Author Archives: Scott-W

  1. BRITISH GT & GINETTA GEAR UP FOR OULTON PARK BANK HOLIDAY OUTING

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    Sprint racing takes centre stage this bank holiday weekend at Oulton Park where the British GT Championship heads for rounds three and four of its 2025 campaign, plus exciting racing in store from the trio of factory Ginetta championships in store too!

    British GT (written by Tom Hornsby)

    Maximum points from the first two events sees Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss (2 Seas) head the GT3 standings, while GT4’s top two – Marc Warren/Jack Brown (Optimum) and Ravi Ramyead/Charlie Robertson (Century) – cannot be separated after sharing victories at Donington and Silverstone.

    British GT traditionally visits Oulton at Easter. That might not be the case this year but its traditional qualifying-on-Saturday, racing-on-Monday format remains a feature at the end of spring when the parkland venue will be at its lushest.

    GT3
    Not since 2017 have the same drivers won the opening two races. Dawson and Jewiss didn’t quite manage to change that stat at Silverstone but did inherit winners’ points from ineligible guest entrants Darren Leung and Dan Harper.

    Victory on the opening weekend at Donington therefore leaves 2 Seas’ #42 Mercedes-AMG with the maximum haul of 75 after two rounds – something that hasn’t happened since Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam won the opening endurance races in 2016. But the team will also be mindful that the destination of this year’s title is still far from decided after letting a 28-point lead slip with two races remaining in 2023.

    Compensation time of 10 seconds makes another victory unlikely in Race 1. However, 2 Seas knows how to win at Oulton where its Mercedes-AMGs doubled up two years ago, while Dawson won a GT4 race there last season.

    Nevertheless, perhaps it’s the sister machine shared by Kevin Tse – a winner at Oulton on his British GT debut back in 2021 – and co-driver Maximilian Götz who will re-energise their title tilt after scoring just 1.5 points last time out.

    They currently occupy sixth in the standings behind Barwell’s two Lamborghini crews and Optimum’s Morgan Tillbrook and Marvin Kirchhöfer. The latter are currently Dawson and Jewiss’ closest competitors after finishing third overall and scoring second place points at Silverstone where the McLaren set new qualifying and race lap records. Such form is not necessarily guaranteed at Oulton, though: both the team and 720S only have one victory to their names in Cheshire, and those were back in 2018 and ’20, respectively.

    No team has enjoyed more GT3 success at Oulton than Barwell. Indeed, three of its four drivers won there last year. Alex Martin, who is reunited with Sandy Mitchell this weekend, sits alone in third overall but already 36 points behind Dawson and Jewiss. He therefore needs a large chunk of the 50 available for winning both races – something Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen managed with Barwell in 2017 – to check 2 Seas’ momentum.

    Reigning champion Rob Collard will also be a threat in the other Huracan after returning to action with Hugo Cook at Silverstone. He won the season opener at Oulton alongside his son Ricky last year, while Cook is joint fourth with Mitchell in 2025’s early standings.

    Elsewhere, Blackthorn’s Aston Martin serves +5 seconds in Monday’s first race for claiming third place points at Silverstone – a result that moved Giacomo Petrobelli and Jonny Adam into the squabble for second overall. A victory, most likely in Race 2, would be AMR’s first in the senior class at Oulton since 2018 when Adam triumphed with Flick Haigh.

    With Silver-Am’s extra guest entrants only appearing at Silverstone, class honours will be fought between Beechdean and Bridger this weekend. Andrew Howard and Tom Wood have maximum points thus far but the Honda shared by Johnny Ip and Luke Garlick was also competitive on Silverstone’s long, wide layout. Will that also be the case at a much narrower Oulton?


    GT4
    A win and second place apiece leave Warren/Brown and Ramyead/Robertson locked together atop GT4’s standings. But with both the McLaren and BMW serving extra compensation time in Monday’s first race, there is at least a little room for rivals to reduce their deficits.

    Century’s M4 was metronomic en route to victory at Silverstone where Brown, Optimum and the Artura had triumphed for the past two years. Oulton poses a different challenge, though: Optimum hasn’t won a GT4 race there since 2016 when it claimed a rare double, while Century’s only victory with BMW, and first since 2013, came four years ago.

    Their chances of changing that will likely depend on the performance of Mahiki’s Lotuses, and specifically its Silver crew. Josh Miller and Aiden Neate have been the fastest combination over the first two races but only have 15 points to show for their efforts following Silverstone’s DNF. At least one win is imperative to the Emira establishing itself as the credible championship challenger its teenage duo have proven they should be.

    Mathematically, Ed McDermott and Seb Morris are the top two’s nearest challengers. But the Endurance Cup entrants will not race again until Spa, leaving Silver class leaders Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld as the next best crew. They head to Oulton 33 points behind their Century team-mates but also have extra time to serve in Race 1 after completing Silverstone’s podium.

    Like their Silver rivals at Mahiki, Luca Hopkinson and Harry George require a big weekend if they’re to get back into overall contention. The other side of Optimum’s garage has had all the luck so far in 2025, but the #17 McLaren has a chance to bounce back in Race 1 thanks to a qualifying format that favours Silver over Pro-Am entries and the extra compensation time for the championship leaders.

    There’s also Phil Keen who shares Team Parker’s Mercedes-AMG with Jon Currie. British GT’s all-time wins record holder has scored a remarkable six GT3 victories at Oulton since his first there in 2013.

    GINETTA GT CHAMPIONSHIP (written by Ginetta)
    Archie Clark will be looking to extend his unbeaten start to the 2025 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship across two races this weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire.

    The championship has entered a new era this year with the introduction of the V8-powered Ginetta G56 GTP8, which is producing the fastest ever one-make Ginetta racing, as well as a new race format featuring a 20-minute sprint and a 40-minute endurance run with a mandatory pitstop.

    Clark (MDD Racing) has enjoyed a spectacular start with four wins from four races across the opening events at Donington Park and Silverstone. The Ginetta Junior graduate has impressed with his speed and racecraft, battling through to victory having only once started on the front-row of the grid.

    Hadley Simpson (Xentek Motorsport) was Clark’s closest competitor last time out, as he bounced back from a tough season opener with a great pair of second place finishes. Cameron Pratt-Thompson (SVG Motorsport) joined him in scoring a maiden Ginetta podium at Silverstone.

    Building on an impressive cameo at the end of 2024, Robert Cronin (Elite Motorsport) picked up silverware on the opening weekend and his consistency puts him second in the PRO class points. Car-racing newcomer Jack Collins (E3 Sport) has also enjoyed class podium finishes.

    Reigning champion Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport) returned to the grid at Silverstone and made an instant impact with a podium finish. Another front-runner from 2024 is back on the grid this weekend meanwhile, in the shape of two-time race-winner Conner Garlick (Xentek Motorsport).

    Two-time Ginetta champion Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) and Harry Gamble (Elite Motorsport) are the early pace-setters in the hotly-contested PRO-AM category. They’ve each secured two class wins and an overall second place finish across the opening four races.

    2024 Ginetta GT Academy rookie victor Mike Taylor (Triple M Motorsport) has also shown his pace at the head of the field, topping the timesheets overall in qualifying at Donington, while Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport) celebrated a breakthrough PRO-AM podium last time out.

    Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) is leading the way in the AM class meanwhile, having started the season with three consecutive victories. Ali Juffali (Elite Motorsport) broke that winning streak in the last race at Silverstone though and leads a talented group of drivers aiming to catch Shaw in the points.

    Emma Tomlinson (DTO Motorsport) and Dominic Paul (Triple M Motorsport) each picked up a trophy on the opening weekend. Amongst those chasing their first top three results of the season are Colin White (CWS), whose next podium will be his 150th in one-make Ginetta racing, plus James Townsend (SVG Motorsport), Amy Tomlinson (Raceway Motorsport) and Fox Motorsport duo James Rolling and Oliver Fordham.

    GINETTA GT ACADEMY (written by Ginetta)
    If the opening two events of the season are anything to go by, the Ginetta GT Academy is looking as competitive and unpredictable as ever before heading into the latest three races this weekend at Oulton Park.

    Charlie Digby (MDD Racing) hit the ground running with a double victory on the opening weekend at Donington Park, but a win in each of the first two rounds has put Jamie Caudle to the top of the standings, while his E3 Sport team-mate James Nicholas also tasted victory at Silverstone last time out.

    Consistency has been key for Caudle so far in his second GT Academy campaign, having been the only driver to finish every race inside the top three so far. Digby meanwhile marked his return to Ginetta racing after a near seven-year absence with four consecutive podiums, before a DNF in the Silverstone closer.

    Nicholas also has four class podium finishes under his belt, and will be one to watch as he returns to the scene of a stunning overall victory on his car-racing debut last year. Alex Deighton (Paradine by Xentek) is hot on the heels of the top three in the points too, having featured on the podium twice so far.

    A number of drivers are ready to break onto the GTA class podium and pick up their first trophies of the campaign. Louis Darling (MDD Racing) has impressed in his maiden season in Ginetta racing, while 2024 podium finisher Peter Thompson (W2R) has featured in the top six already this year.

    Paul Livesey (MDD Racing), Phil McGarty (Xentek Motorsport) and Lucie Hodgson (W2R) have all shown their pace with overall top ten results so far, a milestone that SVG Motorsport pair Gilbert Verdian and Chris Babington will be hoping to achieve this weekend.

    The early points leader in the rookie class for car-racing newcomers is Sam Shrimpton (W2R). The latest winner of the PalmerSport Ginetta Race Scholarship, following in the footsteps of Nicholas, he has excelled with three class wins and a handful of overall top six finishes to date.

    Shiv Sapra (Paradine by Xentek) has joined Shrimpton in featuring at the sharp end of the grid through the opening two events, including qualifying fourth overall and securing a maiden class win at Donington Park. He has three rookie podium finishes under his belt so far.

    Joe Edge (W2R) became the latest Ginetta class race-winner in the final round at Silverstone meanwhile. The team boss-turned-driver’s maiden rookie success came in a superb third overall, the highest race finish for any of the rookie contenders in 2025 so far.

    The competitiveness of the rookie pack this year is highlighted by the fact all five contenders have picked up trophies already. Allan Wright took a double podium at Donington, while his W2R team-mate Damien Duffy scored his breakthrough top three at Silverstone.

    GINETTA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (written by Ginetta)
    Rocco Coronel has established himself as the driver to beat as the 20th anniversary season of the Ginetta Junior Championship continues with a triple-header this weekend at Oulton Park.

    Coronel has enjoyed a sensational start to his maiden Junior campaign, going on an eye-catching run of five race wins in a row. The Red Bull Junior Team driver followed up a Donington Park double with a triumphant hat-trick at Silverstone last time out, including victory in the landmark 500th Ginetta Junior race.

    The opening race victory of 2025 at Donington Park went the way of Alfie Slater, with R Racing collecting a clean sweep of the race wins so far this season. Slater has added a couple of second place finishes to kick off his title challenge in his second year in the championship.

    R Racing are on course to secure their 200th Ginetta Junior podium this weekend, becoming only the second team in history to reach that milestone. Red Bull Junior ace Scott Kin Lindblom and Max Cuthbert have also secured silverware for them this year, while Jarrett Clark and Felipe Reijs are targeting their first trophies.

    One of the main challengers to Coronel so far this season has been Fred Green (Elite Motorsport). The Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner has enjoyed a fantastic start to his rookie year, scoring pole position on his debut weekend and a trio of second place race finishes to date.

    Green is part of a multi-car challenge at the front of the field from Elite Motorsport. Rookie contender Joseph Smith celebrated a podium double last time out, on the same weekend that Ethan Carney secured his maiden rostrum, while 2024 race-winner Colin Cronin is chasing his first trophy of 2025.

    It’s been a breakthrough season so far for Torrin Byrne and Pace Performance, celebrating their maiden podium at Donington and pole position at Silverstone. Bursting into the lead pack at Silverstone meanwhile was rookie George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing) with a hat-trick of top five finishes.

    Fellow rookies Freddie Lloyd (Fox Motorsport) and Ethan Lennon (Pace Performance) have also impressed with best results of fourth and fifth respectively, while other rookies to break into the top ten so far include Emmilio Del Grosso (Elite Motorsport), Noah Young (Performance One) and Harry Bartle (MKH Racing).

    Felix Livesey (MDD Racing) is another driver to have featured in the top ten, while amongst those in the mix in the hotly-contested midfield battles have been Raul Zunzarren (MKH Racing), Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) and Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport).

    Championship newcomers Tim Gray Motorsport have made their presence felt in their debut campaign too, running a four-strong entry of Josh Watts, Matthew Chiwara, Katrina Ee and Joshua Henry.

  2. BRSCC ENTERTAINS ON AN EVENTFUL OULTON PARK RACE DAY

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    On a sunny Spring day in Cheshire, the British Racing & Sports Car Club made its second visit of the season to the Oulton Park International circuit, with four championships battling through an eventful day to produce another entertaining and action-packed day of club motorsport. While Fun Cup brought the endurance factor, Fiestas, CityCar and BMWs thrilled with the sprints.

    Competing at their spiritual home, the Fun Cup Endurance Championship produced a superb 28 car entry for its second round of the season, but the action kicked off as early as lap two when Red River Sport and Team FFS tangled at Druids, forcing the first safety car to appear. When back to green, the pair of Morpheus team cars and UVio/ Hoffman’s Motorsport wasted no time getting to the front, quickly before a brief second safety car was called, but leading trio quickly gapped the rest on the restart.

    UVio leapt in front of the Morpheus pair after the first pit window, while VapeClub with EDF drove forwards into third thanks to young gun Ted Bradbury. After another short safety car thanks to car #97 stopping before Druids, UVio led from Morpheus 2Rent, VapeClub, GCI Racing and defending champs Olympian-GRD with half distance looming. The Morpheus FNS sister car managed to rise to P2 in the lead group as the two hour mark ticked over, leaving a thrilling battle amongst the front runners.

    More safety cars were called either side of crossing 90 minutes remaining, with the lead traded between UVio, Olympian and Morpheus 2Rent in such a short space of time. Morpheus 2Rent were hit with a stop-go penalty with just under an hour to go which put them out of contention, leaving UVio and Olympian to once again fight it out for victory, but still battled with the pair and former champions Sheradize UK. After the final pit window, Olympian had the lead and stayed there until the flag, but second place would not prove to be secure for UVio.

    They lost out in the final laps to a charging Sheradize UK whose quick times helped them take second with just minutes to spare, UVio had to settle for third in the end, with GCI Racing fourth and Axiametrics completing a quiet race with fifth place.

    There was drama in the first AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship race of the day when pole sitter John Cooper had to defend hard from Gary Miller and George Foxlow throughout the first half of the 20 minute encounter. However, with six minutes remaining, contact between Cooper and Miller send the former into a sizeable accident, bringing a premature halt to the race. With a result declared, Miller was given the victory from Foxlow in second, followed by David Nye in third from Alastair Kellett and Connor Blackburn. Jason O’Connell continued his strong start in Club class from Luke Warr and Maggie Webster.

    Race two was almost as eventful, with clouds of dust kicked up exiting turn one and a safety called eight minutes in for Harry Walsh’s blown engine. Restarting with five minutes left, Miller headed Kellett and Lucas in the lead fight, but the Irishman let the pair dice between themselves for the remainder of the race, holding for to claim his second victory of the day from Kellett, Blackburn, Reynolds and Foxlow in the top five in Pro class. In Club class, it was O’Connell’s to lose once again, top of the pile in class once again from Dan Robinson and Freddie Hunter-Johnson.

    The Nankang Tyre BMW SuperCup Championship produced a strong entry covering both the 1 Series SuperCup and Compact Cup cars across the board. Race one saw Millie Hart put in a superbly controlled drive to resist race long pressure from Thorburn Astin for the overall and 1 Series race lead, competing a lights to flag performance for her first win. Aydan Hassan was a comfortable third overall in class from Simon Waterfall and Danny Wilkinson. In the Compacts, defending champion Connor Grady picked up the win while Gareth Claydon was runner-up ahead of Adam Wright, Max Noble and Joe Doble.

    After a red-flagged first start, Astin took the lead from the restart of race two and managed to streak away for the duration, capturing his first points-scoring victory of the season by 1.7 seconds seconds, while a delighted Simon Waterfall claimed a podium finish with P2 ahead of Hassan and Hart. Joe Doble charged to a Compact Cup class win behind them, followed by Max Noble in second, then Joe’s father Mike Doble, Ethan Woods and Peter Smith in the top five.

    Just one of the scheduled Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship races was able to be completed at Oulton Park on the day, but the race that did take place was a real thriller from start to finish. Rookie Ben Spencer jumped to the lead from the front row, but Brady Pollock led by the end of lap one, before the pair were joined by Stuart Bliss, Richard Jepp, Alex Foden, Alistair May and co to make up a frantic leading group. After some initial heavy scrambling, Bliss kept the race in his command to win overall and in Student Motorsport for Boston College, ahead of Spencer, Jepp, Pollock and Foden.

    Race two had two attempts to get underway, but sadly due to accidents that caused red flags on both attempts, and thanks to timetable constraints, the race had to be abandoned and declared a non-contest.

    Written by Scott Woodwiss

  3. BRSCC’S BLUE OVALS OUT IN FORCE FOR CMMC WEEKEND AT MALLORY PARK

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    As part of the Classic & Modern Motorsport Club’s race meeting this coming weekend, the British Racing & Sports Car Club will have four of its formulae out in force on the Leicestershire speed bowl. From single seaters to tin-top and future racing stars, the Club’s quartet of series appearing this weekend all feature a distinct Ford flavour which is sure to compliment the rest of the timetable perfectly.

    The young chargers of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship are back in action this weekend for the second time in 2025, after an all-action beginning to the season a few weeks ago at Snetterton. Back there, it was Jack Burgess who took both wins (the second after a post-race penalty) and he leads the standings going into this weekend. He’s one of a handful of sophomore drivers making full use of their experience to head the field, and he will be one of the names to beat this weekend.

    Thomas Merritt is another year two driver who really showed his pace and it must only be a matter of time before that first win comes his way. FJC Scholarship winner Lewis Islin made an instant impact on his first ever race weekend with two podiums and will surely be in the hunt too, as will Dara McInerney, Callie Clifford, Archie Davies, Max Fenton, Isaac Doble and 2024 Scholarship winner Daniella Sutton. Remember these names and the rest on this weekend’s entry – some of them are destined for great things in motorsport

    They won’t be the only Fiesta series in the paddock at Mallory this weekend – the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge has quickly become a fantastic hot hatch battleground over the last couple of seasons and Snetterton showed the potential for this season’s leading group. Max Buxton took a superb couple of wins with Sam Watkins picking up the other from the opening triple header, and they’ll be the initial favourites to take to the top step once again.

    That said, there’s plenty of drivers that have the speed and the ability to mount a strong challenge this time. Young charges like George Foxlow, Dillon Davis, Robbie Harrison and Sophie Kinghorn were quick to put down their markers at Snetterton, while more experienced hands like Liam Browning and Mark Blunt also tried to start strong. Plus, 2024 champion Mike Blackburn will be determined to have a smoother outing this time after a mixed start to his title defence that left him lying outside the top ten. Expect Michael to rebound strong.

    Then there’s a distinct single seater flavour on the timetable as the Geoff Page Engineering Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship comes to a circuit that was almost practically made for the kind of cut and thrust action Formula Ford always typically provides. After mixed conditions at Brands Hatch a few weeks ago, some dry running all weekend would certainly be welcomed!

    Ben Powney looks as though he’s going to be a key player in this year’s championship, as he’s ready to go wheel to wheel with defending Super Classic A class winner Tom Hawkins in what’s sure to be one of the battles of the day. Vincent Jay and Neil Hunt will be among those in SCA, while BRSCC’s very own Peter Daly will be looking to get the better of Super Classic B leader Chris Stones, Oliver Roberts and Richard Earl among others, as well as his partner Lorna Vickers. Mark and Grace Bates and Colin Williams will also enjoy themselves representing some of the older cars in the field too.

    And if all that wasn’t enough for Blue Oval fans, there’s also an appearance from the Modified Ford Series at Mallory Park, too. This incredible series full of rapid, tuned and brilliantly presented Fords always provides plenty of entertainment and spectacle, and on a circuit as short but fast as Mallory, they’re going to be a true delight to watch and and experience.

    To give you an idea of just some of the variety of Ford models that will be expected to run towards the front, key names including Josh Payton’s Cortina, Rob Lewis’ Mk1 Focus, Paul Nevill Escort RS2000, ex-BTCC racer Lea Wood in his Mk1 Escort RSR, Martin Reynolds’ Mk2 Escort, and Lloyd Jamieson’s Escort Maxi Cosworth. All of them are sure to be gunning to be in the lead back right from the outset in qualifying.

    The rest of the timetable at this CMMC race weekend will also feature action from the 500 Owners Association, Northern Saloon & Sports Car Championship, and CMMCs’ regular collective of series – the Intermarques Silhouettes (sharing with the Welsh Saloon & Sports Car Championship), Tin Tops and Super Saloons, completing a well-rounded timetable full of variety!

    Written by Scott Woodwiss

  4. A SNETTERTON SPRING SIZZLER IN STORE FOR BRSCC

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    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

  5. BRSCC ROCKS SILVERSTONE FOR 24 HOURS AS ALPHA-TROJON TRIUMPH

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    On a memorable weekend for the BRSCC and all involved, the return of the 24 Hours at Silverstone brought one of the best loved events in club motorsport back to the track. With over 40 teams turning out to contest the main event, the 24 Hours itself produced many twists and turns along the way and a dramatic last hour, too. On top of that, the support categories on the timetable also produced some exceptional racing for those in attendance, with British F4, Britcar & Supercar Challenge, Caterham Graduates and ClubSport Trophy all providing great entertainment.

    Qualifying for the BRSCC 24 Hours saw Alpha-Trojon, the defending race winners from 2023, claim pole position alongside the sole CityCar class entry from Emax Motorsport (alongside their rank of C1 Endurance spec cars also entered) on the front row. After the CityCar dropped back early on, a leading quartet of Alpha-Trojon, #blessed, Scuderia Pollo Rosso and JW Bird Motorsport formed out front. The #blessed car dropped back, leaving the leading trio to circulate for just past two hours before the first full course yellow allowed them to pit with reduced time loss.

    Emax’s best performing car, #346, hit trouble before the end of hour three, and as the race heading towards the night, Alpha-Trojon continued to lead from JW Bird and Pollo Rosso, but as darkness feel, cars hit trouble. Pollo Rosso’s cruel luck struck when an incident in the night led to engine failure and retirement, the #599 Euro Car Parts car (with BTCC aces Josh Cook, Jade Edwards and Aiden Moffat) ran out of fuel in the Arena section, and even Alpha-Trojon weren’t immune to issues after snapping a rear beam which required a quick 12 minute fix to get back out.

    Going into the early hours of Sunday morning, #blessed led the way and had a three minute lead when they too also had a engine failure due to oil issues. This allowed Alpha-Trojon to climb back to the front, and this is essentially where they would stay right until the chequered flag. Proving unstoppable once again, Trojan ended up victorious with a four lap lead, but behind them drama almost befell second place. Baycon Racing with Liqui Moly had to deal with a driveshaft issue that left them several seconds off the pace, but still able to bring the car home for an emotional second place, with Project Sixty Three completing the podium ahead of Silverlake and JW Bird.

    A massive thank you to everyone who made the renaissance of the BRSCC 24 Hour race such a roaring success!

    The support races on the Saturday, prior to the main event, produced their own exciting encounters to entertain spectators throughout the day. The Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA provided three intense races just a week removed from their season opener at Donington Park. James Piszcyk claimed victory in race one on Friday afternoon, followed home by Fionn McLaughlin and Martin Molnar on the podium ahead of Henry Joslyn and August Raber.

    Piszcyk then had to come through from 12th on the race two grid to try and repeat the feat, but couldn’t improve on that position in the end. Victory this time would go to Adam Al-Azhari from Rowan Campbell-Pilling and Tommy Harfield, with the top five completed by Thomas Bearman and Joslyn. Later in the afternoon, Piszcyk grabbed his second win of the weekend in race three less than a second ahead of Molnar, while McLaughlin completed the top three from Ethan Jeff-Hall and Leo Robinson.

    A mammoth and mouth-watering dual grid for the Britcar Endurance Championship and the Supercar Challenge from the Netherlands took to the Silverstone GP circuit for a 90-minute endurance race, with two races competing at one time on track together. In the Britcar race, a commanding performance by Steve Gambrell and Dan Lloyd’s Porsche 991.2 Cup car saw them win by almost 25 seconds at the flag. Ash Muldoon and James Kellett’s own Porsche took second place overall from the Ferrari of Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem. The second Amspeed Porsche of Dom Malone and Dan Cammish was fourth, with Woodrow Motorsport’s BMW of Callum Bates completing the top five.

    In the Supercar Challenge ranks, a fine display from John de Wilde’s Porsche 992 Cup car saw him take the top spot by just over eight seconds, winning ahead of Morgan and Marcus Short’s Mosler MT900R in second and Blueberry Racing’s BMW M4 GT4 Evo of Berry van Elk. JR Motorsport’s BMW M6 GT3 of Ted van Vliet, and Dennis & Steff de Borst’s Hyundai i30 N TCR took fourth and fifth respectively.

    Some of the closest and tightest racing all day on Saturday came courtesy of the P4 Emergency Lighting Caterham Graduates with a massive combined grid for their Sigma 135 and Sigma 150 classes. Multiple time champion Jamie Ellwood put in a fine drive to head a tight lead pack, picking up the race one win from a photo finish for second between Ben Winrow and Paul Goldstein by just over a tenth of a second. Stephen Clark and Max Haynes completed the top five in Sigma 150, while Tom McEwing was Sigma 135 winner from Steve Merritt and Thomas Gunter.

    The winning margin was even closer in race two, as Haynes managed to just pip Winrow at the line for victory by a mere 0.043 seconds in a typical Caterham finish. Clark picked up the final podium place with third ahead of race one winner Ellwood and Harry Cramer in the top five. McEwing’s Sigma 135 victory margin this time was a little bigger this time, over three seconds ahead of Merritt, James Hapgood, Giles Derry and Gunter.

    A 40+ car entry took to the Silverstone GP circuit for the SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy 45-minute pit stop race, with Shane Kelly’s Morgan leading from the green flag with Adam Marshall’s VW Golf and Phiroze Bilimoria’s Scirocco chasing after him in the early stages. Bilimoris did his best to wind the Morgan back in towards him before the pit stops began. Kelly stopped first, followed by Marshall, and then Bilimoria mid way through the pit window, rejoining in what would be fifth place with a third of the race left to run.

    As the last few pit stops shook out, Kelly led from Bilimoria and Josh Files’ Honda Civic, the pair doing battle briefly for second with Marshall’s Golf but eventually seeing the Scirocco in P2 and showing the pair a clean pair of heels. From what was a ten second gap with ten minutes to go, Kelly suffered issues with just a couple of laps to go, and when the final lap began it was Bilimoria into the overall lead. Phiroze redeemed himself for his Brands Hatch mistake with outright victory, from Marshall’s Golf, Files’ Class B winning Civic, Kelly’s ailing Morgan and Jason Brough’s Golf GTi ClubSport.

    Additional class wins down the field went to Craig Emmerson’s BMW 330 in Class C, Barny Francis’ Mazda RX-8 in Class D, and the BMW Compact of Craig Ferns and James Dermott in Class E.

    Written by Scott Woodwiss

  6. OULTON PARK CALLS AGAIN FOR BRSCC WITH FUNCUP AND CO

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    The British Racing & Sports Car Club prepares to visit the sweeps and climbs of the awesome Oulton Park International circuit in Cheshire for the second time in 2025, as it brings with it another exciting mix of endurance and sprint racing. With the second outings of the year for the FunCup Endurance Championship, Fiesta ST240s, BMW SuperCup and CityCar Cup, all four will be ready to put on a great show for spectators and live stream viewers alike.

    Off the back of a thrilling Brands Hatch season opener, the Fun Cup Endurance Championship is back in town at its spiritual home of Oulton Park, with a field of teams ready to pick up where they left off from Kent. Such is the level of talent and competition in this year’s field that several teams have a genuine chance at victory on paper, but despite this it was defending champions Olympian-GRD that still managed to work their way to victory at Brands Hatch and head to Cheshire as the points leaders.

    Multi-time champs UVio/ Hofmann’s Motorsport pushed them all the way to take second place and have been perennial rivals to Olympian-GRD for the past couple of years, so it’ll be no surprise to see both at the head of the field by race’s end. Other threats on the entry list that are sure to give this pair some headaches throughout include Racelogic, PLR Racing, GCI Racing and Sheradize, all of whom have been previous champion teams and won’t be afraid to show their teeth when challenging at the front.

    The sprint races at Oulton are also certain to produce plenty of entertainment all day, too. The Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship is heading to Oulton Park with an expected capacity grid full of Citroen C1s, Peugeot 107s and Toyota Aygos ready to rumble. This year’s grid has already become one of this season’s healthiest and best supported within BRSCC right now and competition will be high after an intense opening meeting at Snetterton a few weeks ago.

    Back in Norfolk, wins were split between defending champion Stuart Bliss, Joshua Jackson and Christopher Mackenzie, but there were several more drivers that also shared podiums between them too. Others who must be counted into contention for at least a top three finish include Richard Jepp, Andrew Dyer, newcomer Ben Spencer, Sandro Proietti, Alistair May and Philip House, just to name a few.

    Also be sure to watch out for the Student Motorsport contest within the CityCar grid, as Boston College Racing look to dethrone three time champions Northbrook Racing. Further competition also comes from Sussex Motorsport, East Surrey College, West Suffolk College ME and more.

    For faster hot hatch fans, the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship will whet your appetites and are certain to put on a great show after they delivered a superb season opener at Snetterton themselves. Despite not winning a race a few weeks ago, defending champion Alastair Kellett scored strong enough in Norfolk to head to Oulton this Saturday as the points leader overall and in Pro class. Ideally, he’d love to be on the top step and he’ll be gunning to reach it here.

    That said, this year’s front running group looks to be one of the strongest since the ST240s began racing in 2020. His main contenders in Pro are already looking to give him headaches, including John Cooper, Gary Miller and Zach Lucas who all shared the Snetterton spoils between them. Ones to watch will also be George Foxlow, Sean Reynolds, Simon Horrobin, James Pope and Morgan Kidd. As for the Club class, newcomer Jason O’Connell impressed on his debut with a hat-trick of wins, and will wish to keep that momentum up against Dan Robinson, Maggie Webster, Luke Warr and more.

    The newly-formed Nankang Tyre BMW SuperCup Championship had an excellent start to its new life as a combined grid at Snetterton, and there’s another superb turn out for the second round at Oulton. Snetterton saw a great back and forth between top 1 Series contenders Danny Wilkinson and Millie Hart, the pair constantly trading places in every race but ending in Wilkinson coming out on top. Others in class sure to mount a challenge include Thorburn Astin, Chris Stretton, Simon Waterfall and David Meadows.

    Over in the Compact Cup class, defending champion managed a victory at Snetterton, but find himself currently in third behind points leader Joe Doble and 2023 Compact champion Gareth Claydon. This year’s collective of Compacts looks as though it’s going to be mighty close between the front runners, especially with the aforementioned trio in the mix. Other strong contenders to watch will be Adam Wright, Max Noble, Paul Mousell, Keith Towers and Matt Kendall.

    Written by Scott Woodwiss

  7. SILVERSTONE AWAITS FOR THE 2025 BRSCC 24 HOURS

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    One of the BRSCC’s biggest and highly anticipated events of 2025 has arrived, as we prepare to descend on the home of British motorsport this weekend. Silverstone’s full Grand Prix circuit plays host to the return of the Silverstone 24 Hours, the twice-round-the-clock favourite for many in UK club racing that is certain to produce another memorable weekend of racing for all involved.

    Alongside the main event this weekend, an excellent support package is in store, with the likes of Britcar, Dutch Supercar Challenge, British F4, Caterham Graduates and the BRSCC’s very own ClubSport Trophy all guaranteed to entertain before the 24 Hours gets underway later in the afternoon!

    The return of the Silverstone 24 Hours will be an exciting one for many, as one of the highlights in both the BRSCC and C1 Racing Club calendar. The grid will mainly comprise of cars regularly competing and compliant in the Silverlake C1 Endurance Series, many of which will be familiar to the 24 Hours from previous editions. From beginning the race late Saturday afternoon, racing through darkness overnight and back into the light of day, drivers and teams will face many challenges on and off track. Just making it to the chequered flag alone is a impressive feat, but to do well or even win this event, it will require a perfectly executed mix of teamwork, strategy, preparation, consistency – and even a little luck.

    Looking down the entry list, there are many teams that are standouts to be in contention for the overall victory. One squad that can never be overlooked is Trojon Motorsport. Their two-car effort in the regular season is often compressed into a sole car for all five of their regular drivers under the Alpha-Trojon name, and they come back to the 24 Hours as defending winners from 2023. Often seen to win multiple C1 Endurance races in a season year on year, they will start as favourites for many. Their perennial rivals at Emax Motorsport will also be out in force, especially with no fewer than six cars running under their banner, showing just how serious they are in claiming the 24 Hour crown this year. 2023 saw a dramatic finish between the two teams fighting for the lead in the final minutes – who knows what could be in store this time…

    There are plenty of other teams that could also force their way into the mix given their form over the past couple of seasons. Series sponsors Silverlake have proven to be quite the force in recent encounters, even managing to get both cars on the overall podium on the road at the previous race on the GP circuit in March, before one was penalised and demoted. WRC Developments have always been a team firmly featuring at the front more often than not, but luck and reliability have been hindrances at times to deny them victories. Perhaps this edition of the 24 Hours breaks that curse, especially with two cars entered.

    J W Bird Motorsport were quick in the 2023 edition and a formidable team of drivers will certainly want to steer one of their two cars to victory lane this time, too will the likes of RABSport Racing, Scuderia Pollo Rosso, Baycon Racing with Liqui Moly and more. Other squads with top talent include #blessed featuring double MX5 SuperCup Pro champion Aidan Hills in their driving strength. Project Sixty Three features more MX-5 talent in race winners Brian Trott and Stuart Symonds amongst them. And there’s even touring car stars too – fresh from the Donington BTCC opener last weekend, 2022 champ Tom Ingram and former Independents Cup champion Josh Cook both take to the grid this weekend. Ingram features in the OPC-PR team car he’s driven a handful of times previously, while Cook takes to the 24H Racing squad in a bid to raise the winners’ trophy.

    All in all, this race will be one of the highlights of the year, and certainly one that many will remember for a long time!

     

    Outside of the main event at Silverstone, there is a buzzing support race timetable on Saturday that’s sure to get pulses racing across the board. Several high end championships and series join us this weekend, all of which will be looking to impress and perform well as their seasons progress through the early stages.

    Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA

    The Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA will write another chapter in its illustrious history, as the UK’s premier single-seater series celebrates its 300th race at the Home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone.

    One week on from an action-packed opening weekend at Donington Park, the Class of 2025 will make the first of two visits to the Northamptonshire venue, with this season already shaping to be an ultra-competitive campaign.

    That statement is reinforced by the fact that drivers from six different teams occupy the top-six positions in the Drivers’ Championship; and out front it is Chris Dittmann Racing’s Tommy Harfield who is enjoying having the early bragging rights.

    Tallying a brace of podium finishes last weekend, Harfield – who also leads the Challenge Cup – heads to Silverstone holding a two-point advantage over race three winner Jimmy Piszcyk (Rodin Motorsport) while Martin Molnár (Virtuosi Racing) is a further two points in arrears.

    Both August Raber (Argenti Motorsport) and Chase Fernandez (Xcel Motorsport) also stood on the top step of the podium at Donington Park and both drivers are within striking distance of the standings summit in fourth and fifth respectively.

    Of course, with just one meeting in the books, the battle for supremacy is still wide open and there will be a number of drivers in addition to those already mentioned that will be eager to make their mark around the challenging 3.660-mile circuit this weekend.

    Qualifying for the C1RCUIT Watches Pole Position Award takes place at 12:25 on Friday before Race 1 gets underway later that afternoon at 17:05. Races two and three will then play out on Saturday at 10:50 and 15:35 respectively.

    Coverage of Saturday’s two races will be available to watch on the official British F4 YouTube channel.

     

    Britcar Endurance Championship & SuperCar Challenge (written by Steve Wood)
    The Britcar Endurance Championship started the 2025 season here at Silverstone last month, where novice Steve Gambrell, partnered by pro-driver Dan Lloyd, won both races of the double-header in the Toro Verde Porsche 991.2. The well-established Championship format of two-hour or 2 x 45- minute races feature six classes for Challenge, GT, Ginetta, Trophy, Cup, and officially-sanctioned TCR machinery.

    The classes are regulated through a unique balance-of-performance system and equalisation is ensured by further regulation for pro-drivers. This weekend’s two-hour encounter will feature two mandatory pit stops, with refuelling being inevitable for all runners. While Gambrell and Lloyd head the points standings in the top Challenge class, Chris Bingham (Ginetta G55) leads the GT class, and Simon Mauger’s CUPRA tops the Trophy category. In the Ginetta class, Datum’s Maurizio Sciglio and Marco Anastasi head the points, the Team BRIT pairing of Bobby Trundley/Asha Silva share the top spot with Seat lone-driver Chris Hayes in the Cup class, and jointly leading the all-Cupra TCR standings are Jamie Hayes/Alex Read, and single driver Ash Woodman.

     

    For this event, the Britcar field will share the race with the Netherlands-based Supercar Challenge; run along similar lines to Britcar, but with some more-powerful top-end machinery, this long-established series will add variety to an already eclectic entry, starting from a separate grid and having a discrete result. Through the two-hours duration, the two contingents will inevitably be mixing it and testing the relative performance of their cars. With top-line professional drivers from the GT and Touring Car arena, pit stops, refuelling, and driver changes, the field of around 50 cars will be an exciting and inspirational precursor for the weekend’s main attraction.

     

    Caterham Graduates (written by Darren Houldcroft)
    With a maximum capacity grid of 61 cars covering both classes, the scene has been set for another weekend of close, fair and competitive Caterham racing in the P4 Emergency Lighting CGRC Championship.

    In the Sigma 150 championship Bren Maude and Harry Cramer currently top the table with 103 points each but that’s partly due to Paul Goldstein (last year’s 135 champion) retiring his car in the last race at Oulton; expect him to feature in the battle at the front along with Stephen Clark and the stalking horse of Miles Clarkson. Meanwhile In the Sigma 135’s Tom McEwing is looking to be the man to beat taking 3 out of 4 wins so far this year; Giles Derry is certainly up to the challenge having taken one himself in Oulton and the trio of Warnock, Armitage and Gunter are also hot on their heels.

    There is also a strong showing in the CGRC Trophy (the 3 driver-selected round option for drivers looking for a more flexible/budget-friendly season) – no less than 21 drivers have nominated Silverstone as one of their scoring entries, among them Jamie Elwood (last year’s Sigma 150 champion) and Steve Merritt (who is heading up the Sigma 135’s); neither of them will have it their own way with the likes of Winrow, Willoughby, Hayes and Groom all more than capable of taking an overall or class win.

    With everything to play for the 2025 season finale looks to deliver the best in fair, close and competitive Caterham racing with more smiles per mile than ever before.

     

    SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy
    With this weekend very much taking on a heavy endurance racing theme, it’s no surprise to see of the BRSCC’s most popular series also taking to the track this weekend at Silverstone – the SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy.

    Since 2019, this incredibly successful series created by the BRSCC has been a dedicated place for a wide and eclectic variety and mixture of production based clubman races to duke it out together on track across 45 minutes of multi-class pit-stop “mini-endurance” racing. The ClubSport Trophy is no stranger to Silverstone and indeed the full Grand Prix layout, having raced on it several times before and this year’s visit will once again produce another superb packed entry ready to go.

    Overall favourites are surely going to come from the top category of Class A, with Phiroze Bilimoria’s VW Scirocco, Adam Marshall’s VW Golf, David Shead and Malcolm Edeson’s BMW Compact and the Golfs of Mike Parsons and Brands Hatch overall winner Julian Daniel last time out. Don’t count out the formidable Morgan of Shane Kelly that only just missed out at the season opener, or any of the BRSCC Audi TT Cup-spec machines to cause a surprise and run in contention for victory either.

    Up and down the entry list, you’ll find plenty of machines that are familiar to many a club racing fan – Honda Civics, MINI Coopers, Audi TTs, Renault Clios, BMW Z4s, Peugeots, Ford Fiestas and a handful of slightly more unconventional entries that only add to the variety. This race is always plenty of fun to watch, especially with the added element of strategy courtesy of the mandatory pit stop, meaning almost any of the front-running cars within the first couple of classes had a realistic chance of victory overall as well as in class.

  8. A BRITISH GT & GINETTA THRILLER AT THE SILVERSTONE 500

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    British GT Championship (written by Tom Hornsby)
    Dan Harper withstood intense late race pressure from Kiern Jewiss to seal his and Darren Leung’s second Silverstone 500 win in three years on a day when BMW also celebrated British GT4 victory with Century’s Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson.

    Paradine’s guest M4 kept 2 Seas’ charging Mercedes-AMG at arm’s length over the final 10 minutes after the car shared by Jewiss and Charles Dawson served a late drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Without it, the championship leaders – who bagged maximum points for the second race running regardless – would have almost certainly added their names to the historic RAC Trophy.

    Marvin Kirchhöfer added a new race lap record to his qualifying benchmark en route to third overall with Optimum and Morgan Tillbrook, while Steller’s Audi crewed by Matt Topham and Darren Burke took Silver-Am class victory in ninth overall.

    The GT4 spoils should have gone Mahiki’s way, but a wheel stud failure robbed Aiden Neate and Josh Miller of a likely win. Instead, Ramyead and Robertson paced their race to perfection to beat title rivals Marc Warren and Jack Brown (Optimum), whose Silverstone 500 winning streak finally came to an end.

    Third went to Century’s other M4 shared by Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld. The squad’s collective effort, which also included Robertson’s new class lap record, earned it British GT’s Team of the Weekend Award.

    GT3

    British GT’s three-hour format leaves ample room for strategy to play a significant role in the result. And so it proved once again at Silverstone where the top two stole a march on their rivals despite making two more pitstops than strictly necessary.

    Tillbrook started from pole and led a relatively drama-less opening stint from Kevin Tse, Giacomo Petrobelli, a charging Rob Collard – up four places from eighth – Alex Martin, Darren Leung and Dawson.

    The first pitstops began after 30 minutes, but it was the intervention of a Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period shortly after that hampered the likes of Blackthorn and 2 Seas’ #18 entry which, unlike their fellow front runners, swapped drivers under green flag running just before the FCY.

    The subsequent Safety Car was also the catalyst for Paradine to strategically make its second pitstop in quick succession. Harper had only been in the car at reduced speed for a short period but made way for Leung before Barwell and 2 Seas followed suit one lap later with their #78 and #18 entries.

    Contact between Sam Neary and Matt Griffin then sent Spirit of Race’s Ferrari spinning into Vale’s gravel trap 15 minutes later. This triggered the second FCY/Safety Car intervention that saw most of the other Am drivers hop back onboard.

    However, it was the third and final neutralisation – required to recover Mahiki’s #84 Lotus – that really brought Dawson and Jewiss into play. They were circulating a net fifth before stopping during the FCY procedure with more than 65 minutes left to run – the maximum stint length permitted. That meant Jewiss required a fourth pit visit to re-set his stint time, just as Harper – who stopped earlier – had already done.

    Penalties for both Barwell Lamborghinis and 2 Seas’ #18 Mercedes-AMG left Optimum and Blackthorn as the other two victory contenders. But their chances were unintentionally dented by delaying the final stop until less than 65 minutes remained. In theory this would have been faster than pitting early and re-setting but circumstances conspired against that logic when pit exit incorrectly remained closed after the Safety Car train had passed for the final time. The likes of Kirchhöfer and Jonny Adam lost approximately 20 seconds whilst stationary at the red light and then conceded further time running behind a GT4 competitor on their final Safety Car lap.

    Jewiss took the lead soon after the restart but knew that his impending re-set would drop the car back behind Harper. However, Paradine then received a one-second stop-go penalty for a short pitstop, which effectively cancelled out 2 Seas’ own additional pit visit.

    The Mercedes-AMG duly re-set its stint time and rejoined comfortably ahead of Harper’s BMW. The job appeared to be done until Dawson’s earlier yellow flag infringement earned Jewiss a drive-through penalty, which dropped him three seconds behind the new race leader.

    Donington’s winner initially chipped away at the advantage but only seriously began to home in with 10 minutes remaining. The pair ran almost nose to tail over the final lap but Harper kept his cool to take the chequered flag just 0.580s ahead.

    Pace wise, Kirchhöfer was in a class of his own all weekend and closed to within nine seconds of the winning BMW over the final hour.

    Like Optimum’s duo, Blackthorn’s Adam and Petrobelli will wonder what might have been after finishing fourth, while Orange Racing by JMH, Simon Orange and Marcus Clutton enjoyed a strong run to fifth despite incurring a post-race 10-second penalty.

    Barwell’s Lamborghinis recovered to sixth and seventh after both served penalties while Paddock’s McLaren lost a spot post-race for a safety car infringement.

    GT4
    Two crews are tied at the top of GT4’s early standings after Ramyead and Robertson scored their third win in the last six British GT races. But their cause was undoubtedly helped when Mahiki’s Lotus suffered a spectacular high-speed mechanical failure.

    An off-beat strategy helped pole winners Josh Miller and Aiden Neate to negate their extra Silver pitstop time and establish a clear advantage as the race ticked past half distance. But their afternoon was cut short soon after when the left-rear wheel detached approaching The Loop and sent Neate spinning into retirement.

    With the most obvious victory candidate out, Ramyead and Robertson capitalised in style by adding GT4 victory to BMW’s successful day at the head of the field.

    Ramyead led the chase of Miller during the opening stint before handing to Robertson under the first Full Course Yellow. Robertson then piled the pressure on Neate after the Safety Car bunched the pack before the Emira re-established a gap and then inherited a huge lead when Mahiki ran long through the second caution period.

    The Lotus’s subsequent demise left Ramyead leading Warren’s Optimum McLaren, which had worked its way back up the order after taking a bash on the opening lap. Ramyead managed to forge an advantage of a few seconds, which Robertson then extended by pulling clear of the chasing Brown across the last hour after the final round of stops.

    Templeton and Salkeld celebrated Silver success in third overall, making it a double class victory for the Century team after a consistent drive.

    Harry George and Luca Hopkinson were second in class and fourth overall in the #17 Optimum Artura as the Rob Boston Racing Porsche shared by Jamie Orton and Will Burns ran strongly to fifth overall and Endurance Cup victory. The latter was aided by their biggest rivals, Ed McDermott and Seb Morris (Team Parker Mercedes-AMG), losing time to a pit infringement penalty inside the final hour.

    Ian Duggan and Joe Wheeler (Mahiki) completed the Pro-Am podium in sixth overall.

    Next up it’s Oulton Park where British GT stages the first two of this year’s four sprint races over the late May bank holiday weekend (May 24-26).

    GINETTA GT CHAMPIONSHIP (written by Ginetta)

    Archie Clark has extended his dream start to the 2025 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship season with a brilliant double victory across a pair of 25-minute sprint races at Silverstone (26/27 April).

    Simpson perfectly executed the rolling start to lead away from pole position at the start and a swift opening lap netted him an early 1.6 second lead. Pratt-Thompson slotted into second place, with Clark (MDD Racing) grabbing third from Nick White through Copse for the first time.

    Pratt-Thompson started edging closer to Simpson in the early laps, but Clark stuck with him and went on to grab second place through The Loop on lap four. Their battle allowed Simpson to extend his lead back to 1.5 seconds, but Clark was soon hunting him down.

    The Ginetta Junior graduate posted the fastest lap of the race as he latched onto Simpson’s tail and a good move through Club corner netted him the lead on the penultimate lap. Simpson and Pratt-Thompson went on to complete the PRO podium alongside him.

    Nick White secured the PRO AM class win in fourth overall, but he had to work hard for the success. Harry Gamble (Elite Motorsport) pressured him throughout the race and briefly nosed ahead over the start-finish line late on, but White fended him off for the class spoils.

    Reigning PRO champion Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport) kicked off his title defence with a battling drive forward to sixth overall. He pulled off a last lap move on Robert Cronin (Elite Motorsport) down the Wellington Straight, with Mike Taylor (Triple M Motorsport) following him through into Brooklands.

    Taylor therefore came home seventh as he completed the PRO AM podium. Cronin was next up ahead of fellow PRO contender Jack Collins (E3 Sport), who had enjoyed some good wheel-to-wheel action with Taylor and AM class victor Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) in the early stages.

    Shaw completed the top ten overall ahead of his closest AM rival Juffali. Behind Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport), Carl Garnett (Breakell Racing) completed the AM class podium after pulling off a late move on Peter Mangion (Elite Motorsport), with Colin White (CWS Engineering) fifth in class.

    Clark started Sunday’s race from pole position courtesy of setting the best ‘second fastest time’ in qualifying. As he converted pole into the race lead off the rolling start ahead of Simpson, early changes behind saw Nick White and Douglass work their way past Cronin.

    Douglass went on to pass White for third at Vale, with Gamble also picking him off before the end of the opening lap to secure the PRO AM lead. Cronin meanwhile dropped back to sixth and went on to swap places back and forth with Collins over the next couple of laps.

    At the front, the top two traded fastest laps through the race. Simpson remained within a second throughout but couldn’t get close enough to force a move, with Clark making it a perfect record of four wins from four races to start his maiden GT Championship season.

    Douglass picked up his first podium of the season in third, with Gamble securing the PRO AM honours in fourth overall. A wide moment for White at Aintree on lap eight allowed Cronin through to grab fifth, before Collins pulled off a last lap move on White at Stowe to complete the top six.

    Pratt-Thompson was sixth of the PRO contenders in eighth overall ahead of Duncan, who secured his first Ginetta podium with third in PRO AM. He benefitted from Taylor losing ground on the opening lap, with the reigning GT Academy rookie champion recovering to tenth.

    Juffalli ended Shaw’s 100% winning start in the AM class with his maiden victory, whilst Garnett fended off early pressure from Colin White to secure his second podium of the weekend. James Townsend (SVG Motorsport), Oliver Fordham (Fox Motorsport), Emma Tomlinson (DTO Motorsport) and Amy Tomlinson (Raceway Motorsport) completed the finishers.

    GINETTA GT ACADEMY (written by Ginetta)
    James Nicholas and Jamie Caudle shared the victories from a thrilling pair of Ginetta GT Academy races at Silverstone (26/27 April).
    Nicholas went on to convert pole position into a brilliant lights-to-flag victory in the opening race to become the third different race-winner of 2025. He didn’t have it all his own way at the front of the field though, with Caudle looming large in his mirrors throughout the race.

    Digby wasn’t far behind either, with the top three separated by less than a second at the chequered flag. A clear fourth meanwhile was Shrimpton, who pulled clear of the chasing pack to secure a dominant victory in the rookie class ahead of Sapra.

    Louis Darling (MDD Racing) was on a charge through the race, gaining three positions including a late overtake on Alex Deighton (Paradine by Xentek) to secure a top six finish. Hot on their heels at the end was Joe Edge (W2R), who completed the rookie class podium alongside Shrimpton and Sapra.

    Robin Grimwood (E3 Sport) and Allan Wright (W2R) rounded out the overall top ten ahead of W2R duo Lucie Hodgson and Peter Thompson. Chris Babington (SVG Motorsport) was on course for a top ten finish on his GT Academy debut, before unfortunately slipping back to 13th late on.

    Nicholas started race two from pole position as well, however a good run out of Copse for the first time allowed Digby to draft ahead. An early change behind saw Shrimpton slip back from third to sixth, before a spin later in the lap at Vale dropped him to tenth overall.

    The lead changed hands back again on lap two as Nicholas got through at The Loop. Digby briefly regained the advantage at Village on lap four before Nicholas hit back at the next corner, however Digby’s repeated his opening lap move out of Copse to slot back in front on lap five.

    Caudle had latched onto their tail to make it a three-way battle at the front of the field and that put him in a prime position on lap eight, when an attempted move by Nicholas into Brooklands resulted in contact that spun both himself and Digby around.

    As Caudle took the lead and ultimately the race victory, Deighton moved up to second. Digby recovered to third and was determined to regain lost ground on the final lap, however contact with Deighton through The Loop resulted in Digby having to retire from the race.

    Deighton came home in second overall ahead of rookie victor Edge, who took advantage of action-packed races for his class rivals Shrimpton and Sapra to go from third in class on the grid to the win. Nicholas recovered to fourth overall and a GTA class podium meanwhile.

    Shrimpton fought back from his early spin and enjoyed a tremendous battle with Thompson and Darling in the closing laps. Darling finished fifth on the road, but a five-second track limits penalty put him behind Shrimpton and Thompson in the final result.

    GTA class pair Grimwood and Hodgson were next up, while a late retirement for Wright opened the door for Damien Duffy (W2R) to score a maiden rookie class podium finish in tenth overall. SVG Motorsport team-mates Gilbert Verdian and Babington completed the race finishers, with Mike West (E3 Sport) unfortunately suffering his second DNF of the event.

    In the Chairmans Cup, a class for drivers over the age of 45, Deighton took two wins from two races. Grimwood joined him on the podium after both races, while Wright and Thompson also picked up a trophy each.

    GINETTA JUNIORS (written by Ginetta)
    Rocco Coronel has written his name into the history books as the winner of the milestone 500th Ginetta Junior race. It came as part of a perfect victory hat-trick in the second round of the 20th anniversary season of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Silverstone (26/27 April).

    Byrne started the opening race from pole position, however his advantage was unfortunately short-lived. Green dived down the inside into Copse to grab the lead, with Coronel and Slater also working their way past Byrne before contact at Village spun him to the rear of the field.

    Smith emerged in fourth place ahead of Scott Kin Lindblom (R Racing) and Carney, but a spin of his own at Vale on lap two dropped Smith down the order too. As Lindblom broke clear in fourth, a huge battling pack behind was led by Colin Cronin (Elite Motorsport) and George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing).

    At the front of the field, Green and Coronel worked in unison to pull a gap of over five seconds to Slater behind. Tucked under the rear wing of Green for many laps, Coronel bided his time before making a decisive move into Village on the penultimate lap to grab the race victory.

    Behind, Slater fought hard to secure the final place on the overall podium but lost out to his team-mate Lindblom just past mid-distance. Proudford-Nalder broke away from the pack to secure a breakthrough result in fifth, leaving behind a mammoth scrap for sixth.

    From a seven-car train on the final lap, Freddie Lloyd (Fox Motorsport) emerged in sixth on the road ahead of Cronin. They were both handed five-second time penalties for track limits infringements though, dropping them back three places each.

    Carney therefore signed off an up-and-down race in sixth ahead of his Elite team-mate Emmilio Del Grosso and Ethan Lennon (Pace Performance). Lloyd was left to settle for ninth, having produced a brilliant charge forward from 17th on the grid, with Cronin in tenth.

    Smith and Byrne impressively recovered from their early dramas to come home 11th and 12th respectively, while Jarrett Clark (R Racing) finished 13th after a last lap spin at Aintree whilst in the middle of the close-fought group battling for the top ten positions.

    Max Cuthbert (R Racing) was 14th ahead of Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport), who rose four places from his grid position through the race. Behind, MKH Racing duo Harry Bartle and Raul Zunzarren were split by Josh Watts, with the latter’s Tim Gray Motorsport team-mates Matthew Chiwara and Joshua Henry completing the points finishers.

    Green would start the milestone 500th Ginetta Junior race from pole position courtesy of posting the quickest ‘second fastest time’ in qualifying. He converted pole onto the early lead from Coronel, while early changes behind saw Smith and Carney work their way past third-place starter Byrne.

    As Carney picked off Smith and challenged Coronel for second on lap two, a dramatic moment behind saw Byrne run wide at Farm and make contact with Slater and Lindblom whilst returning to the circuit. Cronin benefitted from the incident to rise to fifth ahead of Cuthbert, Clark and Lennon.

    After a safety car period, the action resumed with a two-lap shootout to the chequered flag. Coronel initially had to fend off a challenge from Carney for second, but soon turned his attention to Green and launched a move around the outside at Brooklands.

    Green spun around on the inside though, with the unfortunate Lennon, who had climbed from 14th to eighth, collecting his car and leading to retirement for both. Proudford-Nalder took advantage of the incident to storm forward from ninth to fourth ahead of Cuthbert, Cronin and a recovering Slater.

    Coronel went on to lead through to the chequered flag for the honour of being victorious in the 500th race. Smith and Carney followed him home to make it a double podium for Elite, while fourth for Proudford-Nalder secured him a maiden rookie class podium finish.

    Cronin and Slater enjoyed some thrilling wheel-to-wheel action in the final corners as they rounded out the overall top six ahead of Clark. Lloyd continued his phenomenal run of charging drives as he rose from 22nd on the grid to eighth ahead of Lindblom.

    After a climb from 25th to 13th within three laps in race one went unrewarded with a retirement, Felix Livesey (MDD Racing) produced similar heroics as he scythed his way through the field from 25th to tenth. Lake gained five places himself to 11th ahead of Felipe Reijs (R Racing).

    Noah Young (Performance One) was another driver on the move through the race, moving up from 24th on the grid to 13th at the finish. Behind, Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) and Katrina EE (Tim Gray Motorsport) picked up their first points finishes of the weekend.

    With the race two result setting the grid for the final race of the weekend, it was Coronel’s turn to start from pole position. The Dutchman led the field through Copse for the first time, with Smith slotting into second whilst Proudford-Nalder passed Carney for third at Stowe corner.

    A multi-car incident in the pack that ended the races of Cronin and Lake led to a safety car stoppage. When racing resumed, an attempted move from Carney on Proudford-Nalder at Chapel sent them both wide, allowed Slater to slot into third and latch onto the tail of the top two.

    Despite Smith’s best efforts, Coronel remained out front and it was Slater who eventually made progress in the lead trio, passing Smith on the penultimate lap. Coronel meanwhile took his fifth consecutive race win, a tally only beaten by one driver in championship history.

    After the restart, a frenetic battle over fourth position played out for a number of laps. A recovering Proudford-Nalder eventually broke clear of the pack to secure the place and his second rookie podium of the day, leaving behind a ten-car battle over the remaining places in the top six.

    Lindblom was in the thick of the action and produced a superb penultimate lap to climb from ninth to an eventual fifth place result. Cuthbert bounced back from late troubles in race two with a phenomenal drive in the finale, working his way through from 21st on the grid to a top six result.

    Producing similar numbers was Green, who went from 23rd to seventh through the race ahead of Livesey. An up-and-down race for Lloyd resulted in a ninth-place finish in front of Clark, with Lennon just missing out on a top ten result after a good charging drive from 22nd on the grid.

    Carney finished 12th on the road, however a five-second track limits penalty dropped him back to 19th. Bartle was therefore classified 12th ahead of his MKH Racing team-mate Zunzarren, the latter equalling his best result of the season, while Byrne came home 14th from the back of the grid.

    In the Freshmans Cup, a class for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, Proudford-Nalder was the driver to beat with a comfortable triple victory. Lake, Cameron and Young each ended the weekend with two trophies apiece.

  9. BRSCC ENJOYS A DAY AT THE PARK AT OULTON

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    The first visit to the North West of England for the BRSCC and its NW Centre saw an excellent day of racing in mixed conditions at Oulton Park in Cheshire. With the SuperSport Endurance Cup headlining the day, the rest of the timetable was also populated with an excellent mix of Audi TTs, MGs, the new Pro Sports Sprint Series, and the debut of the Fix-A-Wheel Production Cup!

    The second PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup race of the season almost proved to be something of a BMW benefit to begin with as Harry Barton led away a multitude of 3 Series and M3s at the head of the field outright from pole position. Barton would in fact lead through almost two thirds of the race (including through the only safety car) before making his first stop, where Silverstone winner Julian McBride and then Lee Collins’ Caterham took turns at the front as more mandatory pit stops played out.

    Once the field had cycled through and all stops were complete, McBride found himself in a commanding lead once more, and ended up at least a full lap ahead of the rest of the field. His BMW M3 took its second outright win of 2025 as well as the Pro-B honours, ahead of Ian Jones/ Martin Gadsby’s BMW in second (class and overall), followed by Collins’ Caterham, Pro-A guest winner Dave Griffin’s BMW, and Antony Unitt and John Stack in another BMW completing the top five.

    Class wins down the field also went to Sam Reuter and Rob Boston’s Mazda MX-5 (Clubman-A), Bruce Robinson & Paul Sheard’s MX-5 (Clubman-B), and defending champions Adam Read & David Drinkwater’s BMW Compact (Clubman-C). There were no classified finishers within Pro-C.

    Jordan Stilp built on his excellent debut at Silverstone in the Demon Tweeks Audi TT Cup Racing Championship by claiming his first win in only his third race on this grid at Oulton Park. Coming from third on the grid, he pursued pole sitter and early leader Sam Heading for the first half of the race, before squeezing through on lap five to claim a lead he would never lose. Stilp’s win came just half a second ahead of Matt Luff, with Will Stacey and Ross Makar ahead of Heading who slipped to fifth by the flag.

    Thankfully for Heading, he was able to redeem himself in race two by picking his way through the top five contenders in front of him, eventually tailing and passing Stilp on the final lap on his way to victory. Stilp still remained second to score big points, followed by Luff, Makar and Andrew Rogerson in the top five. Having already showcased five races that have proven to be individual thrillers in their own right, the next rounds are highly anticipated.

    Making their first full time appearance since joining the BRSCC ranks in the latter part of 2024, the MG Cockshoot Cup burst into life for the first time in 2025. After Keith Egar took his MG Midget to pole by a storming 1.3 seconds in qualifying, he was untouchable in race one as he dominated to win by 30 seconds. David Morrison and the ZS 180s of Paul Wignall and Karl Green ensured a Class C top four lockout from 2024 champion Leon Wignall in his Class A ZR.

    Egar was again untouchable in the second race, but this time was only twelve seconds clear by the chequered flag. The same top drivers almost completely duplicated their race one result, the only difference being Green finishing in third place this time ahead of Paul Wignall in fourth. Phil Rigby was Class F winner both times, while Class B honours were shared between Helen Waddingham and Martin Richardson respectively.

    After making an excellent debut at Silverstone, the new BRSCC Pro Sports Sprint Series ventured to Oulton Park for its second outing of the year too. Luke Woodhouse’s rapid VW Golf Clubsport had impressed at Silverstone, but at Oulton he was truly dominant. His winning margin in race one wasn’t far off a staggering 50 seconds out in front, with David Lawrence’s SEAT Leon CUPRA a distant second ahead of David Jefferson’s BMW M3, Lee Collins’ Caterham, and David May’s Ginetta.

    Woodhouse doubled up in race two, but this time took the flag by a much closer 11 seconds from May’s Ginetta, with Lawrence’s SEAT third this time from Collins’ Caterham and Jefferson’s BMW.

    There was a solid entry for the first ever pair of races for the new Fix A Wheel Production Cup with a field mostly consisting of colourful and well turned out hot hatches. Oliver Barsby’s FK2 Honda Civic snatched the lead of race one from the front row and while he extended a sizable lead initially and took the first ever Production Cup win overall, he was closed down in the latter half by Matt Hollier’s Renault Clio. David Mycock in another Clio took third, ahead of the Civics of Andrew Stephens and Simon Sheridan.

    Barsby was unable to take the start of race two, thus leaving Hollier to drive on from defacto pole position to clinch the victory, despite race long attention from Mycock this time. The winning margin was just over a second in the end, with Stephens, Sheridan and Colin Dunn’s Clio completing the top five.

    Amongst the Production Cup grid were the first few contenders in the new Silverlake DS3 Cup, with former CityCar Cup champion Elliot Lettis proving to be the man to catch all day. Lettis drove on to a pair of wins in class within the entry, joined on the podium by Theo Longman, Rob Chalmers and Jake Brook across both races. More DS3s are expected to join the ranks as the season goes on!

    Written by Scott Woodwiss

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