CHAMPIONSHIPS TO BE SETTLED AT BRSCC SILVERSTONE FINALS WEEKEND
Just a few weeks after visiting last time, Silverstone’s National circuit plays host to the British Racing & Sports Car Club once again albeit this time with more on the line than last time. No less than four championships will conclude here to provisionally crown their champions, while others finish their campaigns as non-scoring seasons and the CityCar Cup features for its penultimate outing of 2024. A headline of the event will also be the maxed out grid of C1 Endurance cars with no less than 50 teams anticipated to race!
The Silverlake C1 Endurance Series comes to a close for the year in the best way possible – a sold-out grid of teams ready to tackle three hours of racing on Silverstone’s National circuit. The short, sharp nature will mean a very busy circuit at all times during qualifying and the race, but this will also add to the excitement throughout the encounter. This will certainly be a fitting end to the season ahead of what’s in store for 2025, with the C1 24 Hours making a return to Silverstone’s full GP layout next May.
All of the leading C1 Endurance teams will be out in force for this finale as you’d expect, with serial winners Trojon Motorsport’s pair of cars expected to lead the line. The #421 Alpha-Trojon squad will be favourites along with their teammates in the #323 car, while other front running teams expected to be in the mix include series sponsors Silverlake, Quattro Formaggio, CSC Racing/ FDL Packaging, #blessed, J W Bird Motorsport, Emax Motorsport, BPC Motorsport and Scuderia Pollo Rosso. Touring car team Restart Racing also make a first foray into C1 racing with current BTCC driver Scott Sumpton in their line-up.
One of the championships that will be provisionally settled in their final round of the season this weekend will be the PBS Brakes SuperSport Endurance Cup. All six classes and the overall crown will be settled, with Pro-A set to go the way of Keir McConomy and Bart Horsten’s BMW 1 Series, and Pro-B in favour of Julian McBride’s BMW M3.
Paul Hinson’s BMW Compact (Clubman-A), George Grant/ Abbie Eaton/ Rob Boston’s Mazda MX-5 Mk3 (Clubman-B) and David Drinkwater/ Adam Read’s BMW Compact (Clubman-C) are also favourites to become champions-elect in their respective classes, but in Pro-C it’s still a tight affair between Paul & Wendy Ellis-Smith in their MINI and defending SuperSport champions Stuart Mead & Tim Hartland’s VW Scirocco, separated by just two points after dropped scores. The overall title is still up for grabs with all of the class leaders covered by 35 points, and this one is sure to go right down to the wire!
Another championship finishing off its 2024 campaign at Silverstone is the Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, which returns to the same venue it began the year back in March, albeit on a different layout. The only class out of the four competing there that’s essentially still up for grabs here is Super Classic A, with Tom Hawkins 61 points ahead of Richard Freye and a maximum of 70 available from Silverstone. Richard would need all of the luck and good fortune to go his way to steal the crown from Tom, but given Tom’s run of form in class with six wins on the bounce, all signs point to Hawkins sealing the deal this weekend.
In the other three classes, the champions-elect are effectively settled going into the weekend with Christopher Stones in Class B, Paul Britten in Class C and Oliver Buckton in Class D all out in front respectively to be untroubled heading to Silverstone, but will still wish to wrap up their campaigns in fine style. This weekend’s finale also sports a healthy grid with 22 cars set to line up at the time of writing, with drivers looking to not only enjoy the National circuit but also prepare for other end-of-season Formula Ford contests taking place at this track, including the Walter Hayes Trophy in November.
An intriguing title battle comes to a close this weekend in the Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup, which sees Robbie Kenning in control at the top by 21 points with just two races left to run. Incredibly, Kenning has only won two races this season and hasn’t stood on the top step since race one at Snetterton, the second meeting of the championship. His dropped score has also been used already from Donington Park, meaning any dramas in this weekend’s finale could turn his title hopes upside down.
It’s looking pretty congested behind him, as second to fifth in the standings are covered by 14 points. Mike Williams holds second, the same position he ended up in 2023, and will be hoping Silverstone could be the last chance he needs to snatch the crown. Jon Moore and Dick Trevett are in the mix too and hoping to make their marks, while a charging Jack Ashton has impressed majorly since he returned mid season at Donington Park. Since then, he’s taken five wins and one second place and leapt up to fifth place heading to Silverstone. There’s still the potential to reach the top three if he’s as dominant as he was at Cadwell Park last time out.
There’s still two weekends left to run in the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge and with an expected entry of over 30 cars once again, it’s going to be a busy affair looking for racing room and slipstreaming on the straights. Stuart Bliss is currently on an incredible run of results, with seven victories on the bounce going to Silverstone. This along with other wins and second places throughout have put him thirty points ahead of second placed Richard Jepp and hoping to add three more wins to his 2024 total.
Jepp will do all he can to try and stop Bliss from further extending his lead and will be bidding for more overall wins, while top Novice driver Brady Pollock has continued to impress time and time again and finds himself in P3 overall with the hope to sustain his position. Haydn Payne is also locked in a three way battle for fourth with Jack Wheeler and Elliot Lettis, which could take some interesting turns come the end of the weekend. Also watch for the Student Motorsport Challenge battle too, with Team Northbrook Racing and West Suffolk College ME set to duke it out to the end of the year with just 15 points between them, ahead of East Surrey College, City College Norwich and QE Motorsport.
Making a guest appearance on this weekend’s timetable at Silverstone ahead of joining the club full time in 2025, the MG Cockshoot Cup will be on track for the final time in their season this year. This will serve as a great preview for what to expect next year when the championship runs under the BRSCC banner after an agreement was reached a couple of months ago.
This championship is home to a fine mix of MG models, from classics such as MGBs through to modern machinery such as ZRs and even ex-MGF Cup cars taking part. All four classes will be settled in this weekend’s final two races of their season, with Leon Wignall heading Class A, Martin Richardson set to overtake the absent Carl Chadwick in Class B, David Morrison hoping to remain Class C leader in his MG Midget, and Phil Rigby set to be the sold Class F representative with class leader Gareth Jones and co not present.
CLASSIC & MODERN MOTORSPORT CLUB SOUTHERN PREVIEW – written by CMMC
The combined grids of the Classic & Modern Motorsport Club’s Ashstone MEP Super Saloons and Tin Tops plus the Hoosier Tyres Intermarque Silhouettes with the Welsh Racing Driver Association championship should provide a variety of possible winners.
In the first group the Australian V8 supercar Holden Commodore of Alex Sidwell will be the quickest thing in a straight line with nearly 600 bhp available. However, if the track is wet we might see the usual gang of BMW drivers, most likely headed by Paul Watson in his Class B E36 model, snapping at his heels. The other BMWs will be driven by Dave Avis, Jacques Whitehead and James Hunt all from Class C, whilst Rod Birley is still developing the Class A E90 version (owned by Phil Bennett). Prolific racer Martin Reynolds (from Downham Market) always goes well in his Ford Escort Mk.2, whilst Clive Haynsford brings his potent turbocharged Mazda RX8. The two Audis of Wayne Shorney and Lee Cleugh add further variety along with Martyn Scott in his pretty VW Golf.
The midfield battles will probably include Chris Bassett in his incredibly quick tin top Peugeot 306. Chris has been the stand out driver in the Tin Tops this year, even taking an outright victory at Lydden Hill against the super saloons back in June. Other Tin Top drivers to look out for include Matt Rowling and Neal Gardiner in their Honda Civics, along with Sam Heywood (Renault Megane Turbo) and the unusual Volvo C30 of Adrian Matthews. Terry Waller and Ian Seale will hopefully have fixed their respective Ford Fiestas, whilst Rik Skelsey always enjoys racing his BMW 325.
The second group will comprise the Intermarque Silhouettes and the WRDA Championship. They were combined recently at Brands Hatch and provided some very entertaining racing. The silhouettes had the edge in taking the top positions, with likely front runners being Russell Humphrey and Paul Knight in their Vauxhall Tigras plus the Ginetta G40 of Colin Smith. David Krayrem brings his very quick highly modified Ginetta to head the Welsh runners, and watch out also for the amazing Volvo V8 silhouette of Nigel Mustill here too.
Written by Scott Woodwiss & CMMC
