BRSCC 2024 CADWELL PARK SUMMER RACE WEEKEND

For the one and only time this season, the British Racing & Sports Car Club prepares to head to a circuit many dub the “mini-Nurburgring” thanks to its many twists, turns, undulations, elevation changes and narrow confines. The magnificent Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire is next on the club’s 2024 schedule, as plenty more championship battles continue to be waged in the second half of their campaigns.

The trio of Mazda MX-5 championships are back in action this weekend with three meetings to go in each. The GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship raced last time at Croft minus the then championship leader Thomas Langford due to work commitments, but he’s back in action at Cadwell to try and defend his lead on dropped scores. On top on total scores is Jack Noller, but he couldn’t follow up his Anglesey domination with any victories in Yorkshire. Instead, these went to Adam Sparrow who finally clinched his first pair of the season, and Luke Pullen who added a third to his 2024 tally.

With Langford back on the grid this weekend, the rest of the season will have to be flawless as one wrong move could be the difference between remaining in the championship hunt and dropping out of contention. Noller, Sparrow, Pullen and co will all know this and will want to capitalise on that and try and take as many points off him as possible, meaning the lead battles this weekend on Cadwell’s tight twists and turns will be intense. Also set to be in the mix should be William Chadwick, Levi Aisbett, Neil Chisnall and Harry Storer to name a new, all of which can and will be threats given a chance to contend with the leaders.

There’s an interesting story brewing over in the Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, too. From a zero score from the Silverstone season opener, Jonathan Greensmith has been on a real tear through this season so far, managing to win the last five races in a row across Anglesey and Croft. This has pushed him into title contention just a few points back on dropped scores from long time leader Paul Bateman, meaning these two look set to contest the crown in the closing stages.

This has meant Bateman has gone winless since race one at Oulton Park in May, and will be determined to put that right and take another top step visit. As Greensmith also prepares to try and extend that win streak even further to as many as seven on the bounce, others who are close in that battle include Jack Warry, Beau Parry and Russell Halley, the former two having also taken race wins this season and Halley coming so close to a first podium of the season more than once. Watch all five and more scrap for victory at the front.

Over in the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, a single victory at Croft helped defending Pro class champion Aidan Hills to remain on top on total scores, but the competition continue to push him hard. Two more wins for Patrick Fletcher in Yorkshire have helped him hold the lead on dropped scores by just eleven points meaning the top spot is balanced on a knife-edge, while Joe Wiggin and Tom Griffiths are also waiting in the wings to challenge while they also contest their own fight for third place. Oliver Allwood, Jack Sycamore, James Cossins and Jack Brewer will also be contenders this weekend too.

In the Club class, Ollie Hall’s slightly up and down Croft meeting still allowed him to come away with a class win and that contributed to retaining his lead in the class standings from former long-time leader Aimee Watts. A turbulent day at the office for Watts at Croft still netted her two third places, helping her remain just five points back on dropped scores ahead of Bruce Robinson and Clive Powles, while Wilbur Tiley continues his surge up the table. Two wins helped him remain in contention for a podium finish and he’ll bid to carry on that push this weekend.

Another hot competition right now is the Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup where Joe Doble heads a tense three way fight for the title at this stage. Two more wins at Snetterton helped him retain the lead both on total and dropped scores, making it five victories for the season so far for young Joe. With the guidance of his 2022 champion brother turned BTCC star Mikey Doble, Joe’s been mounting a solid challenge to this year’s championship and will hope to take another big step towards achieving it.

The scrap for second is also a close one too as Connor Grady is still ahead of Gordon Macmillan on total scores, but behind him on dropped scores as Gordon added a third win to his tally at Snetterton too. The leading trio will be occupied fighting amongst each other at the head of the field, whilst Mike Doble Snr and Max Noble will also have a battle over fourth place to contest too. Also watch out for defending champion Gareth Claydon, who has only managed a single podium all year so far and will be desperate to get back to the front of the field after an up and down title defence.

After crashing out of race one at Oulton Park and scoring zero last time out from the day’s racing, Michael Blackburn will want to put that behind him as he continues to lead the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge heading to Cadwell Park. His near domination of the first half of the season has allowed him to retain top spot, but his lead on total scores to Sam Watkins has been severely cut down thanks to his non-score in Cheshire. Thankfully, his advantage on dropped scores is still almost 40 points.

Nonetheless, Mike will want to put Oulton Park firmly behind him and get back to winning ways, but so too will Watkins and Oulton winner Dan Robinson who rebounded after his own rough patch of results that included a DNF and a DQ. Behind them there’s also battles to be had between the likes of Liam Browning, Mark Blunt, Dillon Davis (who took a first ST150 win at Oulton), Paul Dobson and more as this year’s ultra-competitive field moves north once more.

Adding even more to the tin-top flavour will be the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, with Stuart Bliss looking to keep it in the family and make it back-to-back titles between the brothers after Richard Bliss became champion last year. Having won all but two races this season, Stuart is firmly on course for the title but with three meetings still to go, nothing is guaranteed. Richard Jepp continues to be second, but will need to look his mirrors for an in-form Brady Pollock who managed to give even Bliss a run for his money at times at Snetterton, along with the likes of Haydn Payne, Josh Jackson, Joe Moss and Nick Ramsay-Gough.

Jepp also needs to be careful in the Student Motorsport Challenge too as his efforts have kept two time defending champions Northbrook Racing on course for three on the bounce, but Brady’s recent form has firmly put the West Suffolk College ME team into the picture just 21 points back on total scores and only 11 on drops. Queen Ethelburga’s two teams are also having a superb season currently lying in third and fourth, and East Surrey College will hope to rebound from fifth after a tougher season to date this time.

A decent entry will turn out this weekend in the Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup, a championship whose cars should absolutely revel around the tight and twisty confines of Cadwell Park. The recent in-form man has been the returning Jack Ashton who only joined in mid-season at Donington Park but has taken three wins and a second place to rocket up the table and onto the fringes of the top five already. If he’s able to put the same kind of performances in this weekend, he’ll certainly climb higher.

That could put current points leader Robbie Kenning under a little more pressure as he has yet to win another race since Snetterton back in May but has continued to take podiums in every race he’s finished since then. Jon Moore, Dick Trevett and Mike Williams have all been his nearest challengers along with a charging Ashton, so the man sporting Rhys Claydon’s title winning car from 2023 will need to find another gear if he wants to make it a back-to-back championship clinching machine.

More variety is also set to be present on the ever eclectic BRSCC Evolution Trophy which houses the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, BMW 1 Series SuperCup and the Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy. The bulk of the entry is made up of Classic VW Cup machines which include several VW Golfs, a Scirocco, a SEAT Leon Supercopa and a pair of Audi TT Cup Racing Championship-spec cars, whilst David Mycock represents the Renaults, Bruce Hadfield reappears in his Mk4 MX-5 and former Mk1 MX-5 racer turned team owner Mike Close will get his first taste of the BMW 1 Series SuperCar car this weekend too.

CNC HEADS SPORTS/ SALOON CAR CHAMPIONSHIP (written by John Leck)
Also on the timetable this weekend as a guest formula, we’re delighted to welcome the popular CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship, which typically features a grid that’s full of variety, pleased to welcome back for the seventeenth successive year Ric Wood’s CNC Heads company and for the third season Car Service Packs owned by another competitor Graeme Laslett. Without their continued support the Championship would not be in the healthy situation it is currently.

When this piece was written, the entries were still coming in with several regulars still to enter, perhaps awaiting new engines etc.! Even now there is a healthy entry headed by Simon Allaway in his wonderful Lotus Esprit, he will be able to stretch the legs of the car on the swoops of Donington. He is joined in Class A by one of the 2024 returnees, Iain Gorrie, in his beautiful supercharged Lotus Elise.

Chasing these Class A runners hard for overall honours will be Paul Masters in his Westfield Wide Body, double Champion Jamie Cryer in his Ginetta G20 and the Modro brothers, Connor and Alek in their Westfield Aero and Ford Fiesta ST150 respectively. There have been some excellent battles in this class this season and their cars are well suited to the ‘ups and downs’ of this picturesque circuit. Watch out also in this class for Mark Primett in his Lotus Europa.

Moving to the Modified Classes, in Class D we have last year’s overall runner up Steven Parker in his new, for this season, BMW Compact and Clive Dix in his Mazda RX7. Class E is wide open with perhaps Cavan Taylor in his Renault Clio or another returnee, Paul Dobson, in his Ford Fiesta battling for honours.

However, they will have to contend with newcomer Lee Bull who is joint leader in the class peddling his Renault Clio. Peter Koukoulas returns to the series after inverting his Toyota MR2 at Croft! The final welcome is for Jon Woolfitt in his Class G motorcycled engined Spire GTR – thinking about it he may win outright!

Written By Scott Woodwiss & John Leck