BRSCC GOES TO THE COAST FOR ANGLESEY SUMMER RACE FEST
There’s no time like the beginning of Summer to take a motorsport related trip to the coast, and the BRSCC has the perfect location – the wonderfully picturesque Anglesey Circuit in North Wales. The weekend is sure to be an entertaining encounter for all involved, as Fun Cup Endurance, Mazda MX-5s, BMW Compacts and Fiesta ST150s all come together to provide an enthralling spectacle.
Saturday’s action will be dominated by the pair of Fun Cup Endurance Championship races, the series following on from an intense ending to the previous double header at Croft that saw a pair of exciting encounters that saw a first win for MJ Tec in the one hour sprint, and Morpheus Motorsport coming out on top in the longer three hour race. For Anglesey, it’s another double header, with two three hour endurance tests for the teams to tackle, the second race starting in late afternoon and scheduled to end just before 10pm at night.
MJ Tec have a ten point lead over defending champions Team Olympian/GRD, with Morpheus Motorsport only another two back in third. Don’t count out the likes of UVio/ Hoffman’s, GCI Racing, Greenheath, Signature RV, PLR Racing and more, all top teams that have the pace and driver talent to challenge at the front of the field.
Some superb wheel-to-wheel racing characterised the latest GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship rounds at Oulton Park just three weeks prior, with Luke Pullen picking up a brace of wins to push himself into championship contention as the paddock reaches the halfway point in the season. Thomas Langford still leads the way and hasn’t finished off the podium once thus far, with Anglesey the latest chance for him to add to his win tally and increase it to as many as eight.
His main pursuers are also sure to be Jack Noller and Adam Sparrow, the former with a single win from Snetterton to his name while last year’s vice champion Sparrow is yet to hit the top step but has always been in contention in every single race so far. Anglesey could be a great chance for him to end his win drought. The above four are certain to pick up where they left off and command the pack from the front.
Paul Bateman still has a grip on the Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship with a win and a podium from Oulton Park helping him to retain the points lead three meetings in. With an advantage almost 40 points clear, Bateman’s goal will be to keep up this form and continue to lead the way as the second half of the season approaches.
The likes of Oulton Park winner Jack Warry and Snetterton victory Beau Parry will be on their toes to try and stop the Bateman freight train from running away once more, plus you’ll also be able to count on Del and Jake Paice, Nick Le Doyen, Russell Halley and Jonathan Greensmith to all be on pace and bit for some strong results to further boost their scores.
There’s also strong competition up and down the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup grid too with Aidan Hills bidding to retain his Pro class crown but finding his opposition to be even tougher than 2023. On overall scores, he’s 23 points ahead of double Oulton Park winner Joe Wiggin, with Leigh Britten, Oliver Allwood and Alex Stott currently in the top five. As for former leader Patrick Fletcher, his tough day in Cheshire left him with a DNF and a fourth place, meaning he slipped down to sixth in Pro points with work to do to climb back up the order. Expect more frantic dicing at the head of the field here in Wales.
An intriguing battle is also continuing to brew in the Club class, too, as Aimee Watts retained her points lead last time out despite only placing third twice. Wins at Oulton went to two returnees from Silverstone – Kamal Kalsi and Wilbur Tiley, while Watts placed ahead of current main rival Ollie Hall both times to extend her lead to 18 points. Anglesey could either allow her to take another step forwards, or lose ground to her rivals.
After their hat-trick of thrilling races at Croft, the Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup gears up for its third outing of 2024 this weekend, and heading to Anglesey it could barely be closer. Gordon Macmillan currently leads Connor Grady and Joseph Doble, and there’s only a point between each other in the top three. Macmillan took all three wins at Croft off the back of a double for Joe Doble, with Grady yet to stand on the top step.
Defending champion Gareth Claydon had ups and downs of his own at Croft, which included a DNF just a couple of corners before the flag in race two. He will want to rebound from his current eighth place in points, while Steven Dailly will also hope for slightly better fortunes on his second weekend back. The former five time champion was forced to run a spare car after problems with his regular race car, so he’ll be keen to be on the pace and to remind everyone why he was number one for so many years.
There’s also a fine entry for this weekend in the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge with 25 cars expected to line up across the two days. This season’s grid is looking especially competitive as despite only Mike Blackburn and Sam Watkins being the two sole race winners thus far, no fewer than nine different drivers have already taken at least a podium finish from the first six races. Anglesey presents another opportunity for more to step up.
Blackburn leads the way in points and is already more than 50 ahead of second placed Dobson, with Dan Robinson, Watkins, Mark Blunt, Stephanie Sore, Liam Browning and Dillon Davis respectively in the standings, all of whom have taken home at least one piece of silverware this year to date. Others will have ground to make up, like Chris Grimes, Thomas Ikin, Jamie Lewthwaite, Aiden Vickers and Jade Goodwin to name a few, while a few familiar faces from the XR Challenge days are also back to make a guest appearance.
In addition to all of the above races, a special Anglesey Summer Celebration race will take place at the end of the weekend as the last race on the timetable. Running a similar format to that of ClubSport Trophy, the 40-minute pit stop race will be open to many of the cars and drivers that have already competed across the weekend, and will providing an exciting and fun sign-off to what’s set to be a fine two days of racing by the coast.
Written by Scott Woodwiss
