BRSCC 2024 DONINGTON PARK AUTUMN RACE WEEKEND

Championship battles are certainly going to be at the front of everyone’s minds this weekend as we venture back to Donington Park for our final visit to the circuit in 2024. The weekend is headlined by the Fun Cup Endurance Championship for four hours of action with a bumper grid, while Mazda MX-5s, BMWs, Fiestas and more prepare to bring the sprint action too, all with their own exciting twists and turns in the championship tables!

This year’s Fun Cup Endurance Championship has been one of the most dramatic, exciting and intense in recent memory, with two teams still neck and neck at the head of the table. Champion teams Olympian-GRD and UVio/ Hofmann’s Motorsport are just twelve points apart with three races left to run, and it’s been Olympian with an impressive four race win streak with the aim of making it five. UVio are certain to push them all the way in what’s sure to be another relentless four hours.

Behind the leaders, there’s plenty of stories and notable teams to get invested in, with front running squads MJ Tec, EDF Motorsports and Signature RV in the top five in points, while PLR Racing, Morpheus Motorsport and Team Ratters Racing all wishing to be in contention too. This weekend’s entry is one of the largest the championship has enjoyed for a while with a field just shy of 30 teams raring to go on Saturday.

There is also close competition amongst the trio of Mazda MX-5 championships with all three still up for grabs across the board. The GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship has been a hot contest since it began at Silverstone in March, and now heads to Donington. Despite missing a round at Cadwell Park, Thomas Langford still manages to lead on dropped scores but only by a slender margin. In fact, it’s closer between second placed Luke Pullen and third placed Adam Sparrow than second to first on drops, with Luke and Adam just a point apart.

There’s still a loose chance that Jack Noller could be a title contender come the end of the weekend, but he’ll need the same form that took him to a hat-trick of wins if he’s to stand a chance. Behind the top four there’s a host of drivers hoping to solidify their top ten spots in points, including Neil Chisnall, Tim Dore, Chris Thelwell and Harry Storer, while the field itself is a healthy one for this Donington visit with over 30 cars listed to be in attendance.

The race for the Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship has also tightened up in recent meetings, too. Gone is the substantial advantage Paul Bateman held early in the season, as his lead is now just nine points ahead of Jonny Greensmith in second, whose form has been substantial enough to severely cut down Bateman’s lead. Bateman’s absence from Cadwell Park helped matters for Jonny, but now the pair are back on the grid together in a straight fight for the title.

You shouldn’t count out the likes of Jack Warry and Beau Parry who have both shown their hand on more than one occasion and been able to stand on the top step at least once throughout this season. Watch for them to challenge at the front, too, along with double Cadwell Park winner Harry Deane who will have a point to prove that last time out wasn’t just a one-off. He could be the proverbial cat amongst the title contending pigeons, while Jake and Del Paice, Jamie Turner, Pete Smith and co could also make their marks.

Keeping up the theme of close championship fights in the Mazda MX-5 paddock, the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup looks just as intense. All three points tables are far from decided with two weekends left and given the SuperCup’s naturally cut-and-thrust intensity of racing, expect plenty of action from start to finish. Aidan Hills is pushing hard to successfully defend the Pro class title and found that kind of form again at Cadwell Park last time with a hat-trick of wins. There’s just three points between him and Patrick Fletcher at the top of the class, with Joe Wiggin and Tom Griffiths also locked in their own fight for third. Oliver Allwood, James Cossins, Jack Brewer and more should also star here.

For Club class, there’s 20 points between leader Ollie Hall and second placed Aimee Watts, the former dominating at Cadwell to further edge ahead while the latter continued to rack up podiums to help cement her place in the top three. Both will again look to be on the pace at Donington, while Wilbur Tiley will have hopes of creeping closer towards them as his charge up the table continues against Bruce Robinson and Clive Powles. Oliver Allwood will also hope to maintain his sizable Masters lead ahead of both Robinson and Powles too.

A three way duel is currently afoot in the Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup, as Joe Doble hopes to further extend his gap at the top. He shared the wins last time at Cadwell Park with Connor Grady and first time victor Max Noble, and that coupled with Gordon Macmillan’s solid results has put Doble 12 points out in front at the top of the standings. Grady and MacMillan are now tied on dropped scores meaning neither can afford a slip-up in the final four races.

The rest of the top ten also has a lot of potential to switch around too with Mike Doble, Noble, Alex Read and defending champion Gareth Claydon, whose title defence has been rather rocky but will be hoping to end the season on a high note. Keep an eye on Barney Lower, Richard Sutherland, Ross Stoner and former multi-time champion Steven Dailly to be in the mix for strong results too.

While the above championships still have rather close battles up top, over in the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge it’s a little more straightforward. Michael Blackburn has a lead of more than 100 points on drop scores and if fortunes go his way again this time, it could potentially put the title provisionally out of reach and make him champion-elect. He’ll certainly be hoping for the kind of fortunes he’s enjoyed for most of the season, and not those similar to Oulton Park that left him with zero points to show for it from the day!

The rest of the pack will be doing their utmost to try and ensure that potential celebrations are put on hold until the final rounds next month, but that will mean Dan Robinson, Mark Blunt, Sam Watkins, Liam Browning and co will have to be on their a-game to try and outscore Michael as much as possible, provided they can be on the pace to challenge him from the outset. This could be a fascinating pair of races ahead that could provisionally settle it all!

Sunday afternoon will feature another packed grid in the SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy with a sold-out grid of cars expected to turn out. Another 45 minutes of multi-class pit stop racing awaits with healthy competition expected across all four classes. Class A is looking particularly strong with plenty of regulars back for more exciting battles, including Phiroze Bilimoria’s VW Scirocco, David May’s Nissan 370Z, James Alford’s Audi TT, Shane Kelly’s Morgan Plus Four, the VW Golfs of Jamie Hadley, David Cox and Adam Marshall, and Matthew Bolton’s BMW M3 to name a few.

Across the rest of the grid, there’s the usual exciting mix of clubman-level machines up and down the entry list, including Honda Civic, MINIs, Renault Clios, Mazda MX-5s, BMW Z4s and more. ClubSport Trophy races always tend to be unpredictable affairs and we anticipate this one will be no exception!

There’s more multi-class racing to enjoy on Sunday with the BRSCC Evolution Trophy bringing a vibrant mix of cars representing four different categories – the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, BMW 1 Series SuperCup and Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy. While all four categories are on track together and will enjoy dicing with each other, they will also be in competition amongst themselves respectively.

The Classic VWs make up the bulk of the entry with a mass of VW Golfs and Corrados up against a phalanx of various Audi TTs and A3s, plus a Mk1 Golf in the hands of Donald Dewar and Nick Sanderson’s SEAT Leon Supercopa. Danny Wilkinson and Ed Lynch will sport a pair of the new BMW 1 Series SuperCup cars, while Nick Gwinnett and Alex Wilkinson-Hughes represent the Renault Cup and MX-5 Mk4 Trophy respectively.

Written by Scott Woodwiss