BRSCC TRAVELS NORTH TO WIND ITS WAY ROUND CADWELL PARK
Leave a CommentMaking its one and only visit to the “Nurburgring of the North”, the British Racing & Sports Car Club heads north once again to the mighty twists and turns of Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire this weekend. Sponsored by Clapham North, there will be plenty of battles on Cadwell’s winding corners and rollercoaster elevation changes, with Mazdas, VWs, Fiestas, Modified Fords, MGs, Production Cup and Northern Saloons and Sports take centre stage.
There’s now just three events left in the Kent Models Mazda MX-5 Championship for 2025, and it’s the same big story that has dominated the entire season to date – the continued domination of the top step by points leader Ali Bray. Cadwell will be his next test, and another opportunity for his rivals to stop his win streak. A 41 point advantage on total scores going to Cadwell Park sees him have a comfortable enough cushion at this stage, but he knows he cannot let his foot up off the gas one moment.
Steve Foden remains his nearest rival, the former champion keeping hot on Bray’s tail and coming closer than most to denying him a victory. There’s every chance he could move up a step or two this weekend, but it will mainly be about applying enough pressure to force a mistake. Neil Chisnall finds himself in an excellent third going to Cadwell, and even though he only has a single podium from Brands Hatch, it’s consistent scoring in every race that’s helped him rise up the table with a comfortable gap back to fourth place. That’s held by Masters lead Andrey Abaluev, who’s having an incredible first season in the championship in last season’s title winning car and continues to get stronger race by race. Former MX-5 Clubman champ Harry Storer completes the top five 28 points behind, but another who just keeps on banking points when others can’t.
One driver not present at Cadwell is Adam Sparrow, the double vice-champion recently announcing that he won’t be able to complete the season and will be name and a face missed on the grid for sure. His current 6th place will be under threat from the likes of Adam Craig, Richard Wootten, Paul Tucker and Pete Smith, who will all be looking to score well and move up the table. Plus, for one weekend only. It’s the return of a favourite face from recent seasons – Luke Pullen. Having been plying his craft racing MX-5s in the USA this year, Luke makes a one-off return to where it all started in the hope of chasing silverware.
Going into Cadwell Park this weekend, this could be a critical event for the Clapham North Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship for the title race. After the table took a little bit of a switcharound at the top after Oulton Park, it now means that every single result is going to be vital in order to stay in the hunt. Both races here could have the potential to really be a turning point for someone.
Jordan Pimley goes to Cadwell Park on top, after taking both wins at Oulton last time and carrying a 17 point lead to Lincolnshire this weekend. He’s taken at least one win at all but one circuit this season, and his form in this full-time season is suggesting he’s taking over as current favourite for the title. Whether or not Cadwell will back this up remains to be seen. Behind in second, Jake Paice has quietly been getting on with it, scoring a win at Brands and a constant in the top five, keeping him in the hunt and sure to give the rest of the contenders some trouble if they slip up or find themselves off form at any stage. Then there’s defending champion Jonny Greensmith, who has rarely been off the podium this year but has had an up-and-down couple of weekends recently at Donington Park and Oulton Park. Nonetheless, he’s still in the hunt and definitely not out with dropped scores still to come into play. A good weekend here will do him no harm whatsoever and firmly contain him in the title fight.
The one driver with work to do the most is Jack Warry, who struggled somewhat at Oulton Park and wasn’t helped by a DNF in race two which has dropped him to fourth on total scores. Again like Greensmith, he’s not out of the picture and getting back to scoring big points and the podium this weekend will help him bounce back from his Oulton slip. Paul Simard is top of the Rookie Trophy in fifth and has been on superb form recently with three podiums on the bounce and could be a dark horse to score a victory if there’s a window of opportunity.
The rest of the top ten has plenty of potential to switch around more, with Matt Crozier best of the quintet in sixth ahead of Kevin Bird, Thomas Greenwood, Nick Le Doyen and William Breame. They may not have been in the spotlight at the head of the field, but they’ve kept on scoring and banking points to stay ahead of those that have their own troubles and slip-ups. Don’t be surprised if any of them pop up in the top five at some stage.
It’s time for the Clapham North Mazda MX-5 SuperCup to really kick into gear as Cadwell Park welcomes the paddock for the next installment in the 2025 season. There’s still plenty to play for in both Pro and Club Classes, and on this circuit winding twists and turns, there’s every chance a surprise or two could pop up if anyone makes one wrong move – and that could be key for championship chances.
Last time out at Oulton Park, while the victories went to Jack Harding and Aidan Hills (neither present this time), the results behind them went in favour of Will Blackwell-Chambers, who has now managed to summit the Pro class points again after dropping back earlier in the season with a DNF at Brands Hatch. But now that he’s back on top, his focus will be absolutely clear – keep that lead and go forwards to claim a second Pro title. Cadwell will be his next test, but he’ll be keen to pass it with flying colours. He now has a 35 point advantage over Thomas Langford, who is yet to win in his first season of SuperCup but has been phenomenal in getting up to speed as a front-runner, and a maiden top step visit must only be a matter of when rather than if.
Behind them on their tail are Ollie Hall and Alistair Dendy, Hall a long time points leader in Pro before dropping off the podium at Oulton saw him fall back down to third place. That said, he’s only nine points off Langford in second place and could easily get back ahead if he can play to Cadwell’s strengths and score ahead of the top two. Dendy is still in touch, too – 21 points off on dropped scores always there to pick up an occasional podium should the opportunity arise. Alistair will be hoping Cadwell will produce more of them. George Grant also returns after being absent at Oulton and will be a welcome sight once more.
In Club class, Sam Middleton had an odd off weekend at Oulton suffering two DNFs, but retained his points lead albeit cut down to 30 points. Jim Barratt is his closest challenger, with Chris Ginn, Bruce Robinson and Graham Rumsey also set to be chasing down the class leader whilst also enjoying their own battles. There could be some pretty interesting back-and-forths here!
Heading to another circuit at which they enjoy plenty of popularity, the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge goes to Cadwell Park with a fascinating battle at the head of the standings. With this being one of the more competitive seasons in recent years, the ST150s will revel once again on Cadwell Park’s unique layout and setting with plenty of top tin-top action promised.
At the top of the table, it’s a battle between young guns George Foxlow and Dillon Davis. Foxlow took the points victories behind guest Ethan Rogers both times at Oulton Park last time out and is now locked into a duel with Davis for supremacy. Dillon too has a win from Oulton Park, and these appears to be the main contenders at the head of the field. Also in there too is Sam Watkins, a former Fiesta champion that would love to clinch another title and only has a handful of points to make up to be amongst the top two, especially with two victories scored so far.
Now absent thanks to his graduation to the BTCC, Max Buxton in fourth isn’t set to be present any longer in the championship, and of course we wish him the very best of luck for his touring car adventure going forward. That means those behind will be moving up ahead of him at this event, with Mark Blunt looking to progress into fourth place, whilst also still seeking his first win. Also ready to progress up the table will be Velocity Racing’s Robbie Harrison, defending champion Michael Blackburn (who has more work to do after a race two DNF at Oulton) and Aiden Vickers, while Jade Goodwin will be on a high after scoring some of the best result of her ST150 career to date.
Another name to watch for around the top ten will be Sophie Kinghorn, whose pair of non-finishes have given her points total and championship position a hit, but she’s shown more than once this season that she’s got the talent to mix it with the front runners. If she can stay out of trouble, Cadwell Park’s twists and turns (which are similar to her native Knockhill circuit in Scotland) could play to her benefit.
Back out on track again for another outing in its inaugural season, the Fix A Wheel Production Cup makes its first ever stop at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire to bring plenty of multi-class hot hatch and production car action around this incredible winding circuit. While the field may be a little smaller compared to previous rounds, it’s definitely not short on quality.
Class A should mostly be a fascinating hot hatch showdown between Renault Clios. Matthew Hollier, Nick Gwinnett and Robert Buckland will put their Renault up against the Civic of Rich Hockley and the Audi TT of Garage 23’s Tim Evans. Between these five, they should be the pace setters this weekend. Trying to stay with them will be Morgan Wroot in his Audi TT, the sole representative in Class B on this occasion.
There looks set to be a fun little battle in Class C with the sole Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy entry of Bruce Hadfield ready for duty this time. He’ll be up against Simon Sheridan’s bright blue Honda Civic EK and David Mycock in another of the Clios, another class that could prove to be quite unpredictable. A sole entry from Class E is also present, with Dale Edwards once again wheeling out his Peugeot 206 GTi to size himself up against the competition.
And along with that, there’s also presence from the Silverlake DS3 Cup, with a sole car this time for Henry Swanson as he looks to gain more confidence and speed whilst also hoping to keep up with the other Production Cup contenders.
It may only be their third outing of the year, but the MG Cockshoot Cup is venturing north to one of its “home” circuits, as Cadwell Park comes calling for this grid for all things classic and modern MGs. This weekend’s entry is looking mighty impressive, with just shy of 20 cars ready to rumble in Lincolnshire.
Alongside guest drivers Josh Addison and Cal Moore, Class A will feature all of the usual suspects thus far with Leon Wignall, Thomas Stanfield, Mark Bellamy and James Johnson all ready for battle. This class is the battleground for MG ZRs and ZSs to fight it out amongst themselves in a true modern British hot hatch scrap on track.
In the more classic-orientated Class B, Martin Richardson’s MGB will uphold honours here as the sole entry, but will hope that he can find some mates on track to race with throughout the course of the weekend. Some of them may come from Class C, the best supported class of the event with no less than eight cars present this time. Keith Egar is back in his MG Midget, as is Peter Bramble in his MGB, along with Paul Wignall and Karl Green in their ZSs, Eliza Seville and Christopher Greenbank in their MGFs and more, meaning this lot are likely to be front runners in the pack.
And in Class F, Phil Rigby will be delighted that he has some class mates to race with this time! He’s joined at Cadwell Park by Laura Farrow and guest Greg Elgood, meaning this could be an interesting battle between the three.
Back on track for another intense combined grid race, the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup and Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup will grace Cadwell Park with another exceptional retro tin top and hot hatch contest in store from both entries. In the VWs, there’s another excellent mixture of retro and modern VAG group cars, many of whom are familiar names and machines. They include Ken Lark’s VW Corrado, Nick Sanderson’s SEAT Supercopa, Simon Tomlinson returning in his ex-VW Cup Golf. There’s also Audis out in force too, with Pinnacle Racing’s trio of A3s and TTs from Paul Hoggins and Tim Evans.
With the Metros, it’s no surprise who’s favourite going into this one – Jack Ashton. The man who has run away with most of the Metro Cup wins over the last 12 months is continuing his charge at the head of the field and hoping to maintain his advantage. He knows with two different series on track together at the same time that racing room will be at a premium, but if he can create a gap quickly enough, then he will certainly be the outstanding favourite to win. His nearest competition is once again certain to be the likes of Mike Williams, Matthew Simpson, Dick Trevett, Tim Shooter and Phil Goodwin, all with plenty of experience and keen to try and knock Ashton off the top spot.
Once again sporting one of the best looking and sounding grids of the weekend, the Modified Ford Series makes its way to Cadwell Park for their latest round of the season, supported this weekend by James Allen Interiors. James is also one of this weekend’s contenders in his Focus RS, hoping for a turnaround in fortunes after mechanical problems last time at Croft. He will be in the hunt for victory on a grid that’s full of rapid Blue Ovals that will have to tackle this incredible rollercoaster of a circuit in Lincolnshire.
Along with James Allen’s Focus, there could be several notable contenders gunning for victory. They include Andy Robinson’s booming Falcon AU V8 SuperCar Dave Cockell’s Escort Cosworth, Simon Light’s V8 powered Capri, Lloyd Jamieson’s Escort Cosworth Maxi and Paul Nevill’s Escort RS2000. Other cars that are certain to turn heads will be Robert Lewis and AJ Howe’s Focuses (the latter being an estate car!), plus a number of Pumas of various specs, Pip Finney’s XR2i Fiesta, and a couple of Escort Mk1 RSRs for Ben Purnell and Chris Harrison.
DDMC Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship
The season has now passed the halfway mark but we still have everything to fight for. There are currently four drivers with point totals ranging from 160 to 170 ( prior to dropped scores) this season. Stevie McNab is currently sitting at the top of the championship table with 170 points.
August is a busy month for our championship with Cadwell Park on 9th & 10th of August and then DDMC organised event at Croft on 23rd & 24th August at our Battle of Britain meeting. The final two rounds for this year are again with BRSCC but this time at Donington.
As you can see from our grid that we have a very eclectic mix of cars, from the Mazda MX5’s to BMW M3 and then kit cars including Caterham’s & Westfield’s and a very quick Eclipse driven by Paul Collingwood.
Two driver’s are making the long journey from Scotland to join us this weekend. They are class E driver Damien McKay in his Westfield and current championship leader Stevie McNab in class C driving a Honda Civic.
The NSSCC champion for the last two years Stephen Reece is aiming for a third championship win in his beautifully presented Lotus. He is being challenged very closely by Alex Prentice driving his VW Golf.
Thank you to the marshals and officials of the meeting; NSSCC hope you all enjoy our racing and enjoy your day.
Written by Scott Woodwiss & DDMC
