared just after it closed with Vapeclub still in front from Disruptive and UVio. Disruptive quickly took the lead when racing resumed at the end of the first hour.
Drama befell championship leaders Olympian-GRD as their car slowed to a crawl and was forced to pit, ending their chances of victory. UVio moved up to the lead before half distance, before a second safety car was called during the third pit window. On the restart, Vapeclub were nerfed out of the lead by the BERT team after a misjudgement in braking, leaving Red River Sport in front ahead of a quartet that included UVio, Sheradize and GCI Racing.
Sheradize took the lead from Red River Sport as the penultimate pit window began, but fell behind UVio after the stops and then found themselves battling with GCI and Vapeclub over P2. A third safety car appeared after an off for the #97 car, leading to a mass of final stops when the window opened. UVio led on the restart, but Sheradize quickly took it back and soon GCI were on their tail too. UVio made a late attack at the start of the final lap to no avail, and as Sheradize took their first win in their comeback season, GCI almost stole second from UVio in a drag race to the line. An enjoyable late battle for fourth went to PLR Racing ahead of Greenheath.
The Demon Tweeks Audi TT Cup Racing Championship visited Croft for the kick-off to the second half of their season, with points leader Matt Luff hoping to extend his advantage further at the top of the standings. After pole position in qualifying, Luff was in good shape but was made to fight for victory from the outset of race one.
Front row mate Jordan Stilp beat him to the first corner in the sunshine of race one, with Luff glued to his tail. Luff tried every which way to make a move throughout the 15 minutes, but Stilp’s pace and steadfast defence were enough to keep the car behind at bay for the duration. With no change up front, Stilp clinched his second win of the season with Luff settling for a strong second, and Andrew Rogerson enjoying a comfortable third ahead of Charlie Budd and Sam Meagher.
Stilp picked up where he’d left off the next day, leading the opening stages with Luff close behind once more. But early in the second half of the race, mechanical issues forced Stilp to stop at the Sunny In/Out corners and retire, handing Luff a free pass to the lead. He went on to take victory, with Rogerson picking up another solid second place and Meagher claiming an excellent third. A tantalising three-car battle for fourth went the way of Charlie Budd ahead of Ryan Edgecumbe.
Jonathan Williams benefitted from the partially reversed grid for race three to jump to the lead from the outset, but Rogerson passed him within the first couple of laps. Luff also picked up second place before chasing down and passing Rogerson in the final minutes. A second win of the day went Luff’s way, with Rogerson happy with second and Williams delighted with his first outright TT Cup podium in third. Strong drives from Paul Luti and Meagher helped them complete the top five.
A thunderous collective of Fords of all shapes and sizes made the trip to Yorkshire to contest the latest rounds of the Modified Ford Series, with Andy Robinson’s booming Ford Falcon AU V8 Supercar attracting all of the attention. After James Allen’s Focus was forced to miss the start due to rear wheel issues, Robinson began race one alone on the front row and immediately leapt to the lead, while the rapid Escort Cosworth of Dave Cockell charged through the field. Taking seconds per lap out of the lead, Cockell caught the Falcon just before half distance and swept past, driving on to claim the win by almost seven seconds. Paul Nevill’s Escort took third from Kevin Whyte’s Fiesta ST150 and David Guthrie’s Fiesta.
Mechanical issues forced Cockell to the sidelines for race two, leaving Robinson to tear away from the start and never look back. Unchallenged throughout, Robinson’s Falcon was victorious by 18 seconds from Nevill and Ben Purnell’s Mk1 Escort RSR, with Whyte taking fourth in the Fiesta. A last lap tangle in the fight for fifth helped Stefan Marsh claim the final top five spot in his Focus.
The PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup ventured north to Croft to begin the second part of their 2025 campaign, and although it was a smaller field than usual, it certainly wasn’t short on quality as drivers and teams looked to score more points towards the overall and class title battles.
BMWs dominated the head of the field, with the M2 of Stephen Kent and Peter Moulsdale leading from pole, but under pressure from the M3 of Aldo Riti and Kevin Clarke, which quickly took over in the opening minutes. Further back, drama struck Clubman-C and overall championship leaders Adam Read and David Drinkwater, after they spun their BMW Compact at the Complex and were forced out of contention with damage. They continued, but had fallen victim to a rare error for the duo.
The Riti/Clarke M3 was one of the first to pit when the window opened, as both the Moulsdale/Kent M2 and Lee Collins’ Caterham took turns in front before their stops. Just before half distance, the M2 pitted with an issue just as Collins made his first pit call. William Lynch and Ryan Hooker’s orange M3 had its time in the lead during the second half, but the race was neutralised just before the final 15 minutes after a car stopped outside the final hairpin. The Lynch/Hooker BMW reclaimed the lead on the restart and held on for overall victory.
The Riti/Clarke M3 expired with just two laps to go, allowing the Caterham of Collins to take second overall, with Chris Murphy’s BMW third, followed by the Moulsdale/Kent M2 and Alessandro Ballesteros in his Audi TT. Lynch and Hooker were Pro-A winners, with fellow class toppers being Collins (Pro-B), Ballesteros (Clubman-A), the trio of Wes Payne, Daryl Creswell and Paul Hearnden in their Mazda RX-8 (Clubman-B), and the Puretrack Renault Clio of James Millar and Mark Curran (Clubman-C).
Written by Scott Woodwiss
