A FUN DAY’S RACING AT OULTON FOR BRSCC
Another entertaining and action filled day of racing took place at Oulton Park in Cheshire this past weekend, as the British Racing & Sports Car Club made another visit to the North West in 2025. While the Silverlake C1 Endurance Series dominated the day, the rest of the timetable was full of exciting sprint races that also gave trackside spectators a great show.
The Silverlake C1 Endurance Series were back on track just over a month removed from the centrepiece race of the season, the returning BRSCC 24 Hours on the Silverstone GP circuit. That weekend, Trojon Motorsport’s Alpha-Trojon crew picked up victory once more, and they continued the feel-good factor with fastest time in a damp qualifying session, before the random top 10 draw put them eighth on the grid while MDA drew pole for the race.
Melboard Racing leapt into the lead from the front row and held it for the opening few laps until they were one of the first teams to make a mandatory pit stop as soon as the window opened. As more teams made their first stop, the lead changed hands several times until AF Racing held it for a number of laps, helped by a safety car being called just before lap 30. In fact, AF Racing wouldn’t make their first stop until lap 46, handing P1 to Alpha-Trojon.
More stops cycled through, and by lap 72 Alpha-Trojon were back in front, but now with their teammates Trojon Motorsport in #323 right on their tail. The two cars were barely separated by a second in the closing stages, kept tight by a second safety car late in the race. Despite a brief swap of places with just a couple of laps remaining, Alpha-Trojon retook the lead and clinched victory as they led a team one-two across the line. Melboard Racing were tipped for a great result pre-race and scored an excellent third place, with Preptech taking fourth and Silverlake completing the top five.
Retro hot hatches and tin-tops made up a superb combined grid for the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup and Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup for another pair of races in 2025 at Oulton. Paul Hoggins’ Audi TT enjoyed an early battle in race one with Tony Absolom before the latter’s VW Golf Mk2 expired after just three laps. Unchallenged until the flag, Hoggins took a commanding win ahead of Tony Hunter’s SEAT Leon Cupra R, with Dawn Butcher’s Mk5 Golf picking up the final podium place in Classic VW. The story of race two was undoubtedly the charge through the field from Tim Evans’s Audi TT, after an issue denied him from taking his spot on pole for race one. He powered his way to the lead and won by just over 2 seconds, from Hoggins in second and Hunter in third.
For the Metros, one man was in command from start to finish as expected – Jack Ashton. Having missed the previous round at Snetterton, Ashton took pole by seven tenths before winning race one by seven seconds and the second by six. The rest of the top five behind him was a duplicate in both races – Mike Williams took a pair of second places, Matthew Simpson a pair of thirds, and the top five also completed by Tim Shooter and Phil Goodwin.
Making a rare visit across the Irish Sea to mainland UK, we were delighted to welcome the SEAT Supercup Ireland on to the timetable for the first time for the next pair of races in their 2025 season at Oulton Park. Race one saw drama before the cars even made it to Old Hall for the first time, when second row mates Rod McGovern and David Maguire Sr tangled off the start and put both out for the rest of the day. On the restart, guest driver Niall Murray (standing in for an absent Barry English) picked up the win in race one by three seconds ahead of David Maguire Jr, Max Turley, Victor Cullen and Mark Turley. Murray then doubled up later in the day with another win in race two, this time eight seconds ahead of Adrian McNally in second, followed by Paul Parr, David Maguire Jr and Max Turley in the top five.
Multi-class sprint racing also featured on the timetable courtesy of the Darlington & District Motor Club’s Northern Saloon & Sports Car Club, competing at one of their regular venues once again. Race one was stopped after five laps due to an incident and a result declared, giving victory to the VW Beetle racer of Matty Cobb just 0.7 seconds ahead of second placed Paul Collingwood in his Eclipse SL1, while Bill Addison’s Caterham completed the overall podium ahead of Scott Hubel’s Peugeot 205T16R and Damien McKay’s Westfield.
Thankfully, race two was able to run its course without dramas, allowing Cobb to thoroughly demolish the opposition. By the chequered flag, Cobb was victorious by more than a minute from Hubel’s Peugeot, followed by McKay’s Westfield ahead of Alex Prentice’s VW Golf and Chris Huntley in his Subaru Impreza.
Written by Scott Woodwiss
