It’s always fun when the British Racing & Sports Car Club heads just up the road from HQ to its home circuit of Brands Hatch, and this weekend it will see a superb mix of endurance and sprint racing across both days as several championships and series begin to see the end of the season on the horizon. Just what twists and turns are left before it concludes?
SILVERLAKE C1 ENDURANCE SERIES
Wherever it goes, the Silverlake C1 Endurance Series always provides fun, intriguing and strategic club level endurance racing up and down the length and breadth of the country, and now its latest chapter is set to be written as the series touches down at Brands Hatch this weekend.
Last time out at Snetterton, Trojan Motorsport came mere minutes away from adding another win to their 2023 tally, only for their fuel saving efforts to be in vain as Emax Motorsport swept past and claimed the win in their place. Both teams are of course back for more fun, with Emax bringing just the one car to Brands Hatch this time for Murdo Macleod and Max Finn, while Trojon have their usual brace with all of their regular drivers present. It seems to be that these two squads have been duelling all season long and this rivalry looks as though it’s not slowing down any time soon.
Of course, they’re not the only ones that could turn out race winners, as anything could happen over the course of the three hours. Some teams choose to go with strength in numbers, especially squads such as Sandown Motorsport who bring no fewer than four fully crewed cars to Kent in the hopes of scoring a strong result or two. BPC Motorsport also have a pair of C1 ready, including one for two thirds of the March Silverstone GP winning squad of Josh Cook and Sylvain Rubio.
Others are simply opting for single car efforts, such as Silverlake who bring their “Silverlake 2” car out for Brands Hatch, while further strong solo runs are expected from the likes of WRC Developments, WRC Developments with CB Autoservices, Baycon Racing with Liqui Moly, Jelly Snake Racing with Liqui Moly, 4G Racing, Oakley Motorsport and JTR among many.
BRSCC SUPERSPORT ENDURANCE CUP
It’s incredible to fathom just how quickly the first full season of the BRSCC SuperSport Endurance Cup has flown by, as the championship now arrives at its penultimate round of 2023 on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit this weekend. This was the scene of the two pilot races held last year while SuperSport was still in its development stage, and now it returns to Kent with both overall and class title battles firmly in full flow.
To give you an idea of just close and competitive the entire field really is, looking at the overall top ten on dropped scores shows you that those ten teams/ cars are separated by just 23 points. That means every single point they can claim is going to be absolutely crucial come the final standings at the end of the year, so scoring what you can and scoring well is key.
Pro-A only features two cars, but it’s the top two in the class with Bart Horsten and Keir McConomy’s BMW 1 Series once again facing Ricky Coomber’s Honda Civic in a one-on-one duel. Given that there will only be two starters, this will be scoring less points than other classes which will feature more, and that could be key in determining their final overall position.
In Pro-B, there’s set to be some big points picked up on this occasion with six starters for Brands Hatch. Key rivals Julian McBride in the BMW M3 and Leon Bidgway in the Lotus Exige will lock horns again as Bidgway leads the class on dropped scores by ten points. The nature of the Indy circuit may well suit the Lotus’ agility here, so McBride will need all of the power and grip available from the BMW to beat him. Andrew and Chris Etheridge are back in their own M3, while Lee Collins’ Caterham and the SEAT Leon Eurocup cars of Snetterton winner Warren Tattersall and Philip Knibb are present on the grid too.
The top two from Pro-C are also out in force this weekend too, as Stuart Mead and Tim Hartland in their VW Scirocco attempt to fend off the MINI of John Wyatt and defend their sixteen point lead. Keith Issatt and Chris Williams are also in class too in their unique MINI Clubman, and there’s the addition of a new Lotus with Jason McInulty at the wheel.
Over to the Clubman classes, Clubman-A is currently being dominated by Paul Hinson and his BMW E36 Compact, but that doesn’t mean that Graham Price and Matt Dennis will give up the pursuit any time soon in their Renault Megane as they look to at least cement second in class. Adding an extra couple of elements into the mix will be Campbell Cassidy and Darren Ball in a Honda Civic, and a second appearance from Simon Mason and Chris Bialan in their Renault Clio Cup car.
Once again, the main contenders are present for Clubman-B honours too, as Bruce Robinson and Richard Amos aim to keep their advantage secure with their Mazda MX-5 Mk3. Two squads will try to at least soften the impact of any points gained, as the Rob Boston Racing Mk3 MX-5 of Michael Sanford and Lewis Noon will also have to contend with Puretrack’s Renault Clio of Matt Adams, Sarah Dennis and James Millar too. Plus, watch out for Scott Ferguson and Niel Luke in their Mk1 MX-5 as they look to score well too.
Finally, Clubman-C has been the domain of Adam Read and David Drinkwater in their BMW E36 Compact and that lead looks set to grow stronger still with the absence of the Adcocks from this rounds. Their competition his time will the Lundys in their MX-5, Julie Butler in the rather unique Vauxhall Carlton GSi and former Production GTi racers Chris and Ian Webb in their trusty Mk2 VW Golf, as they sample endurance racing with the BRSCC for the first time.
NATIONAL FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP
The National Formula Ford Championship always promises close, exciting single seater racing that leaves you on the edge of your seat, and that certainly has rang true so far in 2023. Every single round has seen intense wheel-to-wheel battles for victory, and now as it touches down at the category’s spiritual home of Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit, this weekend will act as both the next chapter in this season and also an early warm-up for October’s Formula Ford Festival.
Now with dropped scores coming into play, it puts the Oldfield Motorsport pair of Lucas Romanek and Brandon McCaughan with the pair separated by just thirteen points after the previous rounds at Kirkistown in Northern Ireland. At Kirkistown, both drivers scored a win each and neither left the podium places either, and it appears as though these two will be locked in combat with each other all the way to the final race of the season.
Sitting in third is Jordan Kelly, the young Irish charge leading the way for Team DOLAN and only six points away from McCaughan in second place. He too was victorious in Kirkistown and he’s steadily made great strides in speed and pace to make great progress with his results. He will certainly be heading to Brands Hatch full of belief that more wins can be on the cards. His teammate and former champ Chris Middlehurst is currently in fourth but is expected to drop back due to his absence from this weekend’s racing.
This in turn will give the likes of Elliot Budzinski and Morgan Quinn a great chance to close up further into the top five. Budzinski has a win to his name for Ammonite Motorsport so far this year from Donington Park, while Quinn’s season has been a little up and down but now appears to be finding some luck and some form. It’s almost certain they’ll leapfrog up into the top five should both their weekends remain trouble-free.
Nolan Allaer, Nathan Yu and Jamie Sharp all return to this weekend’s grid as does independent Tom Nippers, while the entry is also boosted further by F1 eSports champion Lucas Blakeley turning out for Kevin Mills Racing and American racer Jeremy Fairbairn back in a Formula Ford courtesy of Phil Wills’ PWR1 Racing squad.
NANKANG TYRE CITYCAR CUP & STUDENT MOTORSPORT CHALLENGE
Before the previous rounds of the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup and Student Motorsport Challenge at Snetterton, the question we posed was “could anyone stop Elliot Lettis’ run of domination?” Well, as it turned out – yes, yes they could! Despite having to miss out on victory twice, the championship positions remain unchanged as the paddock now moves to Brands Hatch and the Indy circuit for this weekend’s latest rounds with a capacity 34 car grid to boot.
Lettis did collect a sole win from a wet Snetterton, but only after he’d ended up finishing third in the opening two encounters of the weekend. By contrast, Stuart Bliss was able to repeat his feat from the April visit to Norfolk and win twice to close in the gap to Lettis in front in the points on dropped scores. Now the lead is just nineteen points between the two and Elliot will know that he needs to ensure he doesn’t have a repeat of Snetterton or worse, otherwise Stuart and co will continue to chip away at his advantage.
Richard Jepp is currently having a superb season sat in third in the overall points, as well as helping Northbrook College lead the Student Motorsport standings (more on those shortly). His He has consistently been racking a string of third places and top fives and has only failed to achieve this once at Anglesey after being tapped into a spin. Now he’s twenty points ahead of Bradley Porter in fourth with Richard Snuggs completing the top five, and while there are gaps between third, fourth and fifth, Brands Hatch could see this trio close up a little more. There’s also two points between Adam Reynolds and Dominic Fletcher in their fight for sixth, while Chris Mackenzie, Jack Wheeler, Craig Flynn and co are sure to make gains up the table too.
Over in the Student Motorsport Challenge, Northbrook Racing are still over fourty points out in the lead, but now haven’t taken a win for the past four races. Those honours went to East Surrey College each time as Jack Wheeler made the most of the wet weather to not only win but take two outright podiums too. Whether or not he’ll have the same pace advantage this time remains to be seen and could also be weather dependent.
This helps East Surrey College to just a single point behind Barracksport, who have been bolstered for the rest of the season by Andrew Dyer joining the team, so the battle for at least the runner up spots is going to be tense. West Suffolk College and Queen Ethelburga’s are also tied for points in fourth, ahead of Wiltshire College, Boston College, Coleg Gwent, Barracksport GSR and Coleg Menai.
ZEO PROTOTYPE SERIES
Some of the fastest racing of the weekend at Brands Hatch will come courtesy of the rapid ZEO Prototype Series, as they touch down for their third weekend of the year after beginning the season at Silverstone and then Donington Park. Providing a dedicated place for sports prototypes with the BRSCC, the field once again provides its usual eclectic mix.
The entry is mainly populated by a quartet of the superb Praga R1Ts, which on this occasion will be piloted by Shane Kelly, Alastair Boulton, Ruben Stanislaus and Jessica Hawkins. They are almost certain to be the class of the field, especially with their evident pace at Silverstone and Donington Park. Expect all of them to be up there towards the front of the grid. Also anticipated to be there in the mix will be Mike Jenvey in his Jenvey-Gunn, Max Windheuser in his Norma and Graham Charman in his Juno, all hoping to take the fight to the Pragas and indeed each other.
Matt and Richard Chamberlain wheel out their self developed CTR 01 after appearing at Silverstone with their Porsche 935, while the rest of the entry is populated by a smorgasbord of Radicals. Alastair Smart and Charles Graham bring the youngest Radical models to the grid, along with Richard Hardie and Dominic Langdon-Down in SR3 RSs, Chris Child’s SR4 and Ian Charles’ PR6 complete the Brands Hatch line-up.
CLASSIC & MODERN MOTORSPORT CLUB SOUTHERN
In addition to the regular BRSCC content, the Brands Hatch timetable also welcomes our friends at the Classic & Modern Motorsport Club’s Southern division for two sets of races on Saturday.
First up, the BMR Super Saloons will be looking to put on a great display of racing with their usual fun variety of machines on the grid, naturally headlined by the pair of booming Holden Commodore V8 Supercars driven by season regular Alex Sidwell and Andy Woods-Dean. Veteran Rod Birley will take to the wheel of an E36 BMW 3 Series, along with Adrian and Ronan Bradley in their M3s – in fact there’s as many as five present on the grid in the hands of Jacques Whitehead, Peter Seldon and Mark Cripps too. Also in the line-up are two VW Golfs for Martyn Scott and Dave Avis, Martyn Reynolds’ Mk2 Ford Escort and Clive Haynsford’s flame-spitting rotary Mazda RX-8 to name a few more additions.
Over on the grid for the CMMC Tin Tops, there’s more of a hot hatch vibe present here with six Ford Fiesta ST150s, a trio of Citroen Saxos, two Peugeots, a SEAT Leon and a brace of Honda Civic Type Rs all in the mix together. They are all complimented by a hat-trick of BMWs too, including Rod Birley who elects to run double duty in both series this weekend.
Scott Woodwiss
