BRSCC & TCR UK’S SNETTERTON SPRING SIZZLER
Underneath beautiful blue skies and warm spring sunshine, Snetterton this past weekend basked in glorious weather and was the site of two days of fine club motorsport courtesy of the BRSCC, TCR UK and its supporting championships and series. The weekend was filled with exciting tin-top racing of all kinds, plus extra spectacle provided by sports prototypes too!
The second TCR UK Touring Car Championship weekend of the year very much picked up where the opening races at Brands Hatch had begun a few weeks before. Qualifying produced pole position for Adam Shepherd ahead of race one on Saturday, with Joe Marshall due to start from the front row but forced to miss out due to pulling out of the race before lights out. From the start, Shepherd had it all under control and led the entire 20 minutes stress-free, giving him his second win of the season already. Defending champion Carl Boardley comfortably clinched P2 behind, while Brad Hutchison fended off attacks from Callum Newsham for the entire race to hold the final podium spot.
From the reverse grid second race on Sunday, Will Beech claimed the lead into the first corner, but lost it exiting Oggies to give Hutchison the chance to win his first TCR UK race. Taking full advantage of the gap behind him and the fight for second between Boardley and Shepherd, the CUPRA was unchallenged for the duration and took victory in fine style. As for the podium spots, Shepherd tried his hardest to pry second place away from Boardley but had to settle for third place, whilst also holding off a charging Joe Marshall from the back of the grid.
Shepherd then started the final race of the weekend from pole once more and just as in race one, made a rocket start to command from the front from lights out. He was chased throughout the 20 minutes by Marshall, with the Audi ending up on the CUPRA’s tail for most of the race but having to settle for the runner up spot as Shepherd raced on to his second win of the weekend. After some early battling, Hutchison managed to get the better of Boardley by the flag, rounding off the final TCR podium of the weekend.
The Milltek Sport Civic Cup was all action from start to finish as part of an exciting support package across both days. Josh Files converted pole in qualifying into the lead in the early stages followed by teammates Max Edmundson, Lewis Kent and Alistair Camp in his wake, and the former TCR racer drove a controlled race to pick up his first win in the championship. Edmundson was runner up at the flag behind him, while Kent was on course for third before mechanical issues forced him out on the last lap. This gave Camp an easy run to the final podium spot in third place.
The reversed top ten for race two placed Owen Hillman on pole, but he lasted no further than the exit of Riches before spinning off the road, leaving teammate Alex Kite to lead the rest of the lap before Liam McGill took over in front. He was allowed to escape briefly as teammates Edmundson and Files charged forwards to second and third respectively (including a sublime outside pass for P2 by Edmundson through Coram and Murrays), before Max chased down and passed teammate McGill on the final lap to take the win. Area Motorsport scored a 1-2-3 podium lockout with McGill keeping second ahead of Files in third.
Snetterton produced a pair of BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship races that were truly entertaining and impressive with superb driving standards throughout the weekend and plenty of positive talking points. After Jenson O’Neill-Going captured pole in qualifying, he found himself under pressure from Tommy Harfield on the first start for a few laps, before a red flag was called for an incident involving newcomer Jake Wardle. On the restart, O’Neill-Going led again but after a challenge from Harfield in the closing minutes, Tommy was in front starting the last lap and ended up in a three way fight with O’Neill-Going and Finn Leslie. Eventually, Leslie escaped a thrilling last lap scrap to win on the road, but was demoted to P2 after the race to leave Mason with the win and topping Mk7 class, while O’Neill-Going taking third and the Mk6 class honours.
Then came the second race, one of the best Fiesta Juniors races in recent memory with action all the way from start to finish. After Mason leapt to the lead from pole, he slipped to third behind O’Neill-Going and Leslie on lap two before the leading quartet briefly separated for a few laps. Leslie hounded O’Neill-Going for the win and on the last lap their battles brought Mason and Harfield into play. On the last lap, a lock-up into the final corner from O’Neill-Going invited Leslie to challenge and in a drag race to the flag, Leslie only just stole victory by 0.022 seconds to win and come home top Mk7 ahead of O’Neill-Going second and best of the Mk6s, with Mason taking third place.
A mammoth grid of over 30 cars in the Audi TT Cup Racing Championship put on some of the most intense racing seen all weekend across all three races at Snetterton. Rob Boston showed his skill by taking pole in his first ever TTCup qualifying session, but lost out at the start to Carl Swift. Throughout the entire 15 minutes he was unchallenged, allowing the skirmishes behind him to help build his lead gap out in front. By the chequered flag, he was more than three seconds clear of Bradley Burns in second and Luke Handley in third at the head of a scrap for the final podium spot, as Swift took his third win in as many races.
Race two produced more of the same for Swift, seeing off early attentions from Burns and Andrew Dyer and along with Handley, the top four ran away as the leading group. Eventually Handley dropped away to leave the top three to themselves, and they remained status quo to the flag as Swift kept up the win streak with four in a row followed by another P2 for Burns and Andrew Dyer’s first podium of the season with third.
Steve Foden was put on pole for race three in a reversed top ten, but was beaten to the lead by Adam Blair from the front row. Both men initially had control whilst the pack behind argued over third backwards, helped by an early safety car which kept Blair in front throughout. On restart, Blair carried on from before the interruption and remained in front until the flag. He was victor on the road, but post race was excluded on a technicality, promoting Foden to his first TTCup and front wheel drive victory in only his fifth start in the championship. Luff took 2nd place thanks to his promotion, as did Pelosi with third.
There was plenty of entertainment provided by the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship across both days too. Zachary Lucas held the lead from pole in race one, but was chased hard by Alastair Kellett who kept up the pursuit in the opening laps and eventually found a way through. Kellett used the clear track to his advantage and took his second win of the season atop of Pro class, a couple of seconds ahead of Lucas in P2 and Lewis in P3 who picked up the Am class honours.
The second race was red flagged on the opening lap due to a dramatic incident involving Marco Ricci, but Kellett quickly got in front on the restart and again drove away to collect another his second race win of the weekend. Lucas once again picked up second with Horrobin third as all three drivers topped Pro class again, while Am honours this time went to Archie Johnson from Henry Howarth and Caitlin May.
Race three would produce a feel good result as John Cooper converted his part-reversed grid pole into a lead that he would brilliantly manage from start to finish. Helped by an excellent restart from an early safety car, Cooper first held back Connor Blackburn, then Gary Miller and finally Joseph Knight to claim his first win of the season, with a delighted Knight second and Kellett third in Pro class. Archie Johnson won Am class from Henry Howarth and James Pope.
Making their second appearance of the season, the Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup joined in the fun in the Norfolk sunshine, supported on this weekend by Harvey Street Garage. Mike Williams made a great start from pole to lead race one from the outset, and initially had the 20 minute encounter under control with pressure from Robbie Kenning and Dick Trevett. Trevett then fell off the road followed by a pass for the lead by Kenning, leaving the top two to duke it out for victory. Kenning just held on to win from Williams, while Jon Moore equally held off a recovering Trevett for third.
The leading pair resumed their battle right from the outset of race two, as Kenning led again from lights out. It took Williams two and a half laps before Kenning clipped the tyre stack inside Williams corner, losing him the lead in the process as Williams took over. From there, the order at the front remained unchanged as Williams charged to victory with Kenning in second, while Matthew Simpson topped a race-long battle with Jon Moore for the final podium spot.
Saturday’s action was boosted by the ZEO Prototype Series bringing some of the fastest cars competing over the weekend for two races. While Mike Jenvey took pole in qualifying, it was both Jack Fabby in the Praga and Joe Lock in the Spire that took turns in the lead in the opening stages. Even though Jenvey dropped as low as fourth at one stage, he eventually climbed his way back to the front, taking the lead on the penultimate lap and going on to win ahead of Fabby in second and Lock in third.
Race two was something of a deja vu moment when Fabby again leapt into the lead from the outset, before he was passed by the other Praga of Shane Kelly after a couple of laps. A rebounding Jenvey then performed his earlier trick of reclaiming the lead after a shaky start, as he ended up almost three seconds to the good by the flag from Kelly and Fabby.
If all of the above wasn’t enough, there was plenty to enjoy on track from the rapid little racers of the Mini 7 Racing Club, who brought both the Se7ens and Miglias out to play in the Snetterton sunshine. The Se7ens saw race long duels for the lead in both encounters, mainly containing Joe Thompson and Ross Billison. The pair went back and forth in race one and were soon joined by Damien Harrington to make it a three-way fight, with Thompson first past the flag at the finish with Billison second and Harrington third. The second race produced more of the same in a thrilling spectacle for the trackside spectators, and the finish was just as dramatic.
The same three drivers diced over the lead, but contact on the final lap at Coram left Harrington out to dry, off the road and forced to limp over the line in fourth on the road. Thompson had won from Billison and Wanstall, but he was then demoted to P4 courtesy of a time penalty for the incident, handing victory to Billison ahead of Wanstall and Harrington.
Over in the Miglias, Kane Astin shot forward from fourth on the grid to the lead from the outset of race one, but he was never able to shake off front row men Jeff Smith and Ben Colburn from his tail all race. Despite plenty of position swapping behind him, Astin held firm to take victory while Smith beat Colburn to second place.
Race two initially saw Smith leading Astin out in front as the two cars pulled a small gap, but soon Aaron Smith pushed himself into contention to create another three car leading group. The race would only run for five laps until Smith’s weekend ended slightly prematurely when he rolled his Miglia exiting Nelson, forcing the race to be red flagged and declared early. That gave Smith the win by default ahead of Astin in second, with Phil Bullen-Brown completing the podium.
Written by Scott Woodwiss
