ALL TIGHT IN THE WHITES!

Compared to their Green counterparts, the White Group of the 2022 Caterham Academy ended being a little more competitive, with the championship effectively settled in a last gasp photo-finish in the final race of the year.

Tom McEwing used all of his sim racing experience to full effect once the season got underway in the Curborough sprint, managing to secure top time and winning the event ahead of Matt Larbey and Ben TImmons and it would be these three men that would dominate the championship throughout the year.

At the first circuit race of their careers at Snetterton, Timmons got a flier from the second row to beat pole man Larbey to the first corner before both men and McEwing engaged in a racelong battle for the win. A late passing attempt from Larbey saw him spin out and wind up third, while McEwing held off Timmons by under half a second to collect this second event win in succession.

Combining with the Green Group drivers on the same grid on Silverstone’s GP circuit, White Group drivers ended up six of the top ten overall positions. McEwing, Larbey and Timmons ended up dicing with top Green runner Rrutuj Patki for the outright lead while they dominated their group, and while he sat back and watched the three cars in front fight amongst each other early on, Larbey made his move in the second half to lead, then carried on swapping positions with McEwing until the red flag was thrown on the last lap. Larbey was declared overall and White Group winner, ahead of McEwing and Ryan Wilby.

Duncan Mallett took pole next time out at Donington, but Larbey would end up leading by the end of the first lap and from here both he and Timmons would end up trading P1 throughout the next 20 minutes. The flag was thrown early for a stranded car in the gravel, with Timmons, Larbey, McEwing and Mallett crossing the line respectively by less than half a second together. Larbey’s race-leading form continued early on at Anglesey, and it was he and Timmons that raced off out on their own in a private battle before

Larbey edged away to take his second win while Timmons collected second ahead of McEwing. Onwards to the Knockhill “Super Round” with a race in each direction across both days, and in the regular direction on Saturday it was Timmons’ turn to grab the early advantage, as the rest of the pack spent too much time fighting and allowed Ben to pull out a lead of several seconds. Eventually, Timmons caught up and more position swapping occurred throughout the rest of the encounter, ending up nose to tail at the flag as Timmons collected the victory, while Mallett completed the podium. The next day in the opposite direction, Timmons again scored the holeshot at the start, but found himself in the gravel a lap later, giving Wilby the lead in his place. After a lengthy safety car, McEwing took over and ended up under threat from Lyonel Tollemache, who only just missed out on victory by three tenths, with Edward Cozzi in third.

The Silverstone International finale was set up perfectly with McEwing, Timmons and Larbey all still in contention, but another early safety car ensured the leading pack stayed close together. When racing resumed, Timmons held the lead with the three title rivals nose to tail in the closing stages, but at one point it looked as though McEwing had escaped into the lead with the championship in sight. Timmons repassed him with two minutes to go, and the pair went back and forth almost every corner, but in a last gasp sprint to the line out of the final corner it was McEwing who only just took victory by 0.088 seconds, securing the White Group crown in the process to his relief! He ended up four points ahead of Timmons who took second, while Larbey ended up fourth in the final race and on the final championship step on the podium. All three will look forward to continuing their battles again in Roadsport in 2023.