BARC championships serve up Snetterton spectacular

Snetterton played host to a memorable two days of British Automobile Racing Club action this past weekend (May 5/6) as five championships continued their 2019 campaigns around the Norfolk venue.

In what proved to be a bank holiday to remember, edge of the seat entertainment was served up from start-to-finish as a variety of categories tackled the challenging 2.99 circuit layout.

The Junior Saloon Car Championship saw spoils shared as Thomas Ward and Scott McIntyre took a win apiece. Having entered the weekend sitting atop of the standings, McIntyre was keen to extend his advantage at the summit and set about doing so by storming to pole position in qualifying.

McIntyre was unable to convert it into victory however as Ward stormed into the lead and ultimately powered his way to a first win of the season as he led McIntyre and reigning champion Lewis Saunders across the line.

Race two would see McIntyre and Saunders in a league of their own as they pulled away from the chasing gap to lead by more than ten seconds. With little separating the pair as the laps ticked by, former Scholarship winner McIntyre managed to pull away to win once again, with Saunders and Jemma Moore rounding out the rostrum.

The BARC Clubmans Sports Prototype Championship in association with King Henry’s Taverns was back in action for its second event of the year, and it didn’t disappoint.

Three races yielded a dominant day in each class as three drivers produced stunning hat-trick performances, although they didn’t always have things their own way. On a bank holiday weekend which saw fierce competition, Clive Wood led the way with a scintillating display in class CSP1, winning all three races.

Elsewhere, CSP2 honours went the way of Mike Evans whilst Brian Hunter completed the trio of hat-tricks by triumphing in the CSP3 category.

A jaw-dropping 40-car grid in the Caterham Graduates Championship was a sight to behold and the on-track action ensured those in attendance were gripped. Samuel Wilson continued his strong start to the year with victory in race one, heading the duelling duo of Jamie Winrow and Jamie Ellwood by more than eight seconds.

Wilson’s winning streak came to an end in race two however as an ultra-close battle between Winrow, Ellwood and Stephen Clark covered by just three tenths of a second as the chequered flag flew – with Winrow coming out on top.

The Classic Touring Car Championship was back in action for the third time this year and its block of races didn’t disappoint. James Burrows and Martin Reynolds were the victors in the Pre ’66 Touring Car Championship encounters whilst Mark Osborne was at the double in the Pre ’83 Touring Car Championship.

Stephen Pearson meanwhile swept his to victory in the amalgamated Pre ’93 / Pre ’03 / Pre ’05 Touring Car Championships. Capping off the CTCRC winners was James Janicki and Andrew Wilson, each of whom triumphed in the combined Classic Thunder Touring Car Championship & Blue Oval Touring Car Championship.

Rounding out the weekend’s action were a handful of races from the British Superkart Championship, with Liam Morley, Sam Moss, Andy Bird and Jason Dredge all standing on the top step of the podium at one stage.

For the full results from all of the weekend’s sessions across each championship, click here.