BRSCC Yearbook 2023-24

OFFICIAL PARTNER

DRIVEN BY RA CING

Intelligent Money British GT Championship

TCR UK Touring Car Championship

Milltek Sport Civic Cup

Silverlake C1 Racing Series

National Formula Ford Championship

Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford 1600 Championship

AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship

BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship

Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge

Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup

GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship

Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship

SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy

Audi TT Cup Racing

BRSCC Evolution Trophy

Fun Cup Endurance Championship

BRSCC SuperSport Endurance Cup

Modified Ford Series

Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup

Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship

Student Motorsport Challenge

Words: Scott Woodwiss, Tom Hornsby, Phil Kinch, Peter Scherer

Photos: James Roberts, Jon Elsey, Jakob Ebrey, Mission Motorsport, Ginetta, BRSCC

Peter Daly Chairman, British Racing & Sports Car Club

Hello ladies, gentlemen and fellow Club members, and welcome to the latest edition of the British Racing & Sports Car Club’s annual yearbook covering the 2023 season!

For the BRSCC, 2023 was another superb season in which many of our racing members took to the track once again. The race tracks featured the usual superb mix of familiar faces alongside some brand new ones joining us for the first time. From the opening weekend way back in March last year, all the way to our final event of the season at the Race of Remembrance in November, the on-track action that was showcased by our championships and series was simply exceptional once again.

We at the BRSCC are proud to remain as one of the best-performing clubs in British club motor sport, and in a time when there are so many uncertainties in the world and the cost of living has us feeling the pinch at times, the level of support that club racing still receives and thrives on here in the UK is wonderful to see. It proves that motor sport in this country is still a beloved interest for many fans and drivers and a sport in which we are only too happy to be a part of.

The 2023 season produced plenty of excellent grids and action across the board, including some of the Club’s leading championships such as British GT and TCR UK. Both put on amazing spectacles with each seeing titles settled on their respective final weekends, proving just how competitive they really are. On a domestic level, there was more great action to be found across our Mazda MX-5, CityCar, Fiesta, BMW Compact Cup and ClubSport Trophy grids which were each well supported in their own rights. Our Fiesta Junior paddock had its greatest season to date

WELCOME

reaching a high of 26 cars during the year which is testament to the incredible amount of work put in to build it up to this level, while newer projects like the Audi TT Cup Racing series, the Evolution Trophy and SuperSport Endurance Cup’s first championship season were all great successes too, with more to build on throughout 2024.

As well as once again delivering the C1 24 Hours at Silverstone, another superb Formula Ford Festival and a wonderful and poignant Race of Remembrance, the BRSCC also took another step forward with the creation and execution of its very first dedicated motorsport exhibition event, titled Driven By Racing at Silverstone back in November last year. This event helped us to showcase the Club’s activities as a whole, its championships and series and indeed many ways in which anyone can get involved as a driver, marshal, volunteer and more. The response we received was outstanding with over 2,000 applications for free tickets and more than 450 drivers and passengers signed on over the course of two days. To everyone that played their parts in making the event a resounding success, I express both mine and the Club’s gratitude for the support and participation.

My thanks once again go to the amazing group of people that all play their parts in ensuring BRSCC continues to perform to the highest standards as a club. Our dedicated HQ team of Paul, Greg, Luke, Charlotte, Chloe and Scott all worked tirelessly to execute the 2023 season in the best possible fashion, and my thanks go to them for all their work. As always, I also thank my fellow board members and directors for their continued support, and of course there’s no events without our incredible marshals, volunteers, championship and series coordinators and officials. Altogether, all the aforementioned form a collective of people who are critical in producing the race events we run on any given weekend and without them, they couldn’t be as efficient, enjoyable and organised as they are. Once again, I thank each and every one of you for your efforts.

As always at this time, we must also recognise and remember those people whom we sadly lost throughout 2023. As we mentioned in last year’s edition, we lost Formula Ford and North Western Centre stalwart Ian “Diz” Smith, whom the Champion of Oulton Trophy in the Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship is now named after in his honour. Others who sadly left us in 2023 include East Anglian event steward and

photographer Mike Dixon, TCR UK racer Dan Kirby, CityCar Cup driver Gareth Frederickson, and other friends of the club such as Steve Neal, Neil Brown and Mini racing legend Peter Baldwin. To their friends and families, and to those we may have missed here, I pass on thoughts and condolences from myself and on behalf of everyone at the Club for their losses.

Going into 2024, there’s more reasons still to be excited about the season ahead. The Club announced last summer a new partnership with Ginetta Cars, bringing all of its championships on to the Club’s roster for the first time. Our thanks go to everyone at Ginetta for coming aboard and we’re very excited to work together with them for the year ahead and beyond. Our Audi TTs will race as a full championship in only their second year with big grids expected, and they’ll also be an addition to the TCR UK support package along with the Fiesta ST240 Championship, as they join both the Civic Cup and Fiesta Juniors on the timetables. This year will also see the winner of our very first Fiesta Junior Scholarship compete on track too, and there’s plenty of great developments up and down the grid which are sure to be exciting.

I am also thankful once again for all of the sponsors and partners that we feature in this latest edition of the Yearbook, so to everyone featuring within it, both myself and the Club pass on their gratitude for the support. Alongside this, I also say thank you for the continued support of our partners at runyourfleet, who supplied our superb Jaguar safety car and brand new state-of-the-art motor sport rescue unit to the Club. To Steve Whitmarsh and all at runyourfleet, your continued partnership with us is very much valued. Plus, we welcomed some excellent new partners to the club, with SIM Motorsport, Silverlake and Driven Minds coming aboard and further strengthening the Club in many superb ways. We also have some brilliant sponsors, partners and suppliers within our championships and series, so to all of the above, we are incredibly grateful and thankful for all the support.

So, to sign off, we are ready to rumble for another year of British club motor sport which looks set to be just as sublime as it has been in previous seasons. To all those competing with us, I wish you the very best of luck for a successful and safe campaign, and to all of our club members and supporters, I look forward to welcoming you trackside once again throughout the year. Enjoy!

FINAL DAY DRAMA

The Intelligent Money British GT Championship produces another stunning season, with GT3 and GT4 titles going down to the wire. Dan Harper and Darren Leung came out on top in GT3 as Tom Hornsby reports.

Darren Leung and Dan Harper were crowned Intelligent Money British GT champions in dramatic fashion at Donington Park after overcoming the odds and a significant points deficit to season-long rival James Cottingham. The same can be said of Erik Evans and Matt Cowley, who won the final two races to pinch the GT4 crown from long-time leaders Jack Brown and Charles Clark.

Multiple crews contended for both titles throughout the season. Indeed, six remained in GT4 championship contention at the finale where Academy’s Mustang sensationally overturned its 16.5-point deficit and 46-second pit stop handicap – including maximum Compensation Time – to triumph in a typically topsy turvy decider.

But that performance was still somehow overshadowed by Harper’s heroics out front where two Safety Car periods in the opening stint prevented Leung, who took the lead through the Craner Curves on lap one, from fully negating his 20 seconds of impending Compensation Time.

Right: They topped one of the best fields British GT has ever seen – here at Algarve in Portugal

Opposite, above: Harper and Leung’s Century Motorsport BMW M4 GT3

Opposite, below: Erik Evans and Matt Cowley took GT4 drivers’ honours aboard the thumping Ford Mustang GT4

Championship permutations meant Century’s crew had to finish fifth at worst to have any hope of bridging Cottingham’s 13-point advantage, and that appeared unlikely when Harper rejoined in 13th. However, the BMW factory driver then embarked upon one of the series’ greatest-ever stints to not only overhaul the 2 Seas MercedesAMG, which was subsequently hit with a penalty, but eventually fight through to finish second overall.

Above: Dan Harper (left) and Darren Leung won the GT3 title with a sensational final-race performance

Five of this year’s nine wins were shared between Cottingham/Jonny Adam (who missed the finale due to clashing commitments elsewhere) and Leung/Harper. Shaun Balfe and Sandy Mitchell (Barwell) clinched their second win of the season at Donington’s finale, while the other two went to Jules Gounon and defending champion Ian Loggie (2 Seas), and John Ferguson and Raffaele Marciello (RAM Racing).

The season began with Adam celebrating a fairy tale victory on his 100th British GT appearance after seeing off Ross Gunn and Marcus Clutton during a frantic dash to the line at Oulton Park. Team-mates Gounon and Loggie then won race two to leave both 2 Seas crews tied at the top heading to Silverstone.

There, on the King’s coronation weekend, Leung and Harper served notice of their own crowning achievement by winning from 18th on the grid after qualifying was washed out. Victory owed something to fortuitous safety car timing but also the kind of daredevil overtaking that Harper would demonstrate throughout the campaign. Indeed, his successful switchback to relieve Mitchell of the lead in the closing laps was one of 2023’s highlights. Cottingham and Adam were back on top next time out at Donington where Beechdean AMR would likely have won without a pitstop delay.

Two sprint races followed at Snetterton, which served up one of British GT’s closest-ever finishes. Barwell’s Balfe and Mitchell dominated the opener from pole before Ferguson saw off Cottingham by just 0.042s and headed a top-four also featuring Loggie and Simon Orange by sixtenths.

Cottingham and Adam then made amends when the series visited Portimao for the first time in late July. That success was also Adam’s 19th British GT3 win, which tied the record held by Phil Keen.

That third victory of the year gave 2 Seas’ #4 crew an outside chance of clinching the title at Brands Hatch. However, Leung and Harper had other ideas; the latter once again completed a decisive race-winning move – this time on Ross Gunn – to set up a championship showdown for the ages at Donington.

Century’s duo ultimately added the Pro-Am crown to their overall success, while Barwell’s Mark Sansom and Will Tregurtha won the SilverAm title by passing season-long rivals Kevin Tse and Chris Froggatt (Sky Tempesta) on the finale’s penultimate lap.

2 Seas were crowned teams’ champions with a race to spare.

GT4

This year’s championship battle was undoubtedly a tale of two halves. Or, more accurately, a tale two and one thirds.

So dominant were Brown and Clark that Optimum’s McLaren duo could have clinched the title with two races remaining in the Algarve. However, that event marked the turning point in their season and a run of three races that yielded as many points.

By contrast, Evans and Cowley saved their best for last. Second on the opening weekend was as good as it got until the penultimate round at Brands where the Mustang really hit its stride and won to set up such a memorable showdown. 87 points from the final three races proved decisive.

Academy was also victorious first time out at Oulton, albeit through Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones who elected to start from the pitlane with slick tyres on a damp but drying track. RACE

LAB’s Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley triumphed in the second to mark themselves out as Pro-Am title contenders.

Circumstances prevented Optimum’s drivers from converting either pole position into a win. But Clark and Brown immediately rectified that at Silverstone where Raceway’s Ginetta might have won without a pitlane infringement that prevented the result from being finalised until after the following round at Donington.

There, with Pit stop Compensation Time only applied retrospectively, Optimum’s crew again stood on the top step before ultimately dropping to second behind Gough and Wrigley, who won for a second time in three races.

Freddie Tomlinson and Stuart Middleton then dominated Snetterton’s opener before Clark and Brown each placed one hand on the championship trophy by winning the second. Leading by 48 points (they were 63 clear of Evans and Cowley!) meant only a catastrophe could derail their coronation with three rounds remaining. But that’s exactly what happened…

Just three points in the Algarve, where Michael Johnston and Chris Salkeld scored their maiden overall wins, appeared nothing more than a blip. But non scores at both Brands and Donington –coupled with Academy’s renaissance – ultimately saw Clark and Brown finish runners-up.

At least some consolation could be taken from winning the the Silver Cup crown, while Johnston and Salkeld clinched the Pro-Am title. Their Century squad also won the teams’ championship to cap a memorable season for BMW in both GT3 and GT4.

GT3

TIN TOP TITANS

The TCR UK Championship went from strength to strength in 2023, with multiple National Hot Rod champion Carl Boardley emerging victorious. Phil Kinch reports.

Top: Scott Sumpton leads at Silverstone

Above: Eventual champion Carl Boardley’s CUPRA was out front plenty during 2023: here at Knockhill

Right: Carl and the first-place Board-ley!

Below: TCR offers a a vast variety of entries. Chris Smiley’s Honda leads Hyundai, CUPRA and Audi erntries at Brands Hatch

The 2023 TCR UK Touring Car Championship was its highest-profile season yet, with the addition of teams such as Paul Sheard Racing and Rob Boston Racing joining the grid.

The championship had the introduction of no less than three brand new Gen 2 models: the Audi RS3 LMS TCR, the Hyundai Elantra N TCR and the new-for-2023 Honda Civic Type R FL5.

The grid formed at Snetterton in April, for the first two rounds of the season, using the 300 circuit, another first for the championship. Fourtime TCR Champion Josh Files took pole position after Brad Kent’s Hyundai Veloster N TCR was disqualified for a technical issue, having set the pace in qualifying.

Despite Files experience with the Area Motorsport-run Hyundai Elantra N TCR, it was teammate and previous championship runner up Bruce Winfield who took his Hyundai i30 N TCR to an emotional first win of the season. Race one also marked a podium finish for the Honda Civic Type R FL5 on its global debut, in the hands of defending champion Chris Smiley.

Files featured once again in race two, holding the lead in the first reverse grid race of the year, until the engine expired allowing the chasing Lewis Brown to take the win in his only appearance of the year.

Croft beckoned in May as TCR UK returned there for the first time since 2019, this time with an actioned packed two races in the offering for the local crowd. It was a weekend of firsts in the championship, with Jac Constable taking his first pole position of the year in the Rob Boston Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR Gen2, a first for the new car in its debut season in the UK Championship.

Despite following home former BTCC driver Carl Boardley, who took the win on track in his Hart GT with CBM CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, later to be handed a five-second penalty for track limit abuses. This meant that Constable was handed the win, giving Audi its maiden win in TCR UK, during the weekend that Head of Audi Sport Customer Racing Detlef Schmidt was also in attendance.

The firsts continued in race two as former Fiesta Champion Jenson Brickley, in his debut year in TCR UK, took the second race win. The lead was initially disputed by local driver Brad

HutchisoninhisolderAudiandAlexLey,selected asaHyundaiMotorsportJuniorDriverforthis seasonbeforeAdamShepherdjoinedthefray.

AsHutchisonfellback,Brickleymoved forwardtotaketheleadandintheprocess,take hisfirstwinoftheseasoninhisfamily-runJBR CUPRALeonCompeticiónTCR.Despiteadifficult weekend,Winfieldheldthepointslead.

OultonParkinJuneprovidedascorching one-dayevent,notonlywiththeon-trackaction butalsowiththetemperaturesastheysoared intothemid-30sonraceday.Winfieldre-asserted hisstampasthefrontrunnerwithpoleposition howeverhefacedrace-longpressurefrom teammateLey,whogotthebetterstart.

Winfieldmanagedtomakealateracepassto takehissecondwinoftheyearasConstabletook secondontheruntothelinefromLey.

RacetwohadBoardleyonthereversegridrace poleandtheCUPRAdrivermadeagoodstartto takealeadthathewouldneverlose.Takinghis firstwinoftheseason,Boardleywasjoinedonthe podiumbyTCRUKstalwartDarelleWilsoninhis DWMotorsportVauxhallAstraTCRandHutchison inhisolderBondItwithMPHRAudi.

KnockhillinJulywasanotherreturnforTCR UK,havinglastracedtherein2018duringthe championship’sinauguralseasonandit’swhere CarlBoardleytookcontrolofthechampionship. Polepositionforthefirstofthreeracesacrossthe border,addedwithtwovictoriesputtheCUPRA driverintotheleadasthe2023seasonpassedits halfwaypoint.

AlexLeywascreditedwiththeracetwowin, afterBrickleymadearatherrobustchallenge fortheleadduringtherace,whichthestewards thoughtwastoorobustintheend.Despite wetweatherplayingitspart,TCRUKenjoyed itssecondvisittoKnockhillandputonagreat displayforthecrowds.

Silverstonewasanothercircuitthatwelcomed aTCRUKreturn,wheretheyounggunscameout blazing.JASDevelopmentDriverScottSumpton, inhisRestartRacing-run,olderHondaCivicType RFK7andOliverCottaminhisPaulSheardRacing AudiGen2surprisedmanyinqualifyingasAdam ShepherdputhisAreaMotorsport-runHyundai i30NTCRonpolesettinganewlaprecordinthe process.

Race one delivered surprises galore as both Winfield and Shepherd retired early on, leaving Boardley to take win number four ahead of Brickley and fellow debutant Joe Marshall who added to his string of podium finishes.

Race two, which was interrupted with a red flag stoppage after the first start that saw Callum Newsham and Smiley retire on the first lap, got underway with Sumpton taking an early lead ahead of JWB Motorsport’s Matthew Wilson. Ley was the eventual winner, who worked forward for his second victory of the season as Wilson took his maiden podium finish.

September in the East Midlands meant that TCR UK was racing at Donington Park on the National circuit for its penultimate weekend of action. Brickley took his first pole position of the year, but, it was Shepherd who was given the race one win after Brickley was deemed to have overtaken during the early safety car period.

During a poor weekend for Boardley, who was heading the points standings and collecting points despite brake issues, race two would be a wet race affair, as the drivers grappled for grip during the 25-minute duration.

The 2021 Milltek Sport Civic Cup Champion, Alistair Camp, was back for his second weekend in TCR, where he survived the conditions to take his maiden win in the Pro Alloys Racing Team run Hyundai i30 N TCR.

Brands Hatch was the scene of the title showdown, with six drivers in the running to become the 2023 TCR UK Champion: Carl Boardley, Adam Shepherd, Bruce Winfield, Jenson Brickley, Alex Ley and Jac Constable.

The Indy circuit provided two fantastic races for the crowds, during a weekend where TCR UK shared the billing with the Formula Ford Festival. Fourth place for Boardley in race one was enough to crown him champion, also taking the Tom Walker Memorial Trophy for new drivers and the Goodyear Diamond Award for drivers aged 40 and over.

Jac Constable finished the year off with a second victory of the season, winning the last race of the 2023 TCR UK Touring Car Championship.

2024? Well that gets underway at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit on 13 -14 April.

CAR TESTING WITH MSV

MSV operates various formats of car testing across its five race circuits, with events to suit all needs from Semi-Exclusive to pre-race meeting test days.

SEMI-EXCLUSIVE SESSIONS

Open and closed wheel cars allowed

Maximum of 18* cars on circuit

*Donington Park 20 cars

Track time split equally between open and closed wheels

OPEN PIT LANE TESTING

No sessions, no time constraints

Race cars only

GENERAL TESTING

Timing allowed Overtake on either side

Sessioned according to car suitability

Pre-race days – ideal for last minute set up and circuit knowledge

INSTRUCTORS (ARDS GRADE A OR S) ALLOWED IN CAR FREE OF CHARGE!

Outside F1, there was another impressive Max who claimed a championship with a Honda engine.

Max Edmundson won the Milltek Sport Civic Cup as Phil Kinch reports.

MAX ATTACKS!

With large grids and plenty of on-track action during its 17 rounds, the 2023 Milltek Sport Civic Cup delivered another action-packed year as the Honda Civic Type R shale of the EP3 and FN2 battled hard.

Max Edmundson was always in the hunt from the beginning in his Area Motorsport EP3, but the young charger lost ground in the opening rounds due to some questionable driving which left him disqualified from the Croft event in May.

Former Mazda racer Jack Harding was the early championship leader, after racking up the points at Snetterton, with a race two win and podium finish at Croft.

However, Jack suffered in the remaining races in the first half of the year, resulting in a race-oneending incident at Oulton, before Harding called it a day for 2023 after the Knockhill event.

Morgan Bailey, the 2022 runner-up, was another title contender in 2023, but with only two podium finishes to his credit at Croft and Cadwell Park, Bailey was plagued with gearbox issues and was unable to see the season out to its end.

Motion Motorsport’s Dan Thackeray was arguably the most consistent driver of the year, taking five wins on his way into the title fight and after Knockhill, taking the championship lead.

The EP3 driver held off young gun Harvey Caton at Croft in race two and he also went into the Silverstone event in September as the championship leader… but we’ll come back to that shortly.

Pro Alloys Racing were a force to be reckoned with in 2023 with their fleet of eight Civic EP3s in action as the likes of former champion Alistair Camp and race winner Ryan Bensley joined the lineup.

Camp kept himself in title contention right up until the penultimate round at Silverstone, with his cause aided after taking his only win of the year in race one at Oulton Park back in June.

Teammate Will Redford had shown in 2022 he was one to watch and duly delivered in 2023 after taking his maiden win in the second race of the day at Oulton, with consistency also keeping him in the hunt well into the season.

Liam McGill, who raced on home turf at Knockhill in an Area Motorsport-prepared EP3, showed his talent by taking the second race win

and fastest lap as he looks to make the step up to the Civic Cup full-time in 2024.

Despite a valiant fight back at Cadwell Park where Bensley took the second of his two race wins, it wasn’t enough for the Pro Alloys driver to stay in the fight for the championship. However, Cadwell delivered in historic style for another driver: Dave Marshall.

In a championship that’s been dominated by success for drivers in EP3 Civics in recent years, Marshall re-wrote the history books in his DMR run FN2, taking his car to its first win in the championship in the second race of the Cadwell event.

In the process, it’s the first win for an FN2 in the Civic Cup since 2019!

Silverstone. That was the weekend when it turned around, with the championship lead changing hands no less than three times in one day!

The penultimate weekend of the season didn’t disappoint. Both Thackeray and Edmundson, who had taken his first outright win at Knockhill and another at Cadwell Park, battled hard throughout races one and three with Thackeray taking both race wins, ahead of his rival.

Sam Kirkpatrick, who had shone on his debut at Croft back in May, took his maiden win in race two of the weekend, a good omen ahead of his full-season entry in 2024.

With Camp struggling at Silverstone, he now had an outside chance of the title across the two final races of the year at Brands Hatch, but the drama wasn’t over yet.

The penultimate race of the 2023 season was a head-to-head affair between Thackeray and Edmundson, with no quarter given and none asked. Just as Thackeray was staring victory number six ahead, his engine blew in the final stages and Edmundson took his third win of the year.

Starting 10th in the final race, Edmundson simply drove forward as he chased down and duly took his fourth win of the year, in the final race of the year, which let the Area Motorsport driver claim his first Milltek Sport Civic Cup title ahead of Owen Hillman and Alex Kite, who claimed their maiden podiums.

2024 starts at Brands Hatch on 13 -14 April.

Above: Max Edmunson took control of a huge field of Civics (top)

CHEAP THRILLS

The Silverlake C1 Endurance Series continued into its second season with the BRSCC keen to build on a successful first year in partnership with each other in 2022. For 2023, seven events were lined up including the annual C1 24 Hours at Silverstone in May, meaning a busy schedule for the regular teams to contest across the year.

A four-hour race on the Silverstone GP circuit in March served as a warm-up for the 24 Hours, the first pole of the season taken by the Mac Tools Racing car featuring BTCC stars Jade Edwards and Josh Cook as part of its driving strength. They along with Emax Motorsport and Scuderia Pollo Rosso escaped as a leading trio from the outset, pulling more than 10 seconds clear collectively before Pollo Rosso blinked first in the pit stops. Sylvain Rubio kept Mac Tools in P1 until their first stop after 80 minutes and once everyone had made a stop, Emax were back in front with Mac Tools second from JW Bird Motorsport #449 by the halfway point. A mega stint from Jade Edwards helped Mac Tools remain second once Josh Cook took over, and he was left to climb back to the front after Emax passed him and then both top two cars pitted.

Rubio, Edwards and Cook took the victory by over 40 seconds at the flag, followed by JW Bird #347 and Emax #346 on the podium, with Trojon Motorsport and Emax #343 completing the top five.

At the 24 Hours in May, Pollo Rosso appeared to be winding back the clock by leading the early laps before J W Bird took over and the two were still nose-to-tail by the end of the first hour. Early safety cars gave Trojon #421 and BPC Motorsport #375 the chance to join the leaders, and Trojon continued to rack up consistent laps to hold the lead over the next few hours as the race entered darkness. As pit stops came and went, both Emax and AB Motorsport traded P1 through the night and into the early hours of the morning, and by the time the sun rose again Emax’s #346 car had a one lap lead over AB, followed by WRC Developments and Trojan #421, with J W Bird also reappearing into the fight by the end of the morning.

With as many five teams in the hunt for victory going into the final hours, fortunes began to change with around three hours to go. WRC Developments suffered a rear suspension failure which pushed them out of contention for victory, while AB also received a pit stop penalty that

left them trying to recover all the way to the finish. With the final hour approaching, Emax and J W Bird both elected to attempt making it to the end without refuelling again, while Trojon played it safe and made a final splash ‘n’ dash to cover themselves. Emax had to stop with just 13 minutes left and this created a thrilling finish with a dramatic conclusion.

On the penultimate lap, an optimistic lunge at The Loop by Emax tipped Trojon into a spin, and despite Emax going on to win on the road, it would in fact be Trojon instead that stood on the top step after car #346 was handed a threeminute penalty for the contact and dumped off the podium entirely. This promoted JW Bird to second and AB Motorsport to third, capping off what had turned out to be a dramatic 24 hours.

The teams regrouped at Donington Park a few weeks later, with Trojon continuing their 24 Hour winning form with both cars setting the early pace out front, #508 ahead of #421. A short safety car just before the hour mark bunched up the pack, and on the restart Trojon dominated the field again as the two cars pulled away. Racing was then halted more than 20 minutes after a sudden severe downpour caused several cars to fall foul of the conditions, but thankfully they eased up enough to restart. After final stops were completed, Emax #346 charged through to challenge and pass Trojon’s leading #508 and late leaders Quattro Formaggio to claim the victory.

The first Snetterton visit in June once again saw Trojon dominate the early stages before the field, but as the race wore on several other cars took their turns to lead including Emax, Brimstone Racing and OPC-PR. It wasn’t until the final hour that Emax #346 and Trojon #421 came together again, the former taking chunks of time per lap out of the lead before passing them with three minutes to go. Emax held on to win, while Brimstone Racing took a strong third place. An equally exciting dice for victory also took place in the closing stages of the following round at Brands Hatch, where BPC Motorsport (piloted by Sylvain Rubio and Josh Cook), Trojon and WRC Developments duked it out in the final minutes after a late safety car and subsequent late stop by Jelly Snake Racing. BPC ended up victorious, with WRC second and Trojon third after a penalty demoted them.

A double header of six-hour races at Pembrey proved to be a near domination for Trojon, with #421 taking care of early leaders WRC

The Silverlake C1 Endurance Series continued to produce enormous grids, star names and low-cost racing. Scott Woodwiss lifts the lid on a national racing gem.

Developments to win the first race on Saturday from Scuderia Pollo Rosso in second and CSC Racing/ FDL Packaging in third. Sunday proved to be even more successful, with both #319 and #421 working their way to the front through early pit stops and clinched their first 1-2 finish of the year, #319 over a minute ahead of their teammates with Emax #343 in third just behind P2.

The final pair of races at Snetterton could have made it three in a row for Trojon courtesy of #508 after they led early on, dropped back through the stops and climbed back to the lead past Emax, before throwing away victory on the final lap after hitting a damp patch at the Agostini hairpin and tagging the barrier. Emax were the ultimate benefactors and took the win, while Trojon #508 still took the runner up spot ahead of teammates #421. The final race of the year, Trojon #421 avenged their teammates’ loss by taking the victory by just four tenths of a second from CATDT, the podium being completed by Melboard Racing.

More C1 Endurance entertainment is expected in 2024, which will have six events including the return of the C1 24 Hours which will this time take place at Anglesey in Wales!

Above: The 24-hour race at Silverstone was a huge success, again Middle, right: Endurance racing podiums are accessible to almost anyone in the C1 Endurance Series Middle, left: Another season of huge grids meant fantastic racing

Below: Snetterton’s race gets underway

KELLY’S THE HERO

The National Formula Ford Championship headed into the 2023 season once again with the prospect of crowning a new champion, with a number of drivers staying on for another year to take on the influx of new faces that would bid to make a name for themselves first time out. What would follow is a season where the main contenders would see their fortunes see-saw up and down right until the final races of the year.

The campaign began at Oulton Park in Cheshire where Oldfield Motorsport made an early bid to become championship favourites. Both Lucas Romanek and Brandon McCaughan had race one under control and finished one-two in Romanek’s favour in a race that ended with the top six drivers covered by less than one second; Morgan Quinn took the final podium place in that race. Later in the day, both Oldfield drivers ran away with another top two lockout, with McCaughan victorious this time from Romanek and Ammonite Motorsport’s Elliot Budzinski completing the podium.

Snetterton in Norfolk was the next stop on the schedule where 2021 champion Chris Middlehurst rebounded from mixed fortunes at Oulton to win a race-long duel with Romanek and take his first win of the year, while McCaughan ended up third a couple of seconds back. It could have been two from two for Middlehurst but a wiring issue forced him out of the race on the final lap, handing a first National victory to his young Irish Team DOLAN teammate Jordan Kelly from Romanek and Budzinski at the flag. Romanek was able to fight his way to the front of race three on the opening lap, but he was reeled in during the final minutes by Budzinski and only just managed to hold him off by 0.062 seconds to take a second win of the season. Middlehurst also recovered well from his race two retirement to pick up third as a silver lining.

Onwards to Donington Park’s GP circuit, where Middlehurst initially headed up a tight lead group of six cars including both Oldfield drivers, Budzinski, Kelly and a returning Jamie Sharp but eventually Romanek broke away and took the win. McCaughan was second on the road but

a five-second track limits penalty demoted him to seventh, handing Middlehurst P2 from Sharp, Budzinski and Kelly. Middlehurst picked his way past Romanek early in race two and ended up leading the rest of the way to win, while Sharp and Budzinski were able to knock Romanek off the podium and down to fourth. Despite Kelly running away in front in race three, a safety car for Romanek retiring at the Fogarty Esses allowed Budzinski to close back in and steal victory with a pass on the penultimate lap. Kelly settled for second ahead of Middlehurst in third.

A return to Kirkistown in Northern Ireland allowed McCaughan a chance to get back to winning ways with victory in the first race of the weekend with Kelly and Romanek joining him in second and third on the podium, the three drivers in a race of their own. Kelly then scored win number three of the year with Romanek ahead of McCaughan this time in race two, before Romanek then took his turn in race three in an Oldfield 1-2 ahead of teammate McCaughan with Budzinski third.

The momentum in the championship began to swing in Kelly’s favour at Brands Hatch after he began the weekend in Kent with victory in race one, followed by Sharp in second place and Quinn in third, followed by second behind Sharp in race two with Quinn again in P3. Both times Jordan ended up ahead of Romanek in fourth, although the third race let Lucas collect second ahead of the Irishman as F1 eSports champion Lucas Blakeley put in a fine drive to take victory for KMR Sport in his Spectrum by more than three seconds in the end. Now the championship battle was starting to narrow down to just the two men at the head of the table.

Two weekends remained in the season, starting with another long trip north and across the border into Scotland at Knockhill. It turned out to be a near perfect weekend for Kelly as he followed up pole in qualifying with victory in the first race, also earning him the David Leslie Memorial Trophy for his efforts too. He was four seconds clear of Budzinski in second with Romanek completing the podium in third, with Lucas then managing to finish a place higher in second as Kelly dominated by more than ten seconds this time with Quinn joining them on the podium.

It all came down to the final day of competition at Silverstone, where Kelly and Romanek lined up on the front row together for race one after qualifying on pole and second place respectively. Romanek got the initial jump to the lead with Kelly trying for several laps to get through before eventually making it past to win, with teammate Middlehurst following through to second while Romanek picked up third on the road. Unfortunately for Lucas, his quest to become champion ended in race two, when he retired just five laps from the end, leaving Kelly to race home and claim the final win of the year and seal the National Formula Ford title in the process. Middlehurst captured second and Blakeley third, while Romanek’s day unfortunately took a further nosedive when he was disqualified from the event following an off-track incident involving members of his team.

Jordan Kelly was the star of an ultra-competitive National Formula Ford Championship season, as Scott Woodwiss reports.

Above: Jordan Kelly was the class of the National Formula Ford Championship field

SUPER CLASSIC IS FANTASTIC, THIS YEAR’S RACING SHOWED US

For the first time in its history, the BRSCC’s Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford 1600 Championship would run solely for cars built before 1999, allowing a dedicated grid for some of the finest classic and historic Kent-engined Formula Ford chassis to race against one another across four classes.

The year began at familiar location Oulton Park in April, for the first of three visits. Morgan Dempsey, father of former National champion Jordan, wound back the years in his Duckhamsliveried Van Diemen RF92 and was victorious outright and in Super Classic A (SCA) in both of the day’s races, with John Murphy, Richard Higgins and Super Classic B (SCB) winner Andrew Schofield all finishing on the overall podium too. Class winners alongside Dempsey and Schofield that day were Scott Guthrie in Super Classic C (SCC) in his Crossle, and Scott Rawlinson in Super Classic D with commanding pace in his Merlyn. A blast around Mallory Park in May produced a different winner for each race outright, both from SCA. James Tucker’s Swift duked it out with the Van Diemen of Alex Ames and only just beat him to the line by less than half a second in the first encounter, before Ames got the better of him in race two in an even closer contest - less than four tenths covered Ames, Tucker and Dempsey at the flag with Alex only winning by 0.127 seconds! Schofield dominated SCB once again, Stuart Kestenbaum was a double SCC winner and SCD honours were split between Rawlinson and Ian Fernihough.

Next up was Anglesey, where James Tucker showed some real prowess in both dry and wet conditions to win both races. James recovered from a lap one grassy excursion in the wet first race to take the lead by the end of lap two, before streaking away to a dominant victory by nineteen seconds from SCB winner Garath Buckingham and Higgins in third. Tucker’s rivals were closer to him in the dry in race two, as James only took victory by seven seconds this time ahead of Paul Mason and Higgins. Buckingham was SCB winner both times, along with Guthrie in SCC and John Roberts in SCD.

Dempsey repeated his April success at Oulton Park at the return leg in July, winning both races once again and sharing the overall rostrum with both Richard and Robert Higgins and Schofield in each, as Schofield and Rob Higgins (SCB), Guthrie (SCC) and Rawlinson (SCD) also took the individual class honours along with Dempsey in SCA. A high point of the season was the trip to Silverstone’s National circuit with 22 entries, and it produced some of the best racing of the year as guest driver Jacob Tofts piloted a 1989 Van Diemen to a brace of wins outright and in SCB. Alex Ames and Dempsey were best of SCA, SCC was won by another guest in Simon Hadfield, and SCD victories were split between Fernihough and Rawlinson.

Despite a smaller grid than usual at Croft, the quality of the drivers entered wasn’t low by any means. Callum Grant made a one-off appearance as a guest and proved to have the measure of everyone else in attendance, claiming both wins but with Dempsey taking the points for a win instead, thus helping him effectively put the SCA class out of reach of the rest. Doug Crosbie and Dempsey were Grant’s podium mates in each, while Rawlinson was the sole SCD runner.

Out of the four class leaders in points, only Rawlinson made the final stop to Oulton Park in October, essentially confirming Dempsey (SCA), Schofield (SCB) and Guthrie (SCC) as their respective winners. On the final day of competition, two fine drives from Richard Freye helped him not only claim runner up in SCA, but also clinch the Champion of Oulton title to be the first recipient of the Ian “Diz” Smith Trophy, in honour of the late former championship coordinator and BRSCC North Western Centre stalwart.

2024 looks to be an exciting year for the championship, with visits to Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park, Mallory Park and Oulton Park all on the cards as the championship switches to a more national calendar. We anticipate some exciting battles throughout the year!

The Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford 1600 Championship produced great racing in an ultra-competitive year. Scott Woodwiss reports.

Above: A typical Formula Ford start at Oulton Park, a championship favourite

Below: The pack slithers away in the wet at Anglesey

VICTORIOUS ALBERT

Albert Webster took the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship at the last event. Scott Woodwiss watched the drama.

For the first time since they were introduced in 2020, the turbocharged Ford Fiesta ST240 race cars ran as a single, standalone grid in 2023, known as the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship. Taking up the mantle of what had been known as the BRSCC Fiesta Championship and with a new Pro and Club class structure, a competitive grid headed to the opening rounds at Snetterton with much promise.

First blood in the new season went to Zachary Lucas, whose brace of wins in the first two races initially marked him out as a potential title contender. Race one victory came after passing Simon Horrobin early on and keeping him at bay while Alastair Kellett took third, before an early safety car in race two helped him streak away on the restart to go two for two from Horrobin and Kellett again. Sunday morning’s third race produced a first win of the year for Kellett, taking

it commandingly ahead of Spencer Stevenson and Gary Miller. Connor Blackburn and Morgan Kidd claimed the Club class wins.

The Silverstone GP weekend in May was unfortunately dominated by safety cars in both races - Kellett ended up winning both, but not before Fiesta Junior graduate Albert Webster and Spencer Stevenson pressured him in the closing stages of the first, and then just two laps of racing in the second when another lengthy safety car saw the race finish under yellows. That race featured the same overall top three in Pro, with guest driver Ulick Burke on top in each in Club class.

Oulton Park proved to be a momentous occasion for Webster, as he finally clinched his first circuit racing win since he left the short oval scene as a junior. After settling for second in race one after chasing leader Horrobin for the entire race, race two’s inaugural victory came at Simon’s expense, as his out of position start landed him a time penalty and demoted him to seventh. Joseph Knight and Matt Luff were also worthy podium finishers, and Club honours were shared between Sean Reynolds and Barry-John McHenry.

A trip across the border to Knockhill in Scotland was next, where all three podium finishers in race one shared the three wins between them over the weekend. John Cooper managed to put a stop to his run of bad luck during the first half of the year with victory in race one ahead of Kellett and Luff, before Alastair took the spoils in race two with Cooper on his tail and son William Kellett on the podium. Luff then took a first Fiesta ST240 win in race three, the outgoing Civic Cup champion benefitting from the reverse grid and a late safety car that led to its premature end. William Kellett and Cooper also picked up silverware on the podium, as Blackburn and McHenry collected the Club class wins across the weekend too.

By this point, the championship battle in Pro was becoming a two-horse race between Alastair Kellett and Webster, a fact proven on Silverstone’s National circuit where both drivers swept the board with victories. Kellett struck first in race one with Webster on his tail, but the young gun fought back to collect his first on-track wins (his Oulton victory courtesy of Horrobin’s penalty) in races two and three. Kellett, meanwhile, had to endure mechanical issues and a spin during Sunday, losing him valuable points. Podium finishes were also shared between Luff, Cooper, Gary Miller and Joseph Knight in Pro class, whilst Archie Johnson took his first Club class win followed by Kidd and then Blackburn, the latter finishing race three a sensational third overall.

Drama befell both title contenders from the outset at Croft, when a first corner incident eliminated both Kellett and Webster from race one, allowing Cooper to win again from Horrobin and Luff. Alastair then put in one of the drives of his career by charging from the back of the grid to victory in race two with Webster and Horrobin trailing in behind him, a much-needed boost to the Irishman’s title hopes. Son William also took a victory in race three, and in Club class it was advantage Morgan Kidd as she dominated in all three encounters to put one hand on the class title.

It all came down to the final visit to Silverstone on the International circuit to decide both class titles. Webster and Kellett went in just a handful of points apart, and each would claim a victory on that weekend, but third in the final race clinched Webster the Pro title in just his first year of senior racing. An emotional Kellett vowed to come back after taking second in points once more ahead of John Cooper in third, while Morgan Kidd survived a late incident in race one and turbo issues in the second to become the Club class winner too.

Above: Albert Webster piloted the #2 Fiesta to glory

THE BEST SEASON YET?

2023 will go down as a landmark year for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship - its strongest season to date, more cars and drivers than ever before, a successful first year as TCR UK’s official junior support series and a thrilling championship battle that yet again went all the way to the final rounds.

There were 22 drivers for the Snetterton curtain-raiser, and from the outset it looked like Luke Hilton had the measure of everyone as he commanded the race on track. However, he was lucky to hold on to victory by a mere tenth of a second from second place thanks to a track limits penalty, but just survived. Luke was caught up in a first lap incident in race two, and after a restart it was Ryan Micallef who made the most of his then cameo appearance to win from Sam Neser and Ben Mulryan, who was best of the next-gen Mk7 Fiesta Junior cars in third overall.

Then at Croft came a significant early turning point: Mulryan showed incredible pace in the new Mk7 all weekend to go fastest in practice, then took the car’s first outright pole in qualifying and followed that with its very first win, proving its ontrack capabilities no end. The race one win came ahead of Ronnie Smith and Rashan Chigorimbo, before Ben followed it up with another P1 in race two ahead of teammate Daniel Lewis and Smith. Hilton was able to then rebound from a difficult Yorkshire visit with two commanding wins at Oulton Park, with the likes of Sam Neser and Lewis also joining him on the rostrum over the course of the day.

Another visit to Scotland and the Knockhill circuit was on the cards next, with Mulryan leaving the rest of the pack behind him and easing to victory in the first race while the skirmishes for P2 downwards raged on several seconds back. Ben then slipped back from pole in race two in the early laps, ending up second best to teammate Jacob Hodgkiss with Neser in third place.

Silverstone was one of the highlights of the year, as not only did it produce some of the best racing and battles all season, but the championship also hit a record high of 26 entries for the weekend, more than any other in Fiesta Junior history. It was also the weekend that saw the emergence of rapid guest driver Finn Leslie, who made an instant impact on his debut in FJC to take a front row start in his first ever race and then tail home race one winner Luke Hilton for second place. Then an exciting wheel-to-wheel battle with Hilton in race two eventually led to a sensational first win, as Hodgkiss and Lewis also shared the silverware on the podium too. With Finn being a non-points scoring guest, it was Lewis that took the points for victory in race two instead.

Donington Park brought another strong entry of 26 drivers once again, although only one race would take part that weekend. The first race sadly had to be declared a non-contest due to incidents and timetable constraints, meaning the only points from the meeting would come from the scheduled second race. In it, the Mk7 quintet of Mulryan, Hodgkiss, Doughty, Lewis and Leslie ended up putting on a sensational scrap for the win, eventually falling the way of Leslie after an incredible steal of a pass at the final chicane. Again, as Finn was racing a guest, the points for victory instead went to Doughty, with Hodgkiss again on the podium and Mulryan no better than fifth.

The Brands Hatch finale would settle the score as Mulryan held the points lead ahead of Lewis and Hodgkiss with two races left. Despite numerous interruptions to race one, it was the eventual finish that created the biggest headlines as Mulryan and Lewis critically tangled at Paddock Hill Bend, leaving both out on the final lap and handing victory on a plate to Hodgkiss ahead of Jenson O’Neill-Going and a returning Micallef. This pushed Hodgkiss right into title contention, and he coasted away to the final win of the season doing all he could to steal it. However, Mulryan played it cautiously and took the points for eighth place to claim the Fiesta Junior title and the first for the new Mk7 FJC race car too.

Sam Neser ended up best of the Mk6 class runners as the evergreen ST150 prepares to head into its last season of competition in 2024, while Hodgkiss did end the year on top in the Rookie Cup for his troubles too. Next season is looking set to be even bigger, better and more popular and with the first ever Fiesta Junior Scholarship taking place in mid-February, all eyes will be on the BRSCC’s next generation of racers to show their skills!

Top: It was a year of tight battles in the Fiesta Juniors, with...

Above: ...Ben Mulryan showing his merit and taking the title

BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship

The BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship continues to go from strength to strength, with another huge grid of cars. Scott Woodwiss tells how Ben Mulryan took the title.

“BY TESTING REGULARLY AT SIM MOTORSPORT, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FINE TUNE MY RACE CRAFT AND EXPERIMENT ON USING DIFFERENT LINES AND SET UPS THAT HAVE DEFINITELY BENEFITED ME ON TRACK.” Tom Ovenden, 2023 Mini Challenge Trophy Champion

For the first time in its history, the Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge became a single car formula for the 2023 season, now running exclusively for the Mk6 generation Ford Fiesta ST150. A mix of pre-existing ST-XR-spec machines ran against the incoming BRSCC Fiesta-spec cars with performance balancing to ensure both cars were as even as possible.

The year began at Snetterton with Ethan Rogers, a former ST150 class winner in the BRSCC Fiesta Championship, showing his prowess with two wins in the opening two races, but the hat-trick was denied when he pulled up in race three with engine issues and retired. This handed the win to Matt Pimlott in the process, although with newcomer Thomas Ikin, Mark Blunt and Dan Robinson all reaching the podium too, it was clear 2023 was going to be incredibly competitive.

Next up was the full GP circuit at Silverstone, where Rogers took win number three in race one on the road, but was then disqualified for a technical infringement which handed the win to Ikin, who’d only just held off Sam Watkins at the flag with Pimlott third. The second race was dominated by a lengthy safety car just two laps in which lasted until the timer hit zero, giving Watkins the victory in the process ahead of Ikin and Pimlott.

The first of two visits to Oulton Park, a regular and popular circuit for the championship, produced some of the best racing of the year and two more different winners for the season. Sam Beckett’s steady start to 2023 was rewarded with a last gasp victory in race one after a ten second penalty to Watkins for starting out of position demoted him to eighth, with Michael Blackburn and Robinson also on the podium. A

BECKETT BAGS IT

frantic second race went the way of Paul Dobson, avenging a late mechanical issue earlier in the day to come out on top from Robinson and Beckett, making it six different winners from the first seven races.

A trip to Knockhill in Scotland marked the halfway point, where Tensport Performance boss Chris Grimes made a guest appearance and was straight on the pace. He originally lost his race one win due to a time penalty which was then rescinded after an appeal to gain it back, before taking and keeping victory the next day in race two. Beckett completed his Scottish adventure with the race three win, as Dobson, Ikin and Pimlott also took home silverware from the weekend.

Defending champion Michael Blackburn was having a character-building title defence at this point, but found a turning point at Cadwell Park with pole and then victory in the first race of the weekend, beating the returning guest Grimes and Robinson in the process. Grimes then hit the top step again for race two, but as a non-scorer it gave Blackburn the equivalent points instead with Beckett in third. Robinson then completed the weekend on the top step in race three, joined by Blackburn and Beckett once more.

The form book at Croft was all over the place as the next triple-header again produced three different winners: Blackburn, Beckett and Dobson. At this point, Beckett was in control of the championship lead and simply need to score consistently and score well in order to keep himself in line for the title. With just two races left at Silverstone, the task at hand was clear in Sam’s mind. Choosing not to take too many risks, a lowkey pair of finishes in sixth and eighth (but scoring more due to guests finishing ahead of him) gave him enough to become Fiesta ST150 champion, a first title for his new SBR Motorsport team in their first full season. On the day, it was a brace of wins for Watkins along with impressive drives from Robinson and guest driver Shanel Drewe on the podium, but for Sam and his team, the ultimate prize was theirs!

Top: Sam Beckett was the class of the ST150 field, which was once again sizeable and ultra-competitive (above) Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge

The Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge went down to the wire, but it was Sam Beckett who came out on top, says Scott Woodwiss

HILLS ON TOP

Regularly seen as one of the most competitive and intense championships in British club motor sport to compete in, the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup delivered plenty more action and thrills in the 2023 season, once again culminating in a title decider on the final day of competition.

Replicating his form in the opening rounds 12 months prior, Aidan Hills began his full season return to the SuperCup with three outright wins in Pro class at Silverstone, fending off teammate James Cossins and Tom Griffiths in the first race, taking a more comfortable victory in the second and picking his way through from seventh on the grid to complete the hat-trick in race three. Club class had a split for race victories between Kamal Kalsi, Robert Way and Steve Brown (aka SuperGT on YouTube) from the opening three encounters.

Hills then followed up his Silverstone success with two more victories at Brands Hatch next time out. Race one was another straightforward win

Chambers, while race two was red-flagged after a mid-race incident involving several cars before Druids, handing Hills a fifth victory in a row. Race three was won by Ali Bray on the road, before he was demoted to second for gaining an unfair advantage, handing the win to Blake-Baldwin. Robert Way also dominated all three races in Club class to maintain his lead.

A frenetic start to race one at Croft led to an early stoppage, but the restart saw Hills jump before the lights went out, handing him a 10-second penalty and promoting Patrick Fletcher to the win, as well as Bray and Cossins ahead of him too. Hills did manage to keep the victory second time around just half a second ahead of Fletcher with Bray in third, before leaving it late in the final couple of minutes to grab the lead in race three, followed this time by Blackwell-Chambers and Cossins on the podium. Club class honours in Yorkshire were shared by Kalsi, Clive Powles and Wilbur Tiley.

Anglesey was a prime chance for Patrick Fletcher to push himself forwards as a championship contender, holding off Hills to win race one before conquering the wet conditions in the second race with Ali Bray and Heading right on his tail at the end. Race three almost looked set to crown a new race winner in Leigh Britten, but his fortunes ended in heartbreak when his car ground to a halt just two laps from home, promoting Bray to victory from Heading and Fletcher. Hills couldn’t better fifth and sixth in either race, while Way, Kalsi and Powles all shared Club class victories too.

The wet weather at Snetterton dominated most of the weekend, with rain falling for race one just before the start. Hills got back to his winning best by leading from start to finish, before more treacherous conditions almost made race two a

washout. Hills won again, but only after the likes of Bray and Griffiths took turns in the lead before they fell foul of the conditions. Bray rebounded in race three and used his wet weather prowess to clinch the win, while Blackwell-Chambers, Hills, Fletcher and Cossins all took podiums from the weekend too. In Club class, Way strengthened his lead with a win, while Tiley also took a brace.

More first-time winners came at Cadwell Park with Sam Heading winning the first of the weekend on Saturday as Hills fended off Blackwell-Chambers, while Britten avenged his Anglesey loss to hold off a quartet of cars behind him and won race three. Hills also scored a win in between in race two with the likes of Cossins and Fletcher also picking up podiums, while Way, Kalsi and Ollie Hall all shared a Club class win each as that battle intensified.

After coming close more often than not during the season, Cossins finally scored his first wins of 2023 by taking all three at Donington Park. He kept Fletcher at bay in race one before the second was prematurely red-flagged after Hills critically tangled with a backmarker late on and Fletcher also became caught up in the subsequent incident. Race three also proved to be straightforward, while Griffiths, Britten and Alex Stott took podiums and Way and Tiley shared the Club wins.

Hills, Cossins and Fletcher were left to contest the Pro title at the Silverstone finale, and each scored a win in the final three encounters of the year, but it was Aidan Hills that maintained his spot on top to clinch the MX-5 SuperCup Pro class title, six years after he’d debuted back in 2017 as a rookie. Cossins and Fletcher took the podium places in the standings, Robert Way was crowned the Club class champion, and Nick Rutter also won a season long battle to become the Masters champion too.

The Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup fell to Aidan Hills after a season-long battle. Scott Woodwiss tells the tale.

Above: Aidan Hills claimed the MX-5 SuperCup crown

Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup

FODEN FIGHTS BACK

It was a disappointing start to Steve Foden’s GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship season, but Scott Woodwiss watched him bounce back to win the title.

When Steve Foden found himself being pushed off the grid before the start of the first GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship race of 2023 on Silverstone’s GP circuit, he will have expected his fortunes to only go one way for the rest of the year, and that they did as he rebounded spectacularly to become champion.

The opening salvos at Silverstone produced a surprise new pole sitter in Ted Bradbury, the 16-year-old only learning to drive a manual gearbox merely weeks prior to his racing debut. A shaky start dropped him down the pack as Thomas Langford fired the first shot as he battled with a competitive lead group to finally come out on top ahead of Brad Jones and Oliver Graham, while Adam Sparrow tackled the damp conditions the next morning to win race two from a charging Foden in second ahead of Langford. Foden’s climb to the top was complete in race three, clinching his first win of the season after scrapping race long with Langford, Tom Smith and others.

Foden’s pace at Brands Hatch was matched by Sparrow in the opening race, before Steve drove away to take his second win as he left Sparrow to dice with Bradbury for a distant second place. Race two began much the same, only this time Foden was kept a lot closer and a late safety car only added to the pressure. He resisted to win again, with Sparrow and Bradbury again behind him in a tight finish. Foden’s hat-trick was complete in race three, with a first podium for Adam Craig in second and Bradbury in third.

At Croft, in support of TCR UK, the good fortune continued for Foden, resisting Tom Smith’s advances to take race one, then race long pressure from Sparrow in the second. His run of consecutive victories ended in the third, however, as Sparrow got the better jump and held on from lights to flag to win. Slowly but surely after three rounds, the main contenders were taking shape.

Next came a visit to Anglesey, and in changeable weather conditions it was still

advantage Foden all the way. He was never headed in all three encounters, topping the field in the dry in races one and two before conquering the wet in the final race of that weekend. He was joined on the podium during the meeting by Jason Greatrex, Sparrow and Bradbury, all of which scored well to keep him in sight. The wet weather followed the drivers across to Snetterton in July, where Sparrow replicated his Silverstone form to win from Jack Noller and Luke Pullen. Then Bradbury’s formidable rookie pace finally produced his first win in cars, beating Foden and Noller to the flag in fine style, before Foden ran away with race three far ahead of Noller and Graham.

Three weekends left to run and the championship battle began to hot up. Foden escaped another frantic lead battle in race one at Cadwell Park to win again, before a delayed and safety car-affected second race left him little time to overhaul his rivals, only taking the lead on the final lap. Another hectic final few minutes of race three eventually threw up Sparrow as the winner, beating Foden and Graham to the lineleaving the top two now the main championship contenders.

Donington Park produced some of the most competitive and entertaining racing of the year as all three races provided plenty of action. Adam Sparrow took more key points out of Foden’s lead by winning race one from Noller and Graham, before a new race winner came to the fore on Sunday. Luke Pullen claimed his first MX-5 win in race two, and then racked up a second later in the afternoon, while Foden couldn’t better a pair of third places.

This set up the Silverstone finale on the International circuit, where Foden decided to take a slightly more conservative approach. While another first time winner was produced in Jack Noller with victories in races one and two, followed by Langford bookending his year with the final race win of the season, fifth, fourth and seventh places were enough to clinch Steve Foden the 2023 MX-5 Championship title, with Sparrow and Bradbury taking the podium places in the standing behind him.

Tim Dore was also crowned the Masters champion for the year too, with the likeable Australian ending up just over one hundred points in front of Graham Rumsey in second, and Clive Chisnall completing the top three.

Above: In a year of tight racing, Fraser Fenwick emerged victorious in the MX-5 Championship

FLETCHER TAKES IT ON THE LAST DAY

The Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship boasted big grids and a season-long duel for honours. Scott Woodwiss charts the season.

The first two seasons of the Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship had generated steady growth, as the new championship attracted a wide variety of drivers competing in the one-day Mazda contest. For 2023, the competition levels positively skyrocketed, as a new champion was set to be crowned for the year.

Both Brad Jones and Oak Richardson were the race winners at the opening rounds at Silverstone, but neither were planning to run a full season. In fact, those first two races threw up a slightly more mixed order than expected: Jones won race one from Richardson and Jon Pethick, before the top two diced again in a wet second race, Richardson coming out on top with Alan Hawkins completing the top three taking a fine podium finish.

Brands Hatch was when the true title contenders really came to the fore. Jordan Pimley started well as he was victorious in the first race after a fine four car battle with Paul Bateman, Jamie Turner and Matthew Fletcher, but in the second it was Fletcher that managed to steal the win from under Jordan’s nose in the final couple of laps, the pair taking a 1-2 in another wet encounter ahead of Bateman on the podium. At Croft, in support of TCR UK, Bateman drove brilliantly to claim the race one victory after working his way from fourth place, beating Fletcher and Pethick, but narrowly avoided the barriers after losing control at the start of race two. Fletcher went on to win, followed home by Harry Deane and Jon Pethick.

A triple header by the Welsh coast at Anglesey produced something of a Matthew Fletcher masterclass, with wins in all three and increasing margins of victory in each, with Pethick owning the second-place spot all weekend and third place shared between Beau Parry and Pimley. July at Snetterton was a memorable meeting in more ways than one: Harry Deane collected his first MX-5 Clubman victory in the first race after Fletcher spun from the lead on the last corner,

before Jordan Pimley put in the drive of the season to charge from 28th and last on the grid, to an sensational victory in severely adverse conditions; he beat Jonathan Greensmith and Deane who joined him on the podium.

Pimley’s form carried over to the next rounds at Cadwell Park as he clearly marked himself out as Fletcher’s closest challenger. Race one was red flagged midway through, but Pimley managed to steal the lead from Fletcher on the opening lap of the restart and fended him off until the finish with Deane in third. Jordan’s task was much easier in race two, leading from lights to flag with Deane second this time ahead of Pethick, while a five second penalty for Fletcher bumped him to sixth.

Fletcher was on course to win the first race at Donington Park, before he was slapped with fifteen seconds of track limits penalties that pushed him back to fifth. Pimley was also given five seconds for the same offence, leaving Beau Parry to take his first MX-5 win ahead of Pethick and demoted Pimley in third. Thankfully for Fletcher, race two was much more drama-free as victory kept him top of the table heading to the Silverstone finale, with Pimley and Pethick right behind him both in the result and the points.

Pimley drove as hard as he could to overhaul the deficit to Fletcher on points and victory in race one at the Silverstone finale on the International circuit helped, with Fletcher just behind in second ahead of Bateman. Fletcher quickly hit the front in the final race of the season, but he ended up swamped in the leading group as Pimley and Pethick ran away out in front. By the flag, it was Pimley completing the year victorious, but third for Fletcher was enough to seal the MX-5 Clubman title to his delight.

Masters honours for the season would go to Del Paice, who only won the category once all season but was rock solid in his consistent results to end up on top. Michael Pearce took the runner up spot, with the top three completed by Nick Le Doyen.

Below: Matthew Fletcher took MX-5 Clubman honours on the last day of the season

SPORTS CLUB

Once again proving to be ever popular and filling out grids wherever it heads, the SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy featured another full calendar of racing during 2023, providing a platform for a wide and eclectic variety of clubman race cars to compete against one another in multi-class, pit stop mini-endurance racing.

The series mimicked its achievement on the Silverstone GP circuit the previous year by reaching a sell-out 61 car grid for the season opener in March. After Matthew Bolton spun away the lead just corners into the start, the BMW Z4 of Liam Crilly quickly hit the front and stayed there for the duration, including through the pit window and a late rain shower. Crilly dominated by 22 seconds, while James Alford’s Volkswagen Golf only just beat the BMW of Tom Stanway to the flag to take second outright. Simon Horrobin’s Fiesta ST240 and Phiroze Bilimoria’s Volkswagen Scirocco completed the top five.

Bolton’s BMW and the Audi TT of Scott Parkin raced away out in front from the outset at Oulton Park in April, leaving Bilimoria’s Scirocco to head the chase. A safety car prompted Bolton to move first on the pit stops, followed shortly by Parkin, but through the stops Bilimoria managed to rise into second place. Bolton looked as though the win would be his, but a late spin followed by a penalty for a short stop demoted him to third in the result, giving Bilimoria the victory instead ahead of Parkin. The rest of the top five was filled out by Tim Evans’ TT and Jonathan Hayes’ BMW.

Parkin, Crilly and Bilimoria were the main players again at Snetterton, joined by Lloyd Chafer’s BMW M3 in the lead group. Parkin and Chafer enjoyed a back and forth battle of power versus handling, with the pit stops helping the TT exit ahead of the M3. The second half of the race played into Parkin’s hands more and he pulled away to win on the road, before a time penalty for a short stop pushed him back to third. Chafer won as a result after a great battle with Crilly, with Paul Bancroft’s TT and Jonathan Hunter’s Honda Civic coming in behind them.

A first lap incident at the first Donington Park race eliminated leading drivers Bilimoria and Stanway, before the restart saw James Alford’s

Golf and then Parkin’s TT hit mechanical troubles from the lead. Through the pit stops, Crilly eventually rose up to the lead after the last pit callers stopped and took a second win of the season, followed by Bolton’s BMW, the TT of Andrew Dyer and Richard Bliss, Sam Reddrop’s BMW and Chris Sparks’ Honda Civic. A second Oulton Park trip was next on the cards, where Bilimoria’s bad fortunes took a brighter turn as he ended up victorious from Ben Griffiths in the Honda Civic and the Bliss/Dyer combo in the Audi.

There was more good luck at the Silverstone National race in August, as David May finally managed to put the gremlins to bed in his Nissan 370Z and won the race from the front. A smooth pit stop allowed him to easily regain the lead at the end of the window and by the flag, he was more than 14 seconds ahead. The TTs of Luke Handley and Parkin completed the overall podium, followed by Bilimoria in fourth and Owen Hillman’s Civic in fifth.

An unfortunate first corner incident at the Donington National race at September ended up shortening the race to just 30 minutes. When it did get underway, Alford’s new Golf, May’s Nissan and Parkin’s Audi led the way and dominating the early running. Alford stopped first, followed by Parkin, while May spun the Nissan into the Coppice gravel to put him out of the race. Alford remained as leader until the flag, where he was demoted to second due to a short pit stop penalty, giving Parkin the win while Dyer took third in his Audi from the Lotus Elise of Steven Summers and Jonathan Hunter (now in a Scirocco).

The third and final visit to Silverstone on the International circuit let Parkin run away in the lead, playing the pit stop strategy to perfection and stopping right at the end of the window to maximise his time in the lead. By the time he took the chequered flag to win, he was almost 50 seconds out in front and totally unchallenged, leading Jonathan Hayes’s BMW and Andrew Dyer’s TT on the podium followed by Philip Hart’s Honda and Mike Parson’s Golf.

2024 is expected to bring more of the same - big grids, big variety and big fun in ClubSport Trophy!

Above: Once again, the ClubSport Trophy boasted huge, varied grids

The SW Motorsports ClubSport Trophy enjoyed a successful season as Scott Woodwiss explains.

2023 IN PICTURES

Left page, top to bottom: The British GT4 field was large, varied and highly competitive; The C1 24-hour race at Silverstone is always a spectacle; Fiesta Juniors brought fresh spice to the BRSCC schedule; Digital racing is a growing part of the Club’s strategy

Right page, top to bottom: Celebrations in Algarve are slightly different to those in the UK; The armed forces are proudly represented at Race of Remembrance; Sunset champagne at the Formula Ford Festival; The Knockhill scenery is amongst the most picturesque in Britain, here framing TCR UK

This was a classic season for the Fun Cup Endurance Championship: five different winners, the title battle down to the wire and the youngest ever race winners in the championship’s history.

The championship started at Brands Hatch, with Olympian’s Chris Dovell, Kristian Rose and Riley Phillips taking a dominant win, as PLR’s Neil Plimmer and Ben Pitch just held off UVio/ Hofmann’s “Farquini”/Fabio Randaccio for second.

With a second consecutive win at Snetterton in round two, Olympian were proving the team to beat, but a broken driveshaft in the first race at Anglesey put them out of contention.

They had brake problems too in the second race, but still sealed second, before returning to winning ways at Oulton Park in round five.

But a disastrous Silverstone saw them bounce back at Donington, as Phillips snatched a late win from “Farquini”. Third in the first race at Oulton’s finale left them in the driving seat for the title, but with Rose stuck in fifth gear and Dovell having alternator problems, Phillips’ late charge brought them in 15th, champions by just five points.

UVio/Hofmann’s had six podium finishes, including a double win at Anglesey, but it was only good enough for fourth in the final standings. It was Masters champions PLR who claimed the runner-up spot, with seven top six finishers.

Second in the Brands opener was their best, but their only retirement came at Donington when, after being stuck in fifth gear earlier in the race, they had an engine failure.

Team Viking/Ursus Capital had Mark Holme and Colin Kingsnorth team up for the first time. They started with a clutch failure at Brands, but soon became frontrunners.

winners at Silverstone in a terrific race to the flag, as Jonathan Hoad, deputising for Kingsnorth, just came out on top in duel to the flag with Racelogic’s Julian Thomas.

They were fifth at Donington and with Hoad in for Holme at the Oulton finale, sixth and fourth meant they just missed out on second in the Championship.

UVio/Hofmann’s hadn’t been out of the top three until Oulton in round four, but a first lap collision with a spinning car put them out of the running. They fared little better at Silverstone, when having led the race, they had the rear suspension break in the duel for third.

Second at Donington kept them with a slight chance of the title still, but another collision in the Oulton Sprint race broke a front wishbone, and despite taking third in the final race they were fourth in the Championship.

The Axiametrics trio of Chris Weatherill/Simon Rudd/Neil Burroughs looked strong from the start, but despite some good pace from Rudd in particular, they had retired at Brands and then had clutch failure at Snetterton.

They finally got a reward with a strong third in the first Anglesey race, but retired again at Oulton with a loose hub. Having been on the podium again at Silverstone, they were close again in the Oulton final, until a late stop go penalty dropped them to eighth, securing fifth in the Championship.

MJ Tec completed the top six in the final standings with Scott Jeffs/Will Abraham. They missed the opening round, but after taking fifth at Snetterton, they had their best result of the season with second in the first Anglesey race, with Greg Evans deputising for Abraham.

They just missed the podium with fourth at Snetterton, but lost out on another podium when Holme spun and was hit by Jason Cheetham in the first Anglesey race. But with the car fixed, they were third in the night race.

After a second place at Oulton they were

Despite an off at Oulton, Jeffs led the race, before finally finishing fourth, but after retiring at Silverstone they failed to finish again at Donington after colliding with Tom Greensall at McLeans. However, they still equalled their best result in the Oulton Sprint race, before ending the season with fifth.

OUTSTANDING OLYMPIAN

The Fun Cup Endurance Championship produced another outstanding season of action, as Peter Scherer witnessed.

Above: It was Team Olympian’s mean green machine that emerged victorious in FunCup Below: It was a year of big grids, and big grins behind helmets... as it always is in FunCup!

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For 2023, the BRSCC asked a simple question: what if we created a brand new series, for just that - brand new series? As a result and after some careful thought, this resulted in the birth of the BRSCC Evolution Trophy, a dedicated grid that would house developing series and ontrack club racing projects with the aim of giving each one the chance to grow its respective entry across the season. Once one of the competing series reaches a size that’s worthy of standing on its own two feet, it’s then lifted out of Evolution Trophy and given its own grid, with another series/ project taking its place and the cycle continuing. For the first edition in 2023, four series would race on track together -the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup, the Cooksport Renault Cup, the Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy and the BMW 1 Series SuperCup. Let’s detail each of their seasons individually to break down how 2023 played out for them. Scott Woodwiss investigates.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy (below)

The next generation of Mazda MX-5 racing with the BRSCC continued to develop throughout 2023 as the Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy joined the Evolution Trophy grid. The latest specification of MX-5, the Mk4 (ND) model, had been in development over the previous couple of seasons and now with a dedicated platform to progress further, it was ready to continue making the next step.

Throughout the year, seven drivers took to the track in a Mk4 MX-5 on the Evolution Trophy grid - Ben Taylor, Samuel Hicks, Joseph Ritchie, Bruce Hadfield, Chrissy Palmer, Edward Cottam and Paul Sheard, the latter one of the main driving forces behind this new generation of MX-5s with the BRSCC. Across the season, all but Hicks were able to win at least one race in the category as they made superb additions to the Evolution Trophy line-up. With increased interest for 2024, more Mk4s are expected to turn out on the grid in the new season.

Cooksport Renault Cup (below right)

With the absence of a dedicated contest for Renaults since the closing of the official Clio Cup in recent years, the Cooksport Renault Cup was created to provide a home for Clios and Meganes to race together in their own category and to develop within the Evolution Trophy. Throughout its first season in 2023, many of the attending faces were those familiar to many within club racing circles.

By far the driver of the season in terms of results was Nick Gwinnett, who regularly appeared in his Clio 172 and only missed out one victory once in all of the races he competed in throughout 2023 (ten in total). This meant nine wins to his name in the Cup, at times dominating whilst only just holding off his rivals in others. In particular his run of six victories on the bounce through the Brands Hatch opener, then Snetterton and Donington Park was mighty impressive, with a further pair at Cadwell making it eight for the year and proving him to be one of the top drivers amongst the Renault Cup ranks as the season went on. He regularly found himself in competition with Matthew Hollier and the experienced Tony Hunter, both finding themselves on the podium with Gwinnett on several occasions and together the trio typically provided excellent racing.

Both Hunter and Hollier also took wins for themselves too, with the former taking a double win at Croft and the latter beating Gwinnett in a straight on-track fight at the Snetterton finale. The only other winner all season was Michael Imrie, who used all of his local knowledge at Knockhill to collect a hat-trick of victories. Other podiums across the season went to Dave Tyson and Richard Clarke in a pair of Clio Cup cars, along with Phil Barwick, Graeme Farrington and Frank Pettitt throughout 2023. Now the Renault Cup paddock looks forward to 2024, with Finsport now taking over the reins for the series going forwards.

Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup (right)

Moving across to the BRSCC for 2023, the Classic VW Cup provides a home for a vast range of cars from Volkswagen and the VAG Group, which can include SEAT/ CUPRA, Audi and Skoda to name a few. Settling into the new Evolution Trophy grid, the Classic VWs made sure they were regular attendees with a decent selection of cars present at every round.

Two consistent front-runners throughout the year were Adam Marshall and Tommy Gilham, whose Team HARD-prepared Volkswagen Golfs were always a constant force at the head of the CVWC pack at every round they competed at. Often running at the head of their category, the pair usually had races under their control when competing together. Between them they claimed ten victories from the fifteen races, each taking five apiece and certainly proving to be quite the force to be reckoned with.

The other five wins were taken by another ex-VW Cup car, that in the hands of Simon Tomlinson, who also took the remaining five wins that Marshall and Gilham couldn’t grab. While all three also took podiums too, they were also joined on the rostrum throughout the year by the potent little Mk1 Golfs of Donald Dewar and Tim Moll that provided superb entertainment amongst the pack. Plus, Nick Sanderson’s SEAT Leon, Dawn Butcher’s Mk5 Golf, Chris Adams’ Mk4 and Carey Lewis’ Mk5 all clinched trophies of their own, whilst also welcoming many more into their paddock throughout 2023. With new faces set to appear in 2024 and the new VAG Cup sub-contest created within it, CVWC looks set to be in good health in the new season.

BMW 1 Series SuperCup (above)

Having been launched to a great level of interest early in 2022, and having gone through a period of further technical development and testing since then, the BMW 1 Series SuperCup is quickly looking set to be the ultimate next step in BMW racing with the BRSCC. Cars are based on F20/F21 1.6 N13 turbo-charged BMW 1 Series models, and with 230bhp, rear wheel drive and a host of carefully selected controlled parts which are stocked and supplied by BRSCC partners, they make a thoroughly entertaining, fast and sophisticated race car.

After plenty of mid-season development throughout the year, the car was ready for its one and only appearance of the season at Croft, with Chris Coomer of PBS Brakes taking to the wheel across that weekend. The car successfully completed all three races as the work continued, and more cars are currently in build and set to race in 2024 at the time of writing with great interest garnered at the BRSCC’s Driven By Racing event at Silverstone in November. The future certainly looks bright for the 1 Series SuperCup!

TTS CATCH THE EYE

There are not many new championships or series that can make an instant impact from conception to the start of their first full season, but as it turned out the BRSCC managed to strike gold when it formed the new Audi TT Cup Racing series, says Scott Woodwiss. From the beginning, it inspired many drivers to take the plunge and join and for its first outing at Brands Hatch in April, 16 cars were on the grid to kick off the season.

Throughout the opening meeting, the key players at the head of the field turned out to be Ross Makar and Andrew Dyer, the pair comfortably breaking clear of the rest of the field to command both races. They diced over the lead in race one with Dyer coming out on top by just half a second, while Richard Forber completed the first ever TTCR podium. In the second race later in the day, the positions were reversed with Makar getting out in front from the outset and defending the lead to the flag, with Forber collecting another podium in third. Throughout the event, the racing had been tight and competitive, and it laid the foundations for the year ahead.

Carl Swift jumped to pole position on his debut in the series Snetterton in May, but was unable to convert it into a race one win. That instead went to Makar ahead of Ryan Edgecumbe with Carl still landing a podium in third place. Race two did see Swift win on the road, but a five second track limits penalty did push him back to third in the result as Harry Yardley-Rose became the latest TTCR race winner ahead of Scott Parkin. It wasn’t until race three that Swift finally got to stand on the top step, breaking clear by just over two seconds ahead of Parkin and Yardley-Rose.

Donington Park had a grid increase to 20 cars, but despite some rapid newcomers, none of them could dethrone Swift from P1 in either race. Pole in the first race set up a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Makar and Handley, before Handley kept Carl much more honest in the second and only allowed him to win by 0.8 seconds in the end. Dyer also found himself back on the rostrum too with third. A successful triple-header at Knockhill then followed, with home favourite Makar winning the first race, followed by a double for Forber in races two and three and podiums too

for Parkin and Handley.

Cadwell Park proved to be another favourable circuit for Makar with a pole and wins in both races, only just stretching far enough ahead to put victory out of reach of both Yardley-Rose and Dyer, who each took a brace of P2s and P3s respectively, although Dyer made sure to run Makar close on both occasions before losing the place in the end. The penultimate rounds at Croft allowed Dyer to get his own back with two wins of his own, but not before Swift reappeared to collect pole and victory in race one. Sadly Carl’s luck ran out in race two with a DNF, leaving him unable to take the start of the third race; podiums were also split between Forber, Edgecumbe, Handley and Adam Blair.

The finale heralded a return to Snetterton and by far the biggest grid of the year with an exceptional 22 cars including an influx of new faces looking ahead to 2024. A fine drive by Blair saw him initially dice with Swift in race one before he dropped out after two laps, and then kept Forber at bay to score his first TTCR win with Handley in third. Forber went one better to notch up another win for the season in race two ahead of Handley and Swift, before completing the season with his second of the weekend in the final race of the year, taking the flag clear of Makar and Swift respectively.

2024 is a big year for all involved in the Audi TT Cup Racing paddock, as it will run its second full season with full championship status, as well as making a switch to Dunlop tyres and most excitingly running as one of the full-time support championships for TCR UK, meaning it will be present on all seven of their race weekends. With interest in the championship through the roof and many new cars in build, we expect TTCR to be an even bigger success in 2024!

Above and top: In its inaugural season, the nonchampionship Audi TT Cup Racing series was a huge success

The BRSCC SuperSport Endurance Cup catered for just about anything with a roof and gave good grids in its first championship season.

Tim Hartland and Stuart Mead came out on top as Scott Woodwiss reports.

VARIETY PACK

After successful pilot races in 2021 and 2022, the BRSCC’s new SuperSport Endurance Cup was ready for its first full season of racing in 2023. With a six-class structure split by power to weight ratio and a maximum of 350 bhp per tonne, mandatory pit stops, refuelling and up to three drivers per car, this was going to be a new test for anyone looking for club level endurance racing thrills.

Sunny skies at Snetterton in April greeted the 33-strong field for the season opener, which had a trio of BMWs and a SEAT break away on the opening lap. Julian McBride’s BMW M3 was the early pace setter, pressured by the SEAT of Jamie Hayes and Alex Read before the pit stops began. Safety cars severely shuffled the order throughout the race as cars made their mandatory stops, and when the order shook out it was McBride back in the lead by over a minute from the BMW 1 Series of Bart Horsten and Keir McConomy. However, despite McBride crossing the line first overall, a penalty for a pit stop infringement dropped him to second behind the 1 Series, but still as winner of Class B. BMWs also filled out the top five with the M3s of Paul and Luke Browes, and Jasver Sapra and Bryan Bransom in third and fourth, ahead of Clubman-A class winner Paul Hinson.

The Silverstone GP circuit hosted over 40 cars in support of the C1 24 Hours, where a lengthy

safety car early on allowed Sapra/Bransom to leapfrog the Horsten/McConomy 1 Series, the two cars circulating together for many laps until pit stops split them up. The 1 Series held firm in the lead, while the Sapra/Bransom BMW ground to a halt on pit entrance putting it out of contention. Dave Griffin, also in a BMW, had a small stint in the lead too, but mechanical issues put him out of the race. With the 1 Series also dropping back, it cleared the way for Leon Bidgway’s little Lotus Exige to claim a superb outright win, followed by McBride, the Browes’ M3, Horsten/McConomy and William and Fred Lynch in another M3.

Despite an oil slick at Coppice causing a fright for several cars early on and producing a safety car, the Donington Park race proved to be another straightforward affair for Horsten and McConomy. Essentially leading from start to finish, the pair clinch an unchallenged victory in the 1 Series. Sapra’s M3, Ricky Coomber’s Honda Civic, the BMW of Martin Gadsby and Ian Jones and Leon Bidgway completed the top five, with the latter spinning out of the class lead in the final minutes. In the Clubman-C class, Phil and Matt Adcock were cruelly denied victory thanks to engine damage.

The return to Snetterton in July was met with severely adverse weather conditions, which initially had the vastly experienced Nigel Greensall and James Collins out in front in their M3 before they dropped back and eventually hit problems midway through. In turn, the SEAT of Wayne Tattersall took over in the lead and was never headed from thereon in, comfortably pacing the rest of the field in the wet to eventually win from Bidgway, Bruce Robinson’s Mazda MX-5, McBride and Hinson in the top five.

Brands Hatch hosted the penultimate round of the championship, with McBride initially jumping into the lead and holding it until the first safety

car where he pitted. The SEATs of Philip Knibb and Tattersall each took their turns to head the field, but eventually it was guest entrant Jason McInulty in his Lotus Elise that worked the Indy circuit the best as he dominated the second half of the race to pick up the outright win. An incredible strategy from Paul Hinson placed his Clubman-A class BMW in second overall, ahead of Bidgway’s Lotus, McBride’s M3 and Lee Collins in the Caterham, with many of the usual suspects also filling out the top ten.

Going into the finale on Silverstone’s National circuit, the overall title was set to be fought over by Tim Hartland and Stuart Mead (Pro-C) in their Volkswagen Scirocco, McBride (Pro-B) in his M3 and Lotus-mounted Bidgway (Pro-B) as the main contenders. Each knew they would stand the best chance by winning their class, and all three teams entered the weekend on tender hooks. Both Sapra/ Bransom and Horsten/McConomy traded the lead in the early stages, followed by the SEAT of Simon Mason and Chris Bialan who had their turn later on. As for the championship battle, Bidgway’s hopes of Pro-B glory literally went up in smoke when his car stopped and caught fire, sadly putting him out of the race and the title fight.

In the end, after post-race penalties for overtaking under the subsequent safety car to Horsten/McConomy and Mason/Bialan, Coomber’s Honda took the win head of McBride, Martin Gadsby’s M3 Compact, the guest Scirocco of Jamie Hayes, Alex Read and Simon Mauger, and the fifth placed Pro-C and overall champions Mead and Hartland.

Other class champions for 2023 were Coomber (Pro-A), McBride (Pro-B), Paul Hinson (Clubman-A), Bruce Robinson & Richard Amos (Clubman-B), and Adam Read & David Drinkwater (Clubman-C).

Right: Silverstone’s race gets underway, with a heavy BMW influence...

Below: While at Donington, it was Lotus in front

FORD, POPULAR

Fords of all shapes and sizes did battle in the Modified Ford Series,

With a grid that never fails to impress no matter where it touches down, the Modified Ford Series regularly provides a line-up of sensational Fords year on year and the 2023 season was no different. With 10 events across the year, six of them took place on BRSCC race weekends with plenty of action-packed moments in each.

The season began at Silverstone in March, with a monster 47-car grid in the line-up for the opening two races of the year. An early four car group of Simon Light’s Capri, James Allen’s Focus, Stephen Scott-Dunwoodie’s Sierra RS500 and Lloyd Jamieson’s Escort Maxi Cosworth diced for the lead, and while Allen eventually led most of the way, a late loss of time left Light to take the first win of the season from Allen and Jamieson. In both rain and fading light, race two let Allen lead from start to finish and win followed by Kester Cook’s Fiesta ST150 and Josh Payton’s Cortina.

Early incidents in race one at Snetterton left Allen as one driver on the sidelines early, but the restarted race went without problems and Scott-Dunwoodie claimed his first win of the season in the Sierra RS500, with Dave Matthias’ Sierra Sapphire and Payton’s Cortina joining him on the podium. A hard-charging Allen came from the rear of the field the next morning in race two, snatching third on the final straight behind Matthias’ Sapphire Cosworth taking the win with Payton in second.

After a weekend racing on the Brands Hatch GP circuit a couple of weeks later and then a special trip to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium at the beginning of June, the next BRSCC outing was on the Welsh coast at Anglesey with a triple-header in store. The top step of the podium was owned all weekend by Piers Grange and his Mk2 Escort, with Ashley Shelswell performing the same trick with second place. Each took a trio of their respective positions across the weekend, while third place was shared

between Dave Matthias’ Sierra, Paul Nevill’s Escort RS2000 and David Guthrie’s Ecoboostengined Fiesta ST150.

A one-day thrash at Oulton Park in July allowed Jason Davies a chance to show his Sapphire Cosworth’s superiority, as he was uncatchable all day. After taking pole by two and a half seconds, he won race one by 26 seconds and then race two by more than 30, pulling well clear of Allen’s Focus in the process. Grange and Matthias also shared P3 between them across the day.

Next came the twists and turns of Cadwell Park in August, where the Sierras ruled the day in both races. Shelswell and his V6-engined XR4i drove near flawlessly to dominate the first encounter by more than 20 seconds followed by Matthias and Guthrie, before Matthias then took his turn on the top step again with race two victory. Dave’s winning margin was only 12 seconds on this occasion, with Guthrie second and Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort RS1600i completing the podium; Shelswell sadly dropped out after just one lap with technical issues.

The next two stops on the Modified Ford calendar provided visits to Lydden Hill and Brands Hatch, before the final outing with the BRSCC took place on their Silverstone finals weekend on the International circuit. On that day, Oulton double winner Davies seemed to meet his match as Dave Cockell’s flame-spitting Escort Cosworth appeared for the last two races. Cockell ran the Sapphire close in the first race but had to settle for second as Davies won by just under 1.5 seconds with Matthias in third, but in the second it was an easier run for Jason. He completed the double with a margin of over seven seconds at the flag, with Cockell again in second and Piers Grange’s Mk2 Escort completing the final podium of the year.

More booming grids are expected in the 2024 season, so be sure to look out for the Modified Ford Series at a race circuit near you!

Below and left: It was another spectacular grid for the Modified Fords

watched by Scott Woodwiss.

CLAYDON CLAIMS COMPACTS CROWN

The 2023 Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup was guaranteed to crown a new champion as 2022 champ Mikey Doble headed off to pursue his dream of competing in the BTCC with Power Maxed Racing. Both he, and multi-time champion Steven Dailly, had really laid down the gauntlet for those trying to take the crown, with their quests getting underway at Brands Hatch in April. Scott Woodwiss tells how Gareth Claydon emerged atop the pile.

Initially, it looked as though the stand-out drivers for the 2023 Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup would be Oliver Faller and Guy Davis, as the pair entered a weekend long battle for victory across both encounters. They diced over the win in race one, which eventually fell the way of Davis ahead of Faller with Rudi Macmillan a distant third, before Davis then doubled up later that afternoon after the race was stopped due to an incident late on. The declared result produced the same top three with Guy again ahead of Oliver and Rudi.

Davis wouldn’t contest a full season due to commitments working for Rodin-Carlin in Formula 2, paving the way for others to push themselves forwards to go for the title instead. Ian Howes returned at Snetterton in May as a nonscoring guest racer, the local favourite managing to win twice with both Matt Millson and Gareth Claydon joining him on the podium both times; Matt would take the points for the win in each due to Howes’ guest status. The semi-mixed grid for race three saw Macmillan and Claydon on the front row together, with the latter leaving it until the last lap to overhaul Rudi and deny him a first win, as Howes also completed his homecoming with third place.

Donington Park’s GP circuit was next on the calendar, where Davis returned and immediately qualified on the front row alongside Faller. Despite leading the opening half in race one, he eventually finished off the podium as Faller was victorious from a feisty Claydon in second and Millson third. The top two then doubled up their efforts in race two, with Faller completing a brace for the weekend ahead of Claydon and Mike Doble, father of 2022 champion Mikey and also the leading Masters driver in the field at this point.

back out in front and leading the way. He ended up completing the hat-trick across both days, while Claydon, Doble and Richard Sutherland all claimed the points for a win due to Dailly’s guest status, and Thomas Middleton and Matt Flowers also taking podium finishes too.

By this point, Claydon’s consistent results were helping him into the championship lead, although Davis making another appearance at the next rounds at Cadwell Park meant winning races would still be challenging. Gareth got the better of Guy in the first race by just over three seconds with Macmillan in third, before the positions were reversed later in the day with Jim Barratt completing the top three as he took a brace of Masters wins to boot.

The penultimate rounds at Croft in Yorkshire turned out to be a clean sweep for Davis, who was putting the kind of result that could have seen him in title contention had he contested the full season. Crucially, Claydon made sure to take to the podium in all three races, with two second places and a third giving him a large haul of points to remain in the championship lead heading back to Snetterton. His main rivals, Rudi Macmillan and Matt Flowers, only managed to get the better of him once all weekend, with Flowers taking P2 in the second encounter but neither of them scoring any better than that. This now left it as advantage Claydon heading to Norfolk.

Taking pole for race one, Claydon made sure not to take any risks and proceeded to finish in P2 behind winner Davis, before a third in race two was enough to put the BMW Compact Cup title out of reach and declare him champion. Another win for Davis set him up for the hat-trick in the final race of the season, but in the end it would finally be a first time win for Rudi Macmillan who shared the podium with father Gordon in a family 1-2 with Davis in third.

A triple-header across the border at Knockhill in Scotland produced a fun weekend for all, as Steven Dailly made a one-off guest appearance at his home circuit. A sluggish start from pole in race one initially handed Mike Doble the lead, but it wasn’t long before the Dailly of old was

Macmillan and Flowers made up the overall top three in points behind champion Claydon, while Mike Doble clinched the Masters honours for the season in fourth overall ahead of Jim Barratt and Tim Seaford.

Above: Once again, the Compact Cup drew impressive grids, with Gareth Claydon (#46, and below) taking the title

LETTIS LEAVES WITH THE TITLE

Now into its third full season, the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship was continuing to be a popular competition in its own right. With the simple shared mechanical platform of the Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 107 making it an incredibly accessible championship for anyone to compete in, the 2023 grid was again a mix of new faces and established challengers.

The pre-season favourite for the title that was being tipped by many in the know was Elliot Lettis, and this was proven right at Snetterton in April. From pole by eight-tenths in qualifying, Lettis quickly set the pace from the outset in race one, keeping Stuart Bliss and Andrew Dyer at bay to take the first of his 11 wins with the top two set to be a familiar sight on the podium all year. Race two was more of the same, but the third allowed Bliss to get ahead at the start and hold Lettis back from making it a hat-trick, as he took his first of the year - the initial battlelines between the two were now drawn. Dyer was also unshakeable from

Next came a domination of the following two meetings from Lettis, going on a six-race win streak through both Croft and Anglesey. In Yorkshire, Elliot moved late on Bliss to snatch the race one win, followed by a lights to flag victory in race two and then streaking away from pole on the semi-mixed grid for race three, while Bliss recovered from a first lap spin to finish ninth. At Anglesey, Lettis and Bliss owned first and second respectively for the entire weekend, as Elliot took another three wins ahead of Stuart in second with Jepp, Richard Snuggs and Adam Reynolds all picking up a third place each. From just three events, the title battle was clearly becoming a

The Snetterton return leg in the summer brought about challenging changeable weather conditions in all three races. Bliss was able to cope better than Lettis could and navigated them to collect a brace of wins in races one and two, as

The Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship was another huge success. Elliot Lettis got his teeth into the competition and pocketed the trophy. Scott Woodwiss explains Lettis’ recipe for success.

Lettis ended up third in each behind a fast Jack Wheeler taking his first two outright podiums. The weather was no better in race three the next day, as Lettis managed to get the better of Bliss this time to collect his ninth win of the season, leaving Stuart and Andrew Dyer far behind in his wake.

Lettis got back to regular winning ways at Brands Hatch, where much brighter conditions prevailed. He was chased down by Wheeler on this occasion during the first two races, the first of which disrupted by red flags, before Bliss bettered a third place with a win in the third race and left Lettis taking second behind. Richard Jepp was again a podium visitor over the weekend too, and at one stage almost looked to be in a position to take his first outright win before dropping back.

At Donington Park, rapid rookie Joe Moss put in a stellar lap to claim pole, but his efforts couldn’t translate into a victory in either of that weekend’s two races. After two starts were needed for race one, Moss led initially before Lettis took over and then spun out exiting Redgate on the final lap. This allowed Stuart Bliss and brother Richard (last year’s champion) to make it an Autobliss 1-2 with Moss third. The result of race two was a carbon copy of the first with an identical top three, while Lettis had to make do with ninth and eighth from both. This put him on the edge of the title heading to Silverstone, but with Bliss still looming large.

On the International circuit in October, Lettis didn’t seem interested in taking any risks on track and steadily worked his way from fifth on the grid to the podium in third behind winner Bliss and Jepp. The final race of the season was another straightforward affair too, as the same top three were first past the post in the end, handing Lettis the CityCar Cup title in the process - something he’d been working towards ever since he debuted in 2021. Bliss settled for the runner-up spot but was the strongest driver throughout the second half of the year, while Jepp did well to place third overall with a Student Motorsport Challenge team. Joe Moss was also celebrated as the top Novice driver of 2023 after finishing the year in tenth overall.

Above: Elliot Lettis’ success was just the tip of the iceberg in a season of great racing in the CityCar Cup, with quality throughout the field

The Student Motorsport Challenge was another success bringing new drivers and engineers to the sport, providing an opportunity to learn on the job. Scott Woodwiss took notes..

MULTI-CLASS RACING

After the first season for the innovative Student Motorsport Challenge within the Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup produced its first champions in MET Motorsport in 2022, an increased presence on the grid for 2023 would generate new teams from colleges, universities and even sixth forms try to take the crown from them. However, given how strong MET (now rebranded as Team Northbrook Racing) had proven to be the previous season, their competitors knew it would be an uphill challenge.

From the outset, Team Northbrook (with Richard Jepp at the wheel) laid down a marker which signaled they really meant business at the Snetterton season opener. Jepp was the class of the SMC field, giving Northbrook victory in the first three races of the year whilst also finishing in the top five overall in each. For the podium places, Ben Creanor gave West Suffolk College their best results to date with three runner-up finishes, while the third step was shared between Barracksport’s Duncan Horlor and East Surrey College’s Max Wheeler.

The win streak for Jepp and Northbrook continued at Croft, as another lockout of the top step over the weekend helped the team extend a healthy lead in the points standings. A superb debut from new sixth form team Queen Ethelburga’s Motorsport gave then a P2 finish in their very first race thanks to Arthur Simondet, with East Surrey College and Barracksport also taking to the podium over the weekend too. Jepp

then aimed to make it nine from nine next time out at Anglesey and got two thirds of the way there, before he was tagged into a spin in race three and ended up seventh. This paved the way for Max Wheeler to claim East Surrey’s first win of 2023, and behind there were more celebrations for Barracksport, QE Motorsports and newcomers Boston College as they all scored podiums too, with Liam Browning helping Boston to their first in their inaugural weekend.

That spin for Jepp seemed to give the rest of the paddock the incentive they needed to strike while the iron was hot. Snetterton’s inclement weather played right into the hands of East Surrey, as Wheeler picked up a brace for the team in races one and two and rounded off the event with P2, while Northbrook was second in all three races, and third places were split between Boston and Barracksport. The latter also picked up a first win of 2023 for themselves in race three, increasing the number of teams victorious throughout the year to three so far.

Wheeler continued his second half charge at Brands Hatch, racking up two more wins and keeping Jepp at bay once more in each. However, Jepp finally managed to get back to winning ways in the third race after six races away from the top step. West Suffolk took the runner up spot after East Surrey retired, and Wiltshire College (another of 2023’s new teams) were overjoyed to take their first podium with third place. Boston also picked up silverware for a third place over the weekend, as did West Suffolk too.

Donington Park marked a special moment for Boston College, as they became the fourth different team to win in SMC in 2023, and the first of the new teams to reach the top step too. A fine pair of victories courtesy of Browning were just reward for all their hard work getting their car onto the grid, while podium places around them were shared between Northbrook and East Surrey.

The title was almost in Northbrook’s grasp with just the Silverstone International double header left to close out the year. Returning back to the early season form that had seen him so dominant, Jepp reeled off the laps in both encounters to take the final two wins of the year, cementing Northbrook Racing as Student Motorsport Challenge champions for the second season in succession. East Surrey College’s pair of second places also wrapped up the runner up spot in points in the process, while a pair of thirds for Boston College means they’ll be ones to watch in 2023. West Suffolk College completed the top three in the standings.

Once again, thanks go to Student Motorsport founder John Paul Latham and every single college, university and sixth form team that took part in the Challenge throughout 2023 and for being a key part of the CityCar Cup grid. There’s already confirmation of more brand new teams joining in for 2024, meaning this Challenge is only set to carry on getting bigger, better and more competitive!

The third season of the ZEO Prototype Series aimed to bring more and more sports racing and sports prototype race cars together on track in competition on some of the UK’s best circuits, and at each of their rounds the grids will filled with a variety of marques represented including Radical, Revolution, Juno, Norma and an influx of closed-top prototypes from Czech manufacturer Praga. Mike Jenvey was hard to beat, reports Scott Woodwiss

ZEO TO HERO

What better place to start the year than on the full Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone in May supporting the C1 24 Hours, with an impressive turn-out of 23 cars lining up for the pair of races on the day.

From the outset, the Pragas set the pace along with category stalwart Mike Jenvey in his selfdeveloped Jenvey-Gunn, and he would lead the trio of Ruben Stanislaus, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Shane Kelly. Jenvey had to deal with a random temporary engine issue that dropped him behind the Praga trio, but climbed his way back through to make a stellar dive inside of Kelly at Vale to steal the lead back again. From here, he was never topped and clinched the first win of the season with Stanislaus and Gonzalez on the podium too.

Starting race two, Jonathan Mitchell got a blinder in his Revolution and headed Jenvey from the outset, leading the way virtually unchallenged while Jenvey also slipped behind the second best Revolution of Nigel Redwood and James Abbott and then Shane Kelly’s Praga, before Mike pulled to the inside of the GP pit straight with another intermittent problem. Despite this, Jenvey got back up to speed and quickly caught and passed all three cars ahead, then lost the lead back to Mitchell and pitted a few laps later. This left Mitchell to eventually be victorious, with Kelly second and Will Stowell in another Praga third.

Donington was next up where Stanislaus got the jump beginning race one and led for three quarters of the way until a charging Jenvey picked him off and despite starting back in 13th place, he was able to hold the lead through a brief late safety car and ended up the winner. Stanislaus still took second with Graham Charman’s Juno completing the podium. Shane Kelly then led the start of race two, resisting an opening lap attack from Charman, then surviving a brief rain

shower and a safety car to complete a lights to flag victory. He was joined by Max Windheuser’s Norma and Richard Morris’ Revolution in the top three.

The short sharp Brands Hatch Indy speedbowl provided a completely different test for the prototypes to tackle in August. Jenvey put his Jenvey-Gunn on pole, recovered from a slower start than Charman to retake the lead and slowly but surely crept away until he was three seconds in front by the chequered flag. Charman lost second place late on to Kelly’s Praga after the latter put in some clear laps to close him down. A safety car mid-race negated Jenvey’s lead in race two, but mechanical issues eventually put Mike out leaving Charman to take over and score his first win of the season, heading up Kelly in the Praga and the Norma of Windheuser.

The season was rounded off at Snetterton in mid-October where former Praga Cup champion Gordie Mutch made a one-off appearance for the ZEO finale. After a thumping lap in qualifying that put him three seconds faster than everyone else, he couldn’t resist the sheer race pace of Jenvey from the outset as Mike once again took over in front and never looked back. Another unchallenged race win went the way of the Jenvey-Gunn, but Mutch wouldn’t see the flag after mysteriously pitting on the final lap and thus handing second to Windheuser’s Norma and third to Alastair Smart’s Radical. To finish off the season in true style, Jenvey simply demolished the field in the final race of the year, stretching clear by over a minute to win comfortably ahead of the Praga of Rodolfo Gonzalez and Smart’s Radical in another third place.

What spectacle and variety will appear on the 2024 ZEO Prototype grid, we wonder?

Above: Mike Jenvey (35) leads at Silverstone on his way to race victory

RHYS RACES AWAY

MG Metros are still going strong and joined the BRSCC in 2023. Rhys Claydon made his front-wheel drive debut and scooped the title. Scott Woodwiss enjoyed a season of British Leyland’s mightiest creations.

The 2023 season proved to be a significant one for the Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup, as it ran its first campaign as part of the BRSCC portfolio after years of running with the MG Car Club. Making the switch over the winter, the championship looked forward to a prosperous and entertaining year of racing, and there was much anticipation when the field lined up for the season opener at Brands Hatch.

Eighteen cars were present in Kent in April, with Mike Williams leaping to the lead from the outset of race one and resisting early pressure from second placed newcomer Rhys Claydon and defending champion Mark Eales in third. Williams couldn’t stop Claydon from getting in front in race two, but despite taking the chequered flag on the road Claydon copped a five second track limits penalty, demoting him to second and giving Williams a second win of the day with Eales again in third.

Jon Moore took pole at a sunny Snetterton saw ahead of Claydon in qualifying, before the pair endlessly duelled over the next 20 minutes for victory in a fine display of racecraft. Moore managed to prevail at the flag, but not before defending Claydon’s late attempts to squeeze past on the final lap, while further back a distant Ben Williams joined them on the podium. Moore couldn’t take the start of race two due to a mechanical issue, allowing Claydon to walk to his first Metro Cup win from Mike Simpson and Ben Williams following him home.

Over at Donington, Claydon made sure his win streak continued but not before embroiling himself in more energetic lead battles with Mike Williams. Claydon only needed a lap and a half to pass Williams and steadily edged away to leave him six seconds back in the end, as Matt Simpson joined them in the top three. In race two it was more of the same, but this time it took Rhys until early into the second half of the race to find a way through, and pulled away by a couple of seconds at the flag from Williams with Simpson again taking the final podium step.

By mid-season, former Compact Cup racer Claydon’s transition to front wheel drive was proving fruitful, but then came the only blot on his copybook all year at Cadwell Park. While engaged in another lead fight with Williams in race one, Rhys damaged his bonnet which eventually caused his car to overheat and force his retirement. Williams took full advantage and claimed race one from Tim Shooter and Phil Goodwin, but thankfully for Claydon the repairs to his car got him back out for race two where he dominated by just over fifteen seconds. Mike Williams could only finish fourth behind Simpson and Ben Williams.

Silverstone’s National circuit provided another key opportunity for Claydon to take a step closer to winning the Metro Cup at his first attempt. Victory in the first race was fairly straightforward, steadily building the gap lap by lap to finish just under six seconds ahead of title rival Williams and outgoing champion Eales, who was making a welcome return to the grid in a part season. Claydon’s rivals ran him closer in the second encounter later in the day, but he still secured the brace - even it was only by 0.6 seconds, with the same podium mates of Williams and Eales alongside him.

All of this meant that a solid result in race one was all that Claydon required to put the championship out of reach of Williams and co. Getting into the lead and dealing with the gap to Williams yo-yoing back and forth in race one, Claydon’s victory was more than enough to seal the Metro Cup title in his favour at his first attempt, while Williams settled for runner up spot in both points and the race followed by Robbie Kenning winning a distant battle for third. In the final race of the year Williams got the better of Claydon in the early laps, surviving early contact with Claydon and a battle with Kenning to win, with Robbie holding second and Simpson third; new champion Claydon settled for sixth.

Let’s see what these little pocket rockets have in store for us next season!

Above: A first year in front wheel drive gave Rhys Claydon (#5, and below) the Metro Cup title in 2023

The 52nd edition of the BRSCC’s Formula Ford Festival was a spectacle of racing prowess, featuring a field of 56 competitors amidst the legendary event’s renowned wheel-to-wheel action. Across a weekend marked by contrasting weather conditions, from Saturday’s challenges to Sunday’s sunnier outlook, the Festival unfolded with its customary mix of former champions, National Formula Ford contenders, and intriguing overseas participants, including the latest talents from Team USA and Team Canada. Scott Woodwiss tells the story of Rory Smith’s victory.

The iRacing-sponsored heats, a crucial phase of the Festival, lived up to expectations, providing distinct and captivating races. In Heat 1, Luke Cooper staked his claim as an early favorite, exhibiting skill in wet conditions to secure pole position and lead from the start. Despite persistent pressure from Chris Middlehurst and a fast-starting Niall Murray, Cooper maintained his composure, clinching victory by a second over Middlehurst, with teammate Murray completing the podium. Notably, Jason Smyth, who initially led the train for fourth, eventually dropped to sixth, as Jack Sullivan of Team USA and Logan Pacza of Team Canada secured their spots in the semi-finals.

Heat 2 had a surprise pole sitter in Nolan Allaer. His qualifying prowess translated into a race where the rest of the field struggled to answer his performance. The race, red-flagged after two laps due to Oliver Chapman’s incident in the Druids gravel, restarted with Allaer’s commanding lead challenged by 2020 winner Rory Smith. Smith mounted several challenges, coming tantalizingly close to a pass, but both cars were disrupted by traffic. In the end, Allaer secured victory by 1.7 seconds over Smith, with Team USA’s Ayrton Houk joining them on the podium in third. Jordan Dempsey and Hugh Esterson rounded out the top five. Notably, National champion Jordan Kelly, facing a challenging heat, finished seventh after two off-road excursions.

Heat 3 featured the 2021 winner, Jamie Sharp, converting his pole position into an early lead. Jeremy Fairbairn found himself in a battle with National regulars Morgan Quinn and Brandon McCaughan. Quinn’s race took a hit when contact with McCaughan dislodged the cowling cover on his Van Diemen, obstructing his vision and forcing a pit stop. This setback allowed McCaughan to challenge for second, executing a switchback move at Druids. However, his race was shortlived as rear suspension damage caused his car to crab, ultimately colliding with the barrier up Hailwood Hill and triggering a red flag. Despite the interruption, Sharp emerged as the winner, with Fairbairn and Tom Nippers completing the podium. Team Canada’s Alex Berg, Porter Aiken,

SMITH’S VICT-RORY-US

and Vincent Jay rounded out the top six, while Formula Ford legend Rick Morris delivered an incredible performance to finish seventh overall and best among the Super Classic class cars.

Sunday’s semi-finals unfolded under brighter and sunnier weather conditions. In Semi-Final 1, sponsored by Avon Tyres, Sharp prevailed after an initial red flag, leading a now-shortened nine-lap semi-final. Allaer faced challenges, losing second after tangling with Middlehurst at Druids. The top two positions remained unchanged as Sharp secured victory, followed by Middlehurst and Kelly on the podium, with Nippers and Sullivan rounding out the top five.

Semi-Final 2, sponsored by Quantum Racing Suspension, had another pole-sitter, Rory Smith, leading into turn one. Smith maintained his lead, with Murray following closely. The top three attempted to break away, but only Smith and Murray succeeded before an early safety car was called. Smith faced challenges on the restart, but he, along with Murray and Cooper, prevented a rapid escape, ensuring a competitive race. Smith secured victory at the flag, with Murray and Cooper completing the podium. Jordan Dempsey defended against late attacks from Fairbairn, securing fourth place.

The Historic Final for the Brian Jones Memorial Trophy, sponsored by Raceparts, delivered a closely contested race. Richard Higgins, starting from pole, faced challenges from Henry Chart and Sam Street early in the race. The trio engaged in intense battles, maintaining a status quo until lap 10, when a safety car was called due to Oliver Chapman’s incident at Paddock. With pressure mounting from behind, Higgins successfully defended against Street’s determined attacks. Street’s chances diminished on the final lap at Druids, where a collision with Higgins dropped him to fourth. Higgins secured the Historic Final victory, with Chart in second and Callum Grant in third. Street settled for fourth, with Gaius Ghinn completing the top five.

The Last Chance Race featured Nolan Allaer leading the first half of the race before losing the lead to Felix Fisher. Allaer and Fisher secured spots for the Final, with Donal Downey taking the

final podium place. The race’s attention centered on the remaining three transfer spots, where Formula Ford legend Rick Morris delivered an astounding drive to hold off younger competitors and secure a spot in the Grand Final. Morris finished fourth, joining Historic Final winner Higgins and Drew Stewart in the Final.

The Grand Final sponsored by Hedtec, a culmination of the weekend’s intense competition, featured an all-BM Racing front row lockout with Smith and Sharp. The top three, including Murray, quickly asserted their dominance, leaving Middlehurst to secure third and lead the train of cars competing for the final podium spot. Murray applied pressure to Smith in a captivating duel between former Festival champions. Murray executed a remarkable outside pass at Paddock Hill Bend, but Smith retaliated with a clever dummy move a few laps later, reclaiming the lead. Another clean pass at Druids put Murray back in front, with Middlehurst entering the mix early in the second half.

However, Murray began experiencing an engine misfire eight laps from home. Despite a heroic effort to maintain the lead, his engine succumbed two laps from the finish, dashing his hopes of securing a third Festival win. Smith regained the lead, with Sharp and Middlehurst locked on his tail. However, the intense battle between Sharp and Middlehurst allowed Smith to secure the 2023 Formula Ford Festival win, marking his second career victory. Sharp secured second, completing a BM Racing 1-2, while Middlehurst claimed third ahead of late challengers Cooper and Dempsey.

The Grand Final not only served as a thrilling conclusion to the 2023 Formula Ford Festival but also helped erase memories of the unfortunate ending to the 2022 edition. It underscored the enduring magic of Formula Ford and the Festival, showcasing superb drives, unexpected twists, and the undeniable appeal of this iconic racing event. Rory Smith’s exceptional performance from start to finish made him a deserving champion, capping off a weekend filled with diverse competitors, unpredictable weather, and acing that defines the Formula Ford experience.

Clockwise from bottom: Rory Smith leads the pack...; ...and poses with his crew, and the spoils; Team Canada...; ...and Team USA crossed the Atlantic to take on the best of Britain and Europe; Richard Higgins took Historic glory

RACE OF REMEMBRANCE

On a poignant Remembrance weekend centred around honouring the fallen heroes of armed conflict, the 2023 Race of Remembrance in support of Mission Motorsport provided a memorable weekend’s racing at Anglesey in Wales. With over 45 teams lining up to compete in the three-part, 12-hour race event, a wide variety of club racers and club racing machinery turned out to support a worthy cause and to become the latest winners of this popular celebration event.

Pre-race festivities included SuperCar Saturday to give service men and women and marshals passenger rides in a variety of high performance cars, a special ROR edition of the ClubSport Trophy with a healthy entry of almost 30 cars that was won by Rob Phillips in his Honda Civic Cup car, and the amusing Biathlon of Foolishness which saw members of almost every team competing in fancy dress in a short running race down to the coast and back again. All of this added to the special and unique feeling that Race of Remembrance was providing.

For the 12-hour race itself, pole position had been taken by the Williams Motorsport Caterham of Toby Ballard, Calum Lockie, Rrutuj Patki and Henry Williams, joined on the front row alongside the ES Motorsport Lotus Elise of Jason McInulty and Daniel Palma, with DBR Racing’s Caterham in third and the relay team Brake Dancer Racing lining up in fourth.

Immediately, the three Caterhams and the Lotus were the pacesetters as expected, with the JRW Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST240 race car going with them as they controlled the opening stint. The top four ended up dicing for several laps

between themselves, with DBR Racing eventually pulling away by more than 40 seconds out in front before the end of the first hour. Once they pitted, Williams Motorsport and ES Motorsport stayed out longer before making their first stops and made the most of the gap behind to fight amongst themselves.

Eventually, the Williams Caterham began to pull clear in front after a second stop for DBR, and heading into the darkness the pink machine just kept on racking up the laps, eventually making it to three laps in front over the next few hours. By the time the race was halted at the seven hour mark, Williams were in front with that comfortable three lap advantage, with DBR and the Brake Dancer Racing relay team making it a trio of Caterhams in the lead, as they headed a hat-trick of Mazda MX-5s led by the Mk3 of RAF Motorsport.

When Sunday morning came around, the clear and dry conditions of Saturday had given way to grim, overcast skies and overnight rain that lasted well into the beginning of part two at 9am. Williams Motorsport couldn’t quite make the best of the tricky conditions, as DBR managed to claim a lap back before the race was halted again after just ninety minutes for the all-important Remembrance Sunday service in pit lane, making for a poignant sight and experience for all involved as our heroes were remembered by all in attendance.

Even though the rain had thankfully paused for the service, it took almost no time at all for it to resume again when part three got underway, only this time the conditions ended up becoming even worse. Heavier rains and cars falling foul of

the increasingly treacherous weather even forced the safety car out on track at one stage to help ease the task for drivers. With three and a half hours to go in the final part, it became a real back and forth duel over the leading gap out in front as Williams continued to try and maintain their advantage as DBR, Brake Dancer Racing and co all tried to close them down further. Going into the final hour, the lead gap was down to just a lap and to make incumbent Callum Lockie’s task even tougher, they were called in for a stop and go penalty which aided DBR further. But despite ending up on the same lap as each other in the end, Lockie used all his experience to reel off the final few laps of the race to clinch victory in the 2023 Race of Remembrance for Williams Motorsport and their Caterham.

DBR settled for a fine second place a fraction under 50 seconds behind the, with Brake Dancer Racing’s relay squad managing the final step on the overall podium ahead of fellow relay runners Paul Sheard Autosport’s Mazda MX-5s and TSW’s Mk1 MX-5 taking an incredible fifth place. Other class winners included JTM Engineering’s BMW, Tequila Racing’s Mazda MX-5, RABSport’s Citroen C1 endurance car, and Autobliss in their CityCar Cup-spec Toyota Aygo.

A massive thank you to everyone at Mission Motorsport for once again allowing the BRSCC to be part of organising and running such a special and memorable event, as well as to every single team, driver, crew member, volunteer, official and marshal who all took part and played their roles in making the 2023 Race of Remembrance a weekend to truly remember.

The annual Race of Remembrance was another success, with an underlying message at a poignant time of year. Scott Woodwiss recalls the weekend.

Opposite page: The paddock comes together to reflect

Clockwise from top: The competitors raced hard come rain or shine; Operation Motorsport supplied teams from the USA and Canada to compete in ROR once again in 2023; the field lines up for the start of ROR 2023; the winning team Williams Motorsport with the special Race of Remembrance poppy trophy; BRSCC confirmed and announced its signing of the Armed Forces Covenant at ROR.

Clockwise from above: SIM Motorsport provided their race simulators to give attendees a virtual on-track experience; with assistance from partners Silverlake, important training took place for our recovery teams; the wide variety of the BRSCC’s formulae was in attendace at Driven By Racing; marshals new and experienced celebrate a superb day of training at Silverstone; plenty of drivers and passengers made it out on track at DBR over the two days.

DRIVEN BY RACING

What better way to find out about the BRSCC’s racing portfolio than by seeing and trying it?

In a first-time venture for the club, the BRSCC elected to break new ground and launch its very own two-day exhibition event, dubbed Driven By Racing after the Club’s signature tag line. In a bid to give something back to the motor sport community and to showcase every element of the sport that the Club is involved in, Driven By Racing was a chance not just for championship, series and race teams to give prospective drivers an opportunity to experience cars out on track, but also to explore involvement in other areas of the sport including obtaining their racing licence, marshalling, scrutineering, rescue unit and medical crews and more.

The location for the event was Silverstone and its National circuit and paddock complex, with every garage containing industry suppliers, BRSCC and associated championships, series and race teams all ready to showcase themselves both off and on track. Incredibly more than 2,000 free tickets were claimed across both days of the event, with over 470 drivers and passengers also signed on for on-track activities too, vindicating the Club’s successful running of the event for the very first time.

Attendees included TCR UK and Civic Cup, Ginetta, the Fun Cup Endurance Championship, C1 Racing Club and MG Metro Cup, while additional teams were also present representing the trio of Mazda MX-5 championships, Fiesta ST240s, ST150s and Fiesta Juniors, BMW Compact Cup, the CityCar Cup and Student Motorsport Challenge, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship and more. Plus, static displays from Motorsport UK, HRDC, Absolute Alignment, PD Fire Extinguishers, Signature RV and more were also present, as were club partners SIM Motorsport who provided a pair

of their state-of-the-art simulators for attendees to try.

Away from the track, those wishing to become a marshal, or indeed refresh their knowledge ahead of 2024, had the chance to take part in dedicated training sessions over both days in order to brush up on both the theory and practical elements of arguably the most vital volunteer role in motorsport. Classroom tuition was mixed with on-site demonstrations and training exercises, many of which taking place on a special “mini-circuit” replicating several race event scenarios for marshals to practice.

Training for rescue and recovery crews was also provided, including safe extraction of a driver from a car and exercises using cars provided by Silverlake, another of the BRSCC’s superb club partners. For those wishing to learn more about the world of scrutineering, there were also demonstrations and insights in both car and race equipment inspection procedures and safety standards, all of which gave those looking to get involved at volunteer level a real insight into the various ways available for those interested to get started and take their first steps into the world of motor sport.

The BRSCC wishes to extend its sincerest thanks and gratitude to every single one of the championships, series, teams, partners, exhibitors, marshals, volunteers, Club officials and visitors for all of their support, as well as both Silverstone and Motorsport UK in their assistance behind the scenes to ensure our first Driven By Racing event was conducted as smoothly and enjoyably as possible. Not only are we excited to see what lies ahead in the 2024 season as a result, but also for the second DBR event set to take place at the end of the year once more!

Scott Woodwiss reflects on Driven By Racing.

AWARDS NIGHT

Once again, the BRSCC’s best and brightest put on their gladrags to celebrate another fine season of racing in 2023, with champions crowned and some special awards also handed out. Scott Woodwiss reports on the club’s big night out

Clockwise from top: The winners and their silverware –our members scrub up pretty well!; The room decked out in BRSCC green; Audi TT Cup Racing car was on display; Live music kept the guests entertained; The Fiesta Junior car on show

Special Long Service Award: Peter Rodwell

A special award saw the Club recognise a long standing member of the BRSCC board of directors and someone who has given a lot of their time, effort and commitment to both the Club and one of its regional centres – the East Anglian Centre’s Peter Rodwell.

In total, Peter has been involved with the BRSCC for more than fifty years, beginning as many within the sport have and do, as a marshal. Beginning right at the turn of the 1970s at Snetterton, in an era of marshaling that included grappling hooks, asbestos gloves and breeze block structures for flag posts, he joined at around the same time as fellow long-standing East Anglian Centre members Noel Taylor and Linda Stearn, and it wasn’t long before he began escalating up the ranks.

He progressed upwards to take on the Observer role before succeeding Tony Weatherley as Chief Observer; and eventually became Chief Marshal for the East Anglian Centre in the late 1980s. Someone who has proven himself to be comfortable holding multiple centre roles at once, he continues to do them justice and perform them with professionalism, dedication and commitment to this day, whilst also catering to and guiding both the current and next generation of marshals that perform their duties at Snetterton at BRSCC events.

Peter also joined the East Anglian Centre Committee during his time and has been present on it for almost his entire association with the centre. It is his presence on the Committee that eventually led to him succeeding the late Tim Stock as the Centre’s representative on the board when Tim became Chief Executive in the late 1980s, before being named as an independent director of the BRSCC when Noel Taylor took over the role as Centre rep.

BRSCC Trophy: Stéphane Ratel & SRO Motorsports Group

BRSCC Chairman’s Trophy: Paul Levitt

The BRSCC was proud to introduce a new trophy at the 2023 awards – the inaugural BRSCC Chairman’s Trophy. An accolade, like those awarded in previous years, will be presented annually to the club member that has done the most to promote the name and interests of the Club.

For 2023, the Club awarded the BRSCC Trophy, previously known to some as the John Nicol Trophy, to Stephane Ratel and the SRO Motorsports Group. The trophy is the most prestigious award that the Club presents every year, to the individual or organisation the Club feels has made the greatest contribution towards the furtherance of motorsport during the 2023 season and/or throughout a significant period prior to that.

Stephane and SRO’s motorsport journey began back in 1992 when Stephane organised his first race, the Gentlemen Drivers Trophy in association with French manufacturer Venturi, before eventually forming the BPR GT series in 1994 alongside Jürgen Barth and Patrick Peter with great success. This eventually turned into the FIA GT Championship from 1997 and continued to lead the way in global GT racing, becoming the series we now know as the Fanatac GT World Challenge.

Stephane and SRO were selected for sitting atop of the GT racing world for nearly thirty years and changing its landscape forever, for twenty years of guidance, support and prosperous growth for British GT, for their sheer influence and ingenuity time and time again, and for forging an incredible legacy which will last within the motorsport world for many years to come.

Not able to be present on the night, Stephane recorded a special thank you message with British GT championship manager Lauren Granville accepting the award on his and SRO’s behalf.

2023 saw Paul Levitt named as the new trophy’s first ever recipient. Having begun volunteering in motorsport since 2011, Paul was awarded with a selection of Marshal of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards, and in recent years was recognised by Motorsport UK as one of the top volunteers in UK motorsport. More recently, it’s his efforts as a clerk of the course for the BRSCC that have stood out for the Club, working tirelessly with three of its most competitive championships to improve driving standards across the board and ensure they stayed consistent.

Paul also worked hard to provide an exceptional level of service to manufacturerowned championships this season, his contributions seen as one of the key factors that eventually led to the BRSCC securing an agreement with Ginetta as the manufacturer’s organising club from 2024 onwards.

To quote directly from those who nominated him for the award this evening, Paul is quite simply “BRSCC through and through.”

BRSCC Midlands Centre Marshal of the year: Tom Bannister

The BRSCC Midlands Centre over a season is supported by some 500 marshals ranging from 180 to cover the Silverstone GP circuit for a British GT event to 80 for shorter circuits. All are trained volunteers freely giving their time to support a well-run race meeting which the BRSCC greatly appreciates and values, and as a club we thank you for all your efforts in 2023.

In appreciation each year, the Midland Centre recognises a BRSCC Marshal for their contribution to the club. At last nights BRSCC Awards evening, Midland Centre Chief Marshal, Nina Fountain presented Tom Bannister with the Marshal of the Year trophy for his efforts throughout 2023.

2023 CHAMPIONS

AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship

Pro

Albert Webster

Club

Morgan Kidd

BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship

Mk7 & Overall

Ben Mulryan

Mk6

Sam Neser

Rookie Cup

Jacob Hodgkiss

BRSCC Formula Ford Festival

Festival Winner

Rory Smith

Historic Final

Richard Higgins

BRSCC SuperSport Endurance Cup

Overall

Stuart Mead/Tim Hartland (VW Scirocco)

Pro-A

Ricky Coomber (Honda Civic)

Pro-B

Julian McBride (BMW M3 E46)

Pro-C

Stuart Mead/Tim Hartland (VW Scirocco)

Clubman-A

Paul Hinson (BMW E36 Compact)

Clubman-B

Bruce Robinson/Richard Amos (Mazda MX-5 Mk3)

Clubman-C

Adam Read/David Drinkwater (BMW E36 Compact)

Clapham North MOT Mazda MX-5 SuperCup

Pro

Aidan Hills

Club

Robert Way

Masters

Nick Rutter

Downforce Radio Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship

Champion

Matthew Fletcher

Masters

Del Paice

Fun Cup Endurance Championship

Team Olympian (Chris Dovell, Kristian Rose, Riley Phillips)

GAZ Shocks Mazda MX-5 Championship

Champion

Steve Foden

Masters

Tim Dore

Hickford Construction MG Metro Cup

Champion

Rhys Claydon

Intelligent Money British GT Championship

GT3

Dan Harper/Darren Leung (BMW M4 GT3)

GT4

Matt Cowley/Erik Evans (Ford Mustang GT4)

Milltek Sport Civic Cup

Champion

Max Edmundson

Nankang Tyre BMW Compact Cup

Champion

Gareth Claydon

Masters

Mike Doble

Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup

Champion

Elliot Lettis

Rookie

Joe Moss

National Formula Ford Championship

Champion

Jordan Kelly

RookieCup

Donal Downey

IndependentsCup

Donal Downey

TouristTrophy

Lucas Romanek

TripleCrown

Jordan Kelly

Super Classic Pre '99 Formula Ford Championship

SuperClassicA

Morgan Dempsey

SuperClassicB

Andrew Schofield

SuperClassicC

Scott Guthrie

SuperClassicD

Scott Rawlinson

ChampionofOulton

Richard Freye

TCR UK Touring Car Championship

Champion

Carl Boardley

Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge

Champion

Sam Beckett

Masters

Michael Blackburn

SUTTON WINS!

The BRSCC is on the hunt for the next generation of racing talent, with a fully-funded season of Fiesta Junior racing was on the cards... Scott Woodwiss introduces the program.

TheBritishRacing&SportsCarClubwas delightedtoannounceDaniellaSuttonasthe winneroftheFiestaJuniorScholarshipfor 2024.

Thethree-daycompetitiontookplaceat BlytonParkinLincolnshire,wheremorethan fiftyyoungdriversspanningawiderangeof experienceandracingbackgroundstookpartin theirbidtosecureafully-fundedseasonofFiesta Juniorracingforthe2024season.

AcrossthetwoqualifyingdaysonTuesday andWednesday,theparticipantswereput throughtheirpaceswithmultipletrackdriving assessments,fitnesstestsandmediainterviews, beforesixdriverswereselectedoneachdayto progresstotheScholarshipfinal.

Thedriverswereassessedbyanexpertpanel ofjudges,withrenownedtouringcarstarsMatt Neal,JoshCook,PaulO’Neill,AidenMoffat, JackMitchellandDannyBuxtonalllendingtheir expertisetooverseetheassessmentsandto selectthosewhoimpressedthemosttoprogress througheachstage.

ExperiencedmotorsportpresenterRichard JohnNeilwasalsoonhandforthemedia interviews,providinghisfeedbackoneachof thedrivers’off-trackperformances,whileSoFit Groupperformedthefitnessworkoutstotest theirathleticability.

Moreon-trackandmediainterview assessmentswereconductedonthefinal morningbeforeafinalsixdriverswerechosen fromthetwelvefinaliststogoforwardsintoa finalshoot-out.Aftereachweregivenonelast chancetoimpresstheinstructorsandassessors,

the incredibly difficult final decision was made to choose the winner, with Daniella Sutton announced as the Scholarship champion at the end of the day.

Daniella now progresses forwards into a full season of racing in the 2024 BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship in a Pro Alloys Racing-prepared Ford Fiesta Mk7 Zetec junior race car, with race entry fees, BRSCC membership, championship registration, ARDS training and test all taken care of as part of the prize.

In addition, Josh Cook will serve as their driver coach for the year, along with receiving a dedicated pre-event simulator programme courtesy of BRSCC partners SIM Motorsport, and a P1 Racewear race suit and Stilo race helmet courtesy of Nicky Grist Motorsport. Professional race team support, tyres, fuel, consumables and more are also covered as part of the prize package, worth in excess of £65,000.

A big thank you has to go to every single one of the Fiesta Junior Scholarship participants for giving it their all and showcasing their abilities during the competition, as well as their families and friends in attendance to lend support and encouragement. All of the drivers can be very proud of the exceptional talent, dedication and maturity displayed across the three days, making the judge’s choices increasingly tougher at each stage.

Another thank you also goes to our expert instructors and assessors for their time and efforts, as well as all of our Scholarship partners and sponsors for playing their parts in making the 2024 edition a resounding success.

Above: Daniella Sutton is the 2024 BRSCC Fiesta Junior Scholarship winner. The competition (below) was tough, but Sutton won through and will enjoy a fullyfunded season of racing

BRSCC & Ginetta Join Forces

For the 2024 season, the British Racing & Sports Car Club is delighted to welcome Ginetta Cars and its trio of motor sport championships underneath its banner for the first time.

In an agreement that was confirmed in July 2023, the 2024 season will have the Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy and Ginetta Junior Championship all run under a BRSCC permit, with all three also running as permanent fixtures on all UK rounds of the British GT Championship in 2024. Along with this, BRSCC will also assist in the organisation and running of the dedicated G-Fest race weekend at Anglesey, and the Ginetta Juniors will also compete on the TCR UK Race Weekend at Silverstone in August.

Mike Simpson, Ginetta Head of Motorsport said of the new partnership: “We want to keep Ginetta at the forefront of UK racing, as well as continuing our expansion into new markets globally. Joining the BRSCC from 2024 will further guarantee that our teams and drivers will experience great customer service and professionalism from start to finish.”

Luke Souch, BRSCC Sporting Manager added: “We are delighted that Ginetta has chosen to appoint the BRSCC as its organising club from 2024. Having had the opportunity to work with Ginetta and its Championships since it joined SRO’s support package for the British GT Championship at the beginning of 2023, this is really positive news and demonstrates the BRSCC’s aptitude in providing professional race services for commercial championships.”

Finsport Takes Over Renault Cup

For the 2024 season, renowned racing outfit Finsport will take over the reigns of overseeing and running the fledgling Renault Cup within the BRSCC Evolution Trophy.

The Renault Cup, which was run and overseen by Cooksport in 2023, will now have the experienced Lincolnshire-based motorsport outfit take on a key role in developing the series further for 2024. Given Finsport’s years of experience running Clio Cup cars in past seasons, the Renault connection is strong and one that will certainly benefit the Cup going into 2024 and beyond.

Commenting on behalf of Finsport, owner Jay Finlay said, “Having been involved with the Renault Cup through last season, it was clear to me that it provided a perfect opportunity for anyone that owns a Renault Clio or Megane to come together and enjoy their racing as part of a Renault focussed community. I’ve spoken to many people who have told me that a standalone Renault racing grid would be a fantastic end result, and that’s certainly our target”.

COMING IN 2024

Audi TT Cup Racing Awarded Championship Status

In 2023, the Audi TT Cup Racing series ran its first full season after launching to much fanfare the previous year.

From the outset, the interest and support were strong with sixteen cars lining up for the opening races at Brands Hatch and a high of 22 at the final rounds at Snetterton in October.

Now, following what has been deemed as a successful first campaign and after approval from Motorsport UK, the Audi TT Cup Racing series will now run with full championship status for its second season in 2024. This is an incredibly positive next step in the development of TTCR, with interest reaching sky high levels over the off-season and grids expected to be near sold out at every round. At the time of writing, more than 40 drivers have signed up for the 2024 season, meaning it is set to be one of the biggest success stories of the year within club racing in the UK.

The 2024 season is set to be one of the most exciting, busiest and best supported for the BRSCC in recent history, with a raft of new and returning championships and series being welcomed onto the roster and exciting development in others. Let’s details some of the latest developments for the season ahead:

Expanded TCR UK Support Package

TCR UK returned to the BRSCC in 2023 with an action packed and memorable season that concluded with Carl Boardley clinching the title in fine style at the Brands Hatch finale. Along for the ride in 2023 were TCR UK’s pair of permanent support series following the paddock up and down the country, with both the Milltek Sport Civic Cup and the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship providing entertainment on every race weekend too.

For 2024, the TCR UK support package has been expanded with two championships added to the line-up - the established AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship, and the burgeoning Audi TT Cup Racing Championship. Both have proven to be extremely popular both with drivers and with spectators and fans on TCR UK race weekend when either has been present, and as both will benefit from increased interest and live stream on each of the seven race meetings throughout 2024, each are set to grow in popularity and indeed grid sizes.

With the Audi TTs set to be a hit this season (as detailed earlier) and the ST240s also offering another perfect compliment to the ladder of drivers rising up the ranks from club series to touring cars, the entire support package is looking strong and set to deliver a fine spectacle across 2024 and beyond.

In another Evolution Trophy-based development, the Ricci Concept Classic VW Cup has introduced a new sub-category within its grid to accommodate faster and more modern machines.

Dubbed the VAG Cup, the premise is to allow a mix of various cars that fall within the regulations to compete on the CVWC grid with a power to weight ratio of 270bhp per tonne and the scope of modifications allowed to be fairly unlimited.

Expect to see a wide mix of cars including ex VW Cup racers, ex- SEAT Leon Cup Cars, highly modified Golfs and more as an example of the machines you can be set to see throughout 2024. It’s another positive development in the CVWC’s ambition to become the first series to reach the threshold of becoming eligible to run on its own standalone grid in future seasons.

New VAG Cup Arrives

March

16/17

2024 RACE MEETINGS

SilverstoneInternational

Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Fiesta Junior Championship, SuperSport Endurance Cup, ClubSport Trophy, Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Champonshp, Modified Ford Seres, ZEO Prototype Series

April

30/01

OultonParkInternational

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

06/07 Snetterton300

C1 Endurance Series, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, SuperSport Endurance Cup, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

13/14 BrandsHatchIndy

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, ClubSport Trophy, MG Metro Cup

13 OultonParkInternational

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, BMW Compact Cup, Modified Ford Seres 27/28 SilverstoneGP

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

May

04/05 CroftCircuit

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, SuperSport Endurance Cup, BMW Compact Cup, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup) 10-12 AngleseyInternational

C1 Endurance Series (C1 24 Hours)

18/19 Snetterton300

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, MG Metro Cup, ZEO Prototype Series, Mini 7 Racing Club (Miglias & Se7ens)

25/26 DoningtonParkGP

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

25 OultonParkInternational Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, ClubSport Trophy, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge

June

08

Oulton Park Island

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240

Championship

15/16

Anglesey International

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, BMW Compact Cup

21-23

Spa-Francorchamps

British GT Championship

22/23 Donington Park GP

C1 Endurance Series, SuperSport Endurance Cup, ClubSport Trophy, Super Classic Pre ‘99

Formula Ford Championship, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, MG Metro Cup, Modified Ford Series, ZEO Prototype Series, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, FinSport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

29/30 Anglesey International

Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

June

08

Oulton Park Island

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240

Championship

15/16

Anglesey International

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, BMW Compact Cup

21-23 Spa-Francorchamps

British GT Championship

22/23

Donington Park GP

C1 Endurance Series, SuperSport Endurance Cup, ClubSport Trophy, Super Classic Pre ‘99

Formula Ford Championship, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, MG Metro Cup, Modified Ford Series, ZEO Prototype Series, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, FinSport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

29/30 Anglesey International

Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

July

13/14

Snetterton 300

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

13/14 Croft Circuit

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup

13/14 Oulton Park International SuperSport Endurance Cup, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, MG Metro Cup, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

20/21

Snetterton 300

C1 Endurance Series, Fun Cup Endurance Championship, ClubSport Trophy, BMW Compact Cup, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, Modified Fords, CMMC

August

10/11 Cadwell Park

Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, BMW Compact Cup, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup), CNC Heads Sports/ Saloon Car Championship

17/18 Silverstone National

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, Ginetta Junior Championship, ClubSport Trophy, Modified Ford Series

17/18 Brands Hatch Indy

C1 Endurance Series, Fun Cup Endurance Championship, SuperSport Endurance Cup, Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, ZEO Prototype Series

September

07/08

Donington Park GP

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

21/22 Thruxton

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, CTCRC

21/22 Donington Park National

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, ClubSport Trophy, BMW Compact Cup, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

28/29 Silverstone National

C1 Endurance Series, SuperSport Endurance Cup, Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, CMMC, MG Cockshoot Cup

28/29 Brands Hatch GP

British GT Championship, Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta GT Academy, Ginetta Junior Championship

October

12/13 Silverstone International

TCR UK Touring Car Championship, Civic Cup, Audi TT Cup Racing Championship, Fiesta Junior Championship, Fiesta ST240 Championship, ClubSport Trophy, BMW Compact Cup

19/20 Brands Hatch Indy (Formula Ford Festival)

BRSCC Formula Ford Festival, Mazda MX-5 Championship, Mazda MX-5 Clubman Championship, Mazda MX-5 SuperCup, CityCar Cup & Student Motorsport Challenge, Evolution Trophy (Classic VW Cup, Finsport Renault Cup, Mazda MX-5 Mk4 Trophy, BMW 1 Series SuperCup)

26

Oulton Park International

Fun Cup Endurance Championship, Fiesta ST150 Challenge, ZEO Prototype Series