Every now and then a bright idea is formed – a brainchild if you will. How that plan works out in reality is another question altogether. Last weekend at the British Automobile Racing Club meeting at Snetterton, an idea really did turn into reality as Caterham lined-up 26 cars from their usual Roadsport, 270R and 310R roster and put them all together to scrap amongst themselves… but there was a twist.

Saturday morning at 11:45 local time – the lights went out on the inaugural two-hour Caterham Grand Prix. The race was on, but how did we get to that point? Simon Lambert, Chief Motorsport Officer & Head of Customer Engagement at Caterham Cars – tells us about that penny dropping moment.

“The idea actually came from listening to the qualifying session on the radio for the British Grand Prix last year when I was driving to a friend’s house. They were having a conversation about how long Grand Prixs are – because they are funny length – they are neither sprint nor endurance. I automatically thought how that would work for Caterham. I thought – why not have a Caterham Grand Prix – and my thoughts went racing and it all went from there.”

Usually the Roadsport, 270R and 310R versions of the British sports car are all kept at arms length from each other but last week – they would all fight amongst themselves for the very first time. But the 310R car is a lot quicker than a Roadsport category car you might ask? Well Simon had an answer for that…

“We knew we would have to have multiple classes – and then there was the headache of how do you deal with that. The idea of mandatory pit stops came up and different pitstop lengths for the classes. We haven’t been to the 200 layout at Snetterton for years, and that made it difficult to work out how long each class pitstop lengths should be. We only had testing on Friday and Qualifying on Saturday morning to go off and make a decision. We got the spreadsheets out quickly to see how many more seconds to handicap the faster cars with minimum pit stop times and from there we just had to see how it played out on the road.”

The grid lined-up ready for the rolling start on Saturday and featured a mix of two-driver teams and ‘hero’ athletes that were ready to brave it alone and wrestle the rear-wheel-drive rockets from start to finish. As it was a non championship round – everyone could let their hair down, enjoy some seat time and close racing. But as it was a Grand Prix… there had to be a prize to fight for. As well as podium glory the winning driver or team would receive an extra special something from Caterham. The race was on!

“With it being a Grand Prix we wanted to put up a nice prize for charity. We were at Snetterton for the Academy class anyway so we had the ability in the schedule to add this race on and give it a try. We offered a £1,000 prize for the charity of choice for the winner. Everyone enjoys racing – but championships add a bit of pressure – this was just fun. Whoever won everyone was going to be happy for, as a charity was going to benefit.”

Charlie Lower and Henry Senior claimed the inaugural pole, but once the green flag was waved – it was a journey into the unknown. The drivers went wheel-to-wheel in captivating fashion through the two-hour race. Harrison Cavers underlined why he is one of the leading lights in the 270R ranks as he charged to victory, more than 15 seconds ahead of the 310R pairing of James Emson and Edward Drake. Completing the podium was Roadsport racer Scott Helme, who was only ten seconds back in arrears.

Such was the competitiveness of the race that the top three spots saw one car from each championship represented.

“I would have loved it to have been even closer, but yes it showed we weren’t too far off getting everyone fairly equal. A safety car would have helped in the mid part of the race – but to get all three classes on the podium was perfect.”

When the chequered flag dropped, it ended the months of planning and preparation from Simon and the Caterham team – but did it deliver what they hoped?

“It went really well – I am over the moon. It’s been a learning curve for us all including me to organise this event. Everyone had a fantastic time and I have already been asked – when can we do it again, some asking about going even longer… which I take as a good sign! By the initial feedback everyone had a great race.

For more information on future Caterham events and how to get involved yourself – head to www.caterhamcars.com/en/motorsport