A SNETTERTON SPRING SIZZLER IN STORE FOR BRSCC
The temperature is starting to rise as we progress towards summer, and the British Racing & Sports Car Club is ready to bring the heat this weekend as we make a return to Snetterton in Norfolk for this Clapham North sponsored Race Weekend. With Mazda MX-5s, Audi TTs, Production Cup, SuperSport Endurance and some more excellent supports in store, it should be another thriller in the East of England.
The Kent Models Mazda MX-5 Championship saw a key milestone reached last time at Brands Hatch. Points leader Ali Bray became the first driver in the championship’s history in its current guise since 2013 to win the first six races on the bounce, unbroken. This means the pressure will be on heading to Snetterton as Ali aims to keep up this 100% win record for the season to date, but every single victory hasn’t come as easy as it seemed on paper.
The likes of Steve Foden, Adam Sparrow, Richard Wootten, Neil Chisnall, Will Chadwick, Thomas Walker and more have been giving Bray the run-around in the opening two rounds, but every time it’s been Ali first at the chequered flag. All of the above are now proven front runners for this season, so expect them to be challenging for top spot all weekend long.
Over with their brethren in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, we’ve already got the makings of a very interesting title fight after two events. Jack Warry has two wins from four and a nine point lead over defending champion Jonathan Greensmith, who has been on a very steady and consistent run of podiums already. With a P2 and a trio of P3s, he’s firmly in the hunt to retain his crown already.
There’s also plenty of contenders behind him ready to steal it away, too. Jake Paice took his first MX-5 win at Brands Hatch last time, meaning he and father Del will both be riding the crest of a wave of confidence going to Snetterton. Will Breame currently sits fourth, with Jordan Pimley completing the top five – many will remember a couple of seasons ago that Jordan put in a stunning drive in the wet to go from last to first. If the heavens open again this weekend, bet on Jordan to be a big contender.
It’s been a rather interesting affair in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup so far, as despite the victories for both Aidan Hills and Jack Harding last time at Brands Hatch, neither of them are present at Snetterton. Thus, the lead battle looks set to be a repeat of the Silverstone GP opener between 2022 Pro champ Will Blackwell-Chambers, and last year’s MX-5 Championship champion Thomas Langford. The pair went back and forth in the opener and were in the hunt at Brands Hatch, so prepare for battle lines to be redrawn this weekend.
Ollie Hall and Alistair Dendy are certain to be their closest competition this weekend, each with at least one class podium to their name this year and hungry for more in Pro class, as will. As for the Club honours, Sam Middleton has been something of a sensation as the class rookie has been on a tear since the very first race and firmly the man to beat. He’ll have to contend with the likes of Bruce Robinson, Clive Powles, Jim Barratt and Steve Kite among others.
We’re also heading into the third event of the season for the Demon Tweeks Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, a contest that’s certainly produced its fair share of thrilling action in the first two events already. Victories so far have gone to points leader Matt Luff, defending champion Bradley Burns, Sam Heading and Jordan Stilp. With four different names from the first five races, a closely fought championship battle looks to be in the offing.
Luff heads the points by thirteen from Heading, with Stilp just two back in third, and its this trio that are already trying to make a breakaway in the standings. Burns is absent from this weekend’s grid as he was at Oulton, meaning those stepping up to challenge the current top three will include Ross Makar, Luke Handley, Jason Pelosi, Andrew Rogerson, Charlie Budd and Paul Luti to name a few. Also watch out for long time BMW racer Ross Stoner making the switch to Audi TTs, as well as adapting from rear to front wheel drive.
The PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup has had a superb start to its 2025 season with two exciting races filled with strategy and unpredictability. The only outlier in that last bit, however, has been defending Pro-B class winner Julian McBride, whose opening two outings of the season have both resulted in victory, thanks to sheer outright pace mixed with experience and clever tactics. His BMW M3 will be one of the favourites to win, as he goes for three on the bounce in the quest for the overall championship.
There’s fair representation across all six classes, with defending overall champions David Drinkwater and Adam Read also winning both times this season and leading both McBride and the Clubman-A leaders Sam Reuter and Oli Walden by a single point in the outright standings. As usual, there’s a multitude of BMWs in the top class of Pro-A that will certainly be gunning for the top step, while the other classes will feature plenty of strong contenders looking to make their mark.
The second outing for the new Fix A Wheel Production Cup sees the burgeoning new series look to build on a successful first pair of races at Oulton Park a few weeks ago. This series is a home for many production-based clubman race cars with a class structure mimicking that of the ever-popular SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy, and the first event saw plenty of mighty hot hatches taking to the track to battle it out with one another.
That looks set to be the case once again, with a line-up featuring evergreen clubman race cars such as Honda Civics, Renault Clios, Ford Fiestas and Peugeot 206s. Plus, amongst the field will be the new Silverlake DS3 Cup cars, who made an excellent debut at Oulton on this grid. The new cars looked and raced the part, and we’ll be excited to see how they fair this weekend. Elliot Lettis was top DS3 in Cheshire, and he’ll be up against Ralph Budd, Theo Longman and Jake Brook once again this time.
After a successful first combined grid contest at Brands Hatch, the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup and Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup will once again race together on the same track, making for another excellent retro hot hatch contest between them. There’s a very solid entry of Classic VWs with many familiar names and machines once again on the list. This includes Ken Lark’s Scirocco, the trio of Audi A3s from Pinnacle Racing, Donald Dewar’s epic little Mk1 Golf, and the rapid more modern Golfs of Carey Lewis and Simon Tomlinson, the latter making a welcome return to the grid this weekend.
Meanwhile over in the Metros, all signs point to Jack Ashton being the dominant force once more. After showing the rest of the Metro field a clean pair of heels in both races, and following on from his blistering form when he joined mid-season in 2024, it looks as though it’s going to be more of the same if Jack is allowed to run away in front from the outset. Looking to try and chase him down will be Matthew Simpson, Dick Trevett and Tim Shooter amongst the contenders.
Also competing on this weekend’s timetable is the second appearance of the local racers from the Uncle Luke’s Snetterton Saloons series. With a 45-minute pit-stop race format and an excellent mixture of cars, from Lotus Evoras to BMW M3s and even a Honda Civic TCR touring car, it’s certainly going to make for an intriguing spectacle. After they put on an excellent show last month in our April visit, we’re pleased to have them back again this weekend!
Written by Scott Woodwiss
