BRSCC 2024 SNETTERTON SUMMER RACE WEEKEND

The summer is in full swing for the British Racing & Sports Car Club and a busy season of racing is continuing at full pace. The Club’s next stop on its whirlwind 2024 tour is a visit back to the long straights and technical infield corners of the Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk for its latest Summer Race Weekend. With no less than three endurance races and a whole host of tin-tops packing out the sprint race action, this is certainly a weekend from heaven if you love race cars with roofs!

Anticipation is high ahead of Saturday’s latest round of the Fun Cup Endurance Championship after the all-action double header at Anglesey just a few weeks ago. The pair of races in Wales saw some of the most exciting and intense battles and racing the championship had seen for a while and is now riding the crest of a wave of popularity and interest. With no less than 23 teams lining up for the four-hour epic on Saturday, expect more of the same with slipstream battles aplenty throughout.

It’s super close at the top of the points table with defending champions Olympian GRD now just a point ahead of MJ Tec in second, with former multi-title winners UVio/ Hofmann’s Motorsport a further seven back in third. With half the season still to run, it appears as though it’ll be this trio that will battle it out for the championship, but there’s still others who could pose a threat such as Greenheath, Vapeclub with EDF Motorsports, Signature RV and Morpheus Motorsport. Plus, don’t count out the likes of PLR Racing, Axiametrics, Skull Club Racing, Ratters Racing and more to be in the mix for victory.

Once FunCup Endurance have taken their turn, the long distance baton then get passed over on Sunday to the Silverlake C1 Endurance Series who hit the track for their latest three hour encounter. Their previous outing at Donington Park a few weeks ago was a fabulous occasion with a excellent entry in only their second race of the year, after the unfortunate cancellation of this year’s C1 24 Hours. More than 50 teams ended up racing that day, proving C1 racing is still as popular as ever.

Another impressive entry graces Norfolk this time with no less than 40+ teams on the entry list this time, including Donington winners Alpha-Trojon. Fellow established teams Emax Motorsport, BPC Motorsport, Amigo Motorsport, Silverlake and WRC Developments are also present too, plus a trio of BTCC stars will also be on track as Josh Cook, Jade Edwards and 2022 champion Tom Ingram all feature on a packed driver list.

The usual breadth and depth of variety is also present for Sunday’s SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy 45-minute race is also in abundance too, with 40 cars set to compete at the time of writing. Once again, ClubSport proves its popularity with another exceptional grid of cars competing across all five classes based on power to weight ratio.

Despite ClubSport Trophy being a series, there’s still a familiar look to the entry with many regular Class A attendees hoping to battle for outright victory. They include the VW Golfs of Rob Andrade, Julian Daniel and Jamie Hadley, Phiroze Bilimoria’s VW Scirocco, Shane Kelly’s Morgan and David May’s Nissan 370Z. All of the above will be the likely contenders to win overall, amongst a sea of various BMWs, MINI Coopers, Honda Civics, Mazda MX-5s, Renault Clios and more.

On the sprint side of the timetable, the Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup has been particularly competitive so far in 2024 with four different race winners in eight races and no less than nine drivers taking at least one podium. These rear wheel drive hot hatches always produced bags of fun and intense competition on track, and Snetterton will write the next chapter in their season with the battle at the top still as close as ever.

Joe Doble currently leads Connor Grady by just a single point on total scores, with triple Anglesey winner Gordon Macmillan just ten back in third. The picture looks a little different on dropped scores with just over thirty points covering the top seven drivers, meaning this year’s title race is far from definitive at this half way stage. Former five time champion Steven Dailly will also hope for another win to his vast collection, while defending champ Gareth Claydon is just praying for some better fortunes after a tricky start to his title defence. Watch for Max Noble, Alex Read, Ross Stoner and Adam Wright too.

We’re also reaching the mid-point in this year’s Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, which has boasted superb grids to date all season and continues to impress with another 30+ car entry. Stuart Bliss is making a strong bid to take the CityCar title this year with five wins from seven and never finishing off the podium once and could prove unstoppable on this return leg to Snetterton. Back in April, he took the hat-trick, so history is on his side.

Richard Jepp is his main pursuer along with Brady Pollock, Haydn Payne, Toby Owen and Joshua Jackson in the overall standings, while in the Student Motorsport Challenge it’s Jepp’s Team Northbrook Racing squad that remains in command with West Suffolk College in second and the pair of teams from Queen Ethelburga’s in third and fourth. East Surrey College completes the top five, and many of the top SMC teams are also becoming established overall front runners, so expect one or two to be challenging for the overall win.

Also keep an eye out for the new Gen 2 CityCar Cup race car of Phil House, who gives the Peugeot its third outing this season. Running as an invitation entry and invisible for points and awards, it continues its on-track and racing development. Having finished second on the road both times at Donington last time, the car is already looking fairly impressive.

There’s another mammoth entry descending on the paddock courtesy of the Modified Ford Series, the much loved contest dedicated to the Blue Oval and its vast array of eligible models. Going to Snetterton off the back of a pair of well-supported rounds at Donington Park. From Escorts and Sierras, to Fiestas, Focuses and even Pumas, this is another grid that’s not short on variety.

Appearing on the entry are some familiar front runners who are default favourites to contest the outright win, top of which is certainly Dave Cockell’s rapid Escort Cosworth that’s taken several overall victories in recent seasons. Competition on this occasion on paper is due to include Stephen Scott-Dunwoodie’s Sierra RS500 Cosworth, Piers Grange’s Mk2 Escort, Jack Gadd’s Mk1 Escort RSR and Neil Jessop’s Mk1 Escort Zakspeed. There are many more that could spring a surprise while also contending for their respective class wins, so expect plenty of power, noise and colour on this grid from top to tail.

Also appearing on this weekend’s timetable is a well populated grid courtesy of the Classic & Modern Motorsport Club’s Southern Division. The grid will see a combination of both of their regular series – the Ashstone MEP Super Saloons & Tin Tops and the Hoosier Tyres Intermarque Silhouettes. 

The Super Saloons features a whole host of BMWs along with a Mazda RX-8 and a Holden Commodore V8 SuperCar in the mix, while the Tin Tops bring a whole host of hot hatches to play too. The Intermarque Silhouettes add rapid spaceframe race cars into the mix, with body shapes resembling Ginetta G40s, Vauxhall Tigras and others this weekend such as a BMW Z4, VW Corrado and a Pontiac Coupe.

Written by Scott Woodwiss