A BLISSFUL YEAR

It’s safe to say the first full season of the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship was a roaring success, with a vast number of drivers thoroughly inspired by the BRSCC’s brand new tin top championship - a point proven by the staggering 38 car grid that turned up at the opening race at Donington! Entering its sophomore season, and with commanding champion Nic Grindrod moving back to rear wheel drive in the MX-5 SuperCup, the floor was open for a new driver to ascend to the throne in his place. Plenty of 2021’s front-runners were back again, and the competition was wide open. Scott Woodwiss explains.

Immediately it became clear the pair of Autobliss-run Toyota Aygos driven by brothers Richard and Stuart Bliss were the pacesetters from the outset at the opening double header at Oulton Park. Through two safety car and red flag affected races, both Richard and Stuart picked up a win each with guest driver Sebastian Melrose and Elliot Lettis both sharing a third place. Their pace all day confirmed they were both favourites to challenge for the title as the CityCars made their first of two visits to Snetterton.

A Bliss front row lock out at the first Norfolk double header in qualifying was followed by a 1-2 in race one with Richard heading Stuart to the flag while Lettis took his second podium in a row in third, before Elliot then was able to work his way into the lead for his first CityCar win in race two, holding off the Bliss brothers by a collective 1.1 seconds across the top three, Stuart ahead of Richard on this occasion. Andrew Dyer also took a pair of fourth places too, and it would be this quartet that would prove to be the regular leading contenders for the rest of the season.

races, with the third forcibly cancelled due to time constraints after an accident for Paul Savage.

Dyer was on form at Cadwell Park with a brace of victories for himself, while Stuart Bliss took the third as both closed in on Richard Bliss at the top of the points, while Lettis’ aspirations hit a snag after two DNFs including rolling out of race two exiting the Gooseneck. Croft had the emergence of a new front-runner in Oxford Brookes driver Ben Creanor, taking the Student Motorsport Challenge car to a third place in race one, then second in race two and finally the first overall race win for a SMC team in its first season to his and the team’s delight. Richard Bliss was also victorious twice that day as he battled with Creanor, Dyer and brother Stuart all weekend as the finale at Silverstone loomed.

Above: If you like big grids and close racing, the CityCar Cup is possibly the series for you...

Next came a triple header on the Welsh coast as Anglesey beckoned, where both Dyer and Lettis would collect a victory each before a Bliss stood on the top step in a red flag-shortened third race, with Richard on top this time. George Palozzi also had a stand out moment starting from pole (despite spinning on the formation lap) and was in contention for the podium in race three until a late incident with Stuart Bliss forced him to retire. The return leg to Snetterton was more eventful than the first visit, with Richard Bliss and Dyer picking up wins in two of the three scheduled

At the Home of British Motor Racing on the International layout, nobody could knock a resurgent Elliot Lettis off the top step of the podium all weekend as he charged to victory in all three encounters to end 2022 in sensational form. Richard Jepp took three second place finishes overall to dominate the Student Motorsport Challenge and steal that title on the final weekend, while Ross Makar took two third places and Richard Bliss the other, the latter banking enough to be crowned the second ever CityCar Cup champion for 2022. While Richard sealed the title, the runner-up spot went to Dyer with four race wins to his name in the season, ahead of Stuart Bliss to ensure both brothers ended up on the podium in the final standings with third place. Now heading into its third championship season, the CityCar Cup continues to be a sensation of UK club motor sport!

A new addition for the 2022 season was the launch of the new Student Motorsport Challenge within the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup, a superb new contest that incentivises colleges and universities to create race teams and compete against one another for their own separate championship title. The brainchild of Student Motorsport founder John Paul Latham, the Challenge gives teams of students the chance to gain valuable experience in real world motorsport setting as well as develop their skills towards their future careers in the sport.

Across 2022, no less than seven teams took part in races across the season, the first rounds of which took place at Oulton Park in April.

In the beginning, it was easy work for East Surrey College as Andy Burgess took the first ever Student Motorsport Challenge win in Race 1 ahead of Dan Lockett for Coleg Gwent Blaenau and Joe Miller for Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) Karting, while Richard Jepp failed to finish for MET Motorsport. It was much the same in the second race with Burgess once again picking up victory for East Surrey College, with the same top three as the earlier race helping to set the early tone for the Challenge.

The win streak for Burgess and East Surrey continued next time out at Snetterton with two more victories in Norfolk including an excellent 5th place overall in the second race, while Jepp managed to get MET Motorsport off the mark at last after their Oulton misfortunes with a pair of second places and George Jones ensured that Coleg Gwent kept up their run of podiums with their Newport team taking to the top three for the first time. At Anglesey in June, MET Motorsport managed to capture their first SMC wins but this time with Andrew Jones at the wheel due to Jepp being absent. Andrew managed three eighth place finishes overall to dominate his Challenge rivals, while Paul Toolan gave a trio of second places to new team Oxford Brookes on their debut and Coleg Gwent Newport again owned the final podium step all weekend.

A return to Snetterton beckoned in July with East Surrey and Andy Burgess back on the grid after missing Anglesey. What had been scheduled to be three races only became two after timetable constraints forced the restart of race three after a red flag to be cancelled and the re-run postponed to a later event. In the two races that did run, Burgess won both for East Surrey with Oxford Brookes’ new driver Ben Creanor and

MET Motorsport’s Jepp sharing a P2 each, and Dan Lockett helping Coleg Gwent’s Blaenau team back onto the rostrum with a pair of 3rd places. Heading to Cadwell Park in August, Creanor helped Oxford Brookes take their first SMC win from East Surrey (Burgess) and MET Motorsport (Jepp) in race one, before Burgess again topped the Challenge field in the next two races, beating Creanor and Jepp respectively both times.

Then came Croft, and a very special moment in the Student Motorsport Challenge. Looking quick all weekend, Creanor ensured that Oxford Brookes completed a clean sweep of the SMC honours, but they were also in contention all weekend for the overall race win. Amazingly, after third in race one and second in race two, Creanor drove superbly to clinch first overall in the final race of the weekend, the first for a Student Motorsport Challenge team in a landmark achievement. Jepp and Burgess were again on the SMC podium for MET and East Surrey respectively, but even though neither of them could catch Creanor all weekend, both were delighted at Oxford Brookes’ achievement.

Heading to the finale at Silverstone in October, all of the top three teams still had a chance of taking the first ever Student Motorsport Challenge title. Even though Jepp was able to beat Burgess with two wins while Andy finished 3rd both times behind Creanor, East Surrey were still in control going into the final race. But sadly for Burgess, a retirement for the last race of the season gave the advantage to Jepp and as he completed his hat-trick of wins, he and MET Motorsport became Student Motorsport Challenge champions for 2022. East Surrey had to bravely accept the runner up spot in P2, while Oxford Brookes made it to third in the end despite missing the start of the season. Onwards to a bigger and better Challenge season in 2023!