Category: Barc

Regulations changes locked in for 2025 Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season

The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE has confirmed a number of regulation changes ahead of the opening rounds of the 2025 season, which take place this month. 

Snetterton provides the setting for the Cooper class curtain-raiser this weekend, with the JCW and JCW Sport classes getting underway at Donington Park on April 26-27.

Ahead of the lights going out, amendments to the regulations across all three classes have been ratified and communicated to all competing teams and drivers. 

Race distances for the ten meetings that are held alongside the British Touring Car Championship – covering the full JCW/JCW Sport season and three events for the Cooper class – will see drivers offered additional track time.

For JCW and JCW Sport entrants, the final race of the weekend will run a duration of 25 minutes at Donington Park, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill.

Over in the Cooper class, the four non-TOCA race meetings will comprise of three 15-minute races. The meetings on the TOCA bill (Thruxton and Donington Park GP) will offer more track time for the final contest. 

For all classes, race one on the Saturdays on the TOCA programme will run to a duration of 20 minutes with an opportunity of five minutes contingency added in the event of a safety car, as with BTCC races. Race two will continue to run to a fixed duration of 20 minutes.

The points-scoring system remains unchanged however an additional six points will be given to the fastest time in qualifying in each class. Furthermore, the fastest race lap in each class will now be worth three points instead of six. 

Dropped scores have been revised too, with every race now being counted in both the JCW and JCW Sport categories, In the Cooper class, drivers will now drop their worst score from the season rather than their two worst scores. 

Entries have also been looked out with teams now limited to running maximum of four cars in any individual class. Should a team wish to run more than four cars, it will need to submit a request in writing to the Championship Organisers. 

Finally, the rules around the reverse grid have been tweaked for the JCW and JCW Sport classes, bringing them inline with the Cooper class. 

As a result, on those weekends where there are three races, the grid for race two will be decided by a random draw that will see anywhere from the top six to top ten overall from the previous race reversed.

BARC North West Centre revved up for CNC Heads Sports/Saloon opener

This weekends opening round of the CNC Heads Sports Saloon Car Championship boasts a massive 47-car entry; with defending Champion Steven Parker heading the entry in his Ford Fiesta ST – but there is healthy competition in most of the classes.

Simon Allaway’s mighty Lotus Esprit V8 heads class A. The overall Champion back in 2013, Simon will be looking for a podium finish this weekend. Garry Wardle was last years Class A Champion. He is entered in his Audi A3 TCR car, but is well-known for turning up with something entirely different.

A Championship debutant at Cadwell last year, Ryan Nelson has changed his Class D Mini for a Ginetta G56 and joins Class A too this weekend. Thomas Frankland is another newcomer to Class A, as his Renault 5GT Turbo was in Class B last year. He has a new engine this term, a 1781 turbo. Championship debutant Ash Hicklin will be one to watch, with his Bentley GT. He has previously raced a Radical in 750MC Bikesports.

After a few years away, it’s a welcome back to the fastest breadman in the North West, Jason Hennefer. A former XR racer, he has been out in the Fiesta Championship and returns in an ST180 Fiesta. Piers Grange is due out in his Ford Escort 2.6, as his RSR Turbo isn’t ready yet. Richard Blockley, Dad of Fiesta Junior Billy makes his championship debut in another Ginetta G56A and completing the class is returnee Wayne Spiller, having swapped his Mazda for a Seat Leon.

Most of Class B are returnee’s from last season, with the top seven from last years final standings. Champion Paul Masters is back with his Westfield Wide Body, to renew his rivalry with class runner-up Connor Modro’s Westfield Aero and they will be up against Bod Buckby’s Caterham and former double Champion Jamie Cryer’s Ginetta G20. Roddie Paterson’s Caterham will be vying for overall victory too as will Ben Roberts’ Locost 7, both having visited the top step of the podium.

If all is well with Mark Primett’s Banks Lotus Europa he should be another strong contender, but with Deri Davies’ Darrian T90 and Rob Wakelin’s Peugeot 205, joined by Alek Modro now in a Westfield Aeo too, competition for the Class will be intense. Tim Foxlow’s Escort RSR is back too and he is joined by newcomers Jon Price in a Vauxhall Tigra and Baz Johnson in his Pontiac Coupe.

With no starters due in Class C, Champion Parker has plenty of rivals to challenge him in Class D. Riccy Walker and Clive Dix were second and third in class last year, and both return with their respective Mini F56 and Mazda RX7, but Marshall Groves’ Vauxhall Vectra should be a challenger again too, along with Philip White’s BMW. Fiesta racer Sam Beckett swaps to an Audi TT to make his Championship debut and newcomers Simon Graveley, Carl Bennett and Anthony Sullivan make their debuts in a VW Golf Gti, BMW M3 E46 and Mini JCW.

Paul Goodlad hopes to be back with his VW Scirocco, if the car s ready and seasoned campaigners Bob Claxton and John Madoc-Jones are due out in their VW Golf Gti and BMW E46 330. The Class is completed by George Foxlow, son of Tim, out in his Fiesta Challenge ST240.

As well as winning Class E last year at his first attempt, Lee Bull only just missed out on the overall title with a late retirement in the last race at Oulton. He’s back with his Renault Clio, but will have some stiff competition from Paul Rotheroe, who returned to the Championship last year with his Citroen Xsara VTS to take second in the Class. Julian Wood, brother of Championship sponsor Ric is back with ex Steven Parker BMW Compact, along with Matthew Jones in his Ford Focus.

Cavan Taylor joined the championship too last season as a relative novice with his Renault Clio and Louie Dobson, son of former Champion Paul, had his first race ever at Anglesey last season and returns with his Fiesta ST150. Nick Haynes joins in too in another Fiesta ST150, while two shared cars complete the class. William and Georgina Bartlett in a Renault Clio and Richard and Matt Hibbert with a Honda Civic Type R.

There are three entries in Class F too, with two novices challenging Champion Helen Allen’s Ford Fiesta Zetec S. Errol Taylor has a Toyota Yaris T Sport and Jonathan Lee a Mini Cooper.

Classes A & B qualify from 9.25 and race at 12.05 and 15.25 and Classes D,E & F qualify at 10.25, with races at 12.40 and 16.40. All four races are of 20 minutes duration.

Goodwood and BARC ready to open the vaults of motorsport history

It’s Spring time and that can only mean one thing – it’s time for the 82nd Goodwood Members’ Meeting held at the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit in West Sussex (12-13 April).

The British Automobile Racing Club are working side-by-side with the Goodwood events team to bring together and deliver a tightly compact, two-day schedule of motor racing. The BARC are an integral part of the racing stewarding, officiating and running of the race meeting which is one of the biggest in the busy British motorsport calendar.

The Goodwood Race Circuit stopped hosting contemporary motor racing events in 1966, and now promotes the Revival meeting at the end of summer to celebrate the period glory days, while the Spring time Members Meeting was revived in 2014 – and focuses on a wider timeline of motorsport eras – from early pioneers to the latest cutting edge machines.

In 2025, there is a lot to celebrate. Racing at Goodwood this weekend include single seaters in the form of Formula Juniors, Edwardian and Pre War monsters, fifties and sixties sports cars, Touring cars from the sixties, seventies and eighties as well as two wheel icons from Formula 750, 250cc and 350cc machines.

Demonstrations are one of the major attractions at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting and the 82nd edition will have plenty of exciting cars – some hitting the Goodwood track for the first time.

The late, great Aryton Senna’s first F1 win will be remembered – with the iconic JPS liveried Lotus 97T being driven by Aryton’s nephew Brunno Senna – who will evoke just some of those memories from 40 years ago. Fast forward to 2025 and Hertz Team JOTA will be rolling out the thunderous Cadillac Hypercar. The car which is more at home on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans will be put through its paces by factory drivers Alex Lynn and Will Stevens across the two days.

For sports car fans, as well as the golden Cadillac, there will be several GT3 demonstrations as well as two invitational shootouts for eight cars between 2005-2012 on both Saturday and Sunday.

Complementing the motorsport demonstrations will be the glorious sounds from Gordon Murray Automotive – with the famed designer and his team bringing both the T.33 and T.50 models for high-speed demo runs around the 2.367 mile circuit. Stretching the legs of the supercars will be Four-time IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti – who is one of the development drivers for the GMA outfit.

Tickets are sold out for Saturday – with only Sunday now available. For those who want to get a taste of the event can watch the action on the Goodwood Road & Racing YouTube channel this weekend HERE.

Silverstone serves up spectacular BARC race day

The British Automobile Racing Club took centre stage at the Home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone, this past Saturday (April 5) for a full-throttle day of competition that was headlined by the Britcar Endurance Championship and Classic 2CV Racing Club.

Hot on the heels of the Club’s season-opener at Donington Park last month, two more championships lifted the curtain on their respective campaigns – utilising the International layout of the world-renowned Northamptonshire venue in the process.

Embarking on a new era that has involved the amalgamation of what was the British Endurance Championship and Britcar Trophy Championship, the Britcar Endurance Championship made an instant impression with two captivating 50-minutes contests.

Boasting a bumper grid that was made up of returning race winners, credible contenders and a number of new faces, the multi-class series was undoubtedly back and better than ever.

The opening day of the season arguably belonged to Toro Verde GT as Steve Gambrell and British Touring Car Championship race winner Daniel Lloyd joined forces to reign supreme in their potent Porsche 991.2.

Narrowly pipping the FF Corse & Red River Sport duo of Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem to pole position in qualifying, Gambrell and Lloyd wasted no time in pulling clear of the opposition in race one as they went on to triumph by almost 40 seconds.

Behind them the AMSPEED pairing Dom Malone and Adam Smalley hustled their Porsche 991 Cup car to second overall whilst fellow Porsche 991 Cup competitors Mark Cunningham and Peter Cunningham completed the podium in third.

Race two would prove to be a slightly closer affair at the front however the result remained the same as Gambrell and Lloyd didn’t put a wheel wrong to score a second win of the day ahead of Malone and Smalley and the aforementioned Cunningham’s.

Some of the closest racing that played out around the iconic 1.850-mile layout was provided by the Classic 2CV Racing Club which, like Britcar, was also hitting the track for the first time in 2025.

Brian Heerey claimed the bragging rights in the day’s opening contest as he fended off the advances of former champion Kris Tovey and serial winner Nick Crispin to triumph; albeit there was a little under half a second separating the trio at the chequered flag.

Heerey was unable to repeat his heroics later in the afternoon however as Andrew Bull came to the fore with an exemplary drive to open his account for the season. Bull beat Ethan Sparrow by four tenths of a second while Crispin once again completed the podium in third.

Rounding out the action at Silverstone on the BARC bill were also races from the The Super Series by the British Superkart Racing Club and the Monoposto Championship.

Liam Morley charged to a brace of race wins in the Superkarts before Matt Robinson snapped his winning streak in the final encounter. Over in the Monoposto series, George Line made a winning start as he bagged two wins of his own.

If you missed any of the action from Silverstone then head across to YouTube where you can watch it all at the click of a button.

To view the full classification of results from each session at Silverstone, head to https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/251463.

BTCC to broadcast race day coverage around the world on YouTube

The British Touring Car Championship has announced an enhancement of its global coverage, with each race day of the 2025 season – including all support series’ races – being streamed live around the world on the official BTCC YouTube channel.

Both the United Kingdom and North America are an exception to the new agreement due to them both having existing broadcast agreements in place.

Qualifying will also continue to be broadcast LIVE in the UK on ITVX, and indeed LIVE across the UK and throughout the world via YouTube.

The deal also represents fantastic news for the BTCC’s loyal support series’ – namely F4 British Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Porsche Sprint Challenge GB, The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE and The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE TROPHY – as each will enjoy LIVE global streaming coverage for the first time ever.

Alan Gow, BTCC Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to further enhance our LIVE streaming coverage of the BTCC throughout the world via YouTube.

“This agreement represents fantastic news for our teams, partners and stakeholders, including our valued support series’, but most importantly for our legion of fans around the world, who will now be able to enjoy viewing the entire BTCC race day live for the first time.”

You can subscribe to the official BTCC YouTube channel here.

BTCC stars gear up for new season at Croft

The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship undertook an extensive pre-season test at the British Automobile Racing Club owned Croft Circuit in Yorkshire earlier this week (1/2 April) with most of the 2025 challengers in attendance to gain vital mileage and data ahead of the eagerly anticipated season.

The first official pre-season test at Croft was to be an important two days to showcase the reliability of the 2025 machines, and give the fans a potential early form guide as to who to look out for this season. According to BTCC data, 2,800 laps and nearly 6,000 miles were covered across the two days, with glorious sunshine providing plenty of dry running for the teams in North Yorkshire.

BTCC Rookie Max Hall starred on the opening day, as the young driver produced a stunning lap in his Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leon. Hall, who graduated out of the BARC supported Verti MINI Challenge, set the benchmark in the second session. The time which was under the BTCC lap record remained unbeaten until the final hour of the last day when Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble leapt to the top of the timesheets with a 1:20.391s which is well over half a second quicker than the existing qualifying lap record.

NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish is a dark horse for a title tilt this season and was at the sharp end during both days – eventually ending up third overall, whilst reigning champion Jake Hill was fourth in his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW.

Hill’s new West Surrey Racing team-mate – Daryl DeLeon – left it late, as the young charger claimed fifth in the final moments of the two-day test – just pipping a happy former champion Tom Ingram in sixth.

Four-time Champion Ash Sutton was the first driver to dip under the current qualifying lap record on Tuesday, before that time became dated quite quickly, thanks in part to the glorious early spring weather. Sutton, who is eyeing a record breaking fifth title, eventually had to settle for seventh overall.

Returning three-time champion Gordon Shedden was immediately on the pace as the flying Scotsman bagged eighth in his first outing in his new TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK Corolla, whilst LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR’s Charles Rainford and One Motorsport’s Josh Cook rounded out the top ten.

Speaking to BTCC – Mikey Doble, Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing, said: “We have had a fantastic first couple of days to kick off our pre-season testing programme. The car felt amazing, and the team’s hard work in development over the off-season is now shining through. I can’t wait to get back out in the car for Season Launch at Donington in a couple of weeks.”

The BTCC has one further official test day at Donington Park on the 15th April before returning to the Leicestershire venue on the weekend of the 26/27 April for the opening three rounds of the series.

Event Information: BARC at Silverstone

April has arrived – the weather is warming-up and if the first event of the British Automobile Racing Club last month is anything to go by, the racing this season is starting to simmer nicely. Next on the packed 2025 BARC calendar is a one-day event at Silverstone on the 5th April with two pillars of the BARC racing fraternity in action this weekend.

The International layout at the home of British motorsport will welcome the Britcar Endurance Championship and 2CVParts.com Championship who both kick off their eagerly anticipated seasons this weekend.

While the focus will be on Silverstone, keep one eye on other weekend action as Donington Park sees a return for TCR UK Championship which supports the British GT opener, while the BARC Speed Championship heads to Wales as Trac Mon Anglesey is the destination for the sprint competitors. With so much going on this season – we thought it would be useful to bring together all the important information, so you know what is happening on the BARC calendar this weekend.

When is the next BARC race meeting?
The next event will be held on Saturday 5th April

Where is it being held?
Silverstone – International Circuit
Address: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester NN12 8TN

What is racing this weekend?
Britcar Endurance Championship and 2CVParts.com Championship
Our headline acts will be supported by the Monoposto single seaters and Superkarts.

How can I watch?
The BARC race weekends will be broadcast live and for free on our YouTube Channel [Link YouTube channel text]. The uninterrupted coverage will feature all the on track drama with commentary, analysis and features throughout the day with over seven hours across the day with coverage starting just ahead of the first race on Saturday at 10:45.

For those who want to soak up the on-track action in person – tickets are available on the day or on the Silverstone website from £17 with gates opening at 07:00.

What time are things happening on track?

Track action begins at 09:00. Qualifying heads the order in the morning and just after 11:00, we go green with the first race – with an afternoon of track action to follow.

Do you have any more information?

We have a few other handy links that might be useful to help you enjoy your weekend.
Live Timing and Commentary: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/251463
Timetable*: https://bit.ly/41TegRl
LIVE Stream link – https://www.youtube.com/live/KimWeEQEgzU?si=XQ-MFIYGHuNbrRlm

* Subject to adjustments prior and during the race meeting

Enjoy the racing. It’s good to be back!

Sustainable fuel signed off for MINI JCW and JCW Sport classes

Organisers of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE have confirmed that cars competing in the JCW and JCW Sport classes will run on sustainable fuel this season.

Off the back of successful tests that were held across the 2024 campaign, Sunoco’s RFM E25 – a 25% ethanol-based fuel – will become the control fuel for the popular one-make series that resides on the support bill of the British Touring Car Championship.

Last year sae the introduction of a special development car that competed as a guest entry in the JCW Sport category. Driven by the likes of Hannah Chapman and Harvey Riby, the car tested the new fuel.

Whilst the new fuel will be mandatory across the top two MINI CHALLENGE classes, cars competing in the Cooper category will continue to race on the same CMR Plus fuel also provided by Sunoco.

Midlands Centre poised to kick-start 2025 BARC Speed campaign

The British Automobile Racing Club Midlands Centre has put together an exciting collection of events for the 2025 BARC Speed Championship season with 24 rounds ready and waiting for entries across a plethora of iconic venues in England and Wales.

The BARC Speed Championship is designed for low-cost, easily accessible motorsport with the emphasis of inclusion for all, as the series is aimed at creating an enjoyable, engaging and truly competitive environment for seasoned drivers, as well those starting out on their motorsport journey.

The championship format is one car at a time, racing against the stopwatch rather than cars together, fighting for the same piece of track. Competitors can enter all 24 events, but they can pick and choose up to eight rounds to count towards the final award of which two must be sprint, two hillclimb and one organised event by the BARC Midlands Centre.

Scoring is based on established class records, thus providing the opportunity for all competitors to accumulate points. Whether you are in standard road cars or top-end single seaters, everyone has a fair chance of taking home a prize. Venues range from sprint courses, hillclimbs and circuit based events to provide a real variety for the drivers across the campaign.

Old favourites such as Cadwell Park, Prescott and Gurston Down are joined by some new or returning events in 2025. One of Britain’s oldest hillclimb venues Shelesely Walsh is on the billing twice, while a new location in the breath-taking Epynt Hillclimb joins the itinerary this year.

The 2025 season for the BARC Speed Championship gets underway at Cadwell Park on the 29 March – with full details available at the BARC Midlands Centre website – www.barc-midlands.co.uk

2025 BARC Speed Championship Championship Calendar
Round 1 – 29th March – Cadwell Park
Rounds 2-3 – 5th/6th April – Trac Mon Anglesey
Rounds 4-5 – 26th/27th April – Gurston Down
Rounds 6 – 3rd May – Shelsley Walsh
Rounds 7-8 – 17th/18th May – Loton Park
Rounds 9-10 – 7th/8th June – Pembrey
Rounds 11-12 – 14th/15th June – Epynt Hillclimb
Rounds 13-14 – 28th/29th June – Curborough
Rounds 15-16 – 5th/6th July – Harewood
Round 17 – 20th July – Prescott
Rounds 18-19 – 23rd/24th August – Snetterton
Round 20 – 7th September – Hethel
Round 21 – 13th September – Shelsley Walsh
Round 22 – 27th September – Goodwood
Rounds 23-24 – 27th-28th September – Blyton Park

BARC Ontario Centre stages successful Ice Racing event

The British Automobile Racing Club’s Ontario Centre in Canada has made a full-throttle start to the year with the annual running of its Ice Racing event.

See below for the latest update that’s been provided:

Our weekend was held on the weekend of February 8-9th. The weather was perfect and the track conditions were the best we have seen in at least 10 years. Entries weren’t the best with a total of 131 over the two days, but we managed and still had a blast.

We had several returning and new volunteers this weekend. Greg Clement stepped into the Clerk’s role and did a great job under the tutelage of Bob Page. Andrea Pegg sat in at Scoring and Timing and did a fabulous job while still keeping an eye on her TRS teammates keeping everyone safe.

Pat and Amy Harrison came back out to help this weekend, Pat worked the start and Amy was our Secretary for the weekend. As with every year, all of the volunteers did a great job and made my job easy.

Our volunteer dinner was held on the Saturday night at the Dominion Hotel. Our annual trophies were handed out as follows:

Male Slip and Slide — Pat Harrison for the slipping disc lap counting (which did get sorted out and was accurate he notes).
Female Slip and Slide — Barbara Wanamaker for slipping on the ice and for never having received a trophy previously.
Best Imitation of a Mountain Goat — Allison Wadge for gracefully climbing snowbanks to view the racing.
Best Headdress — Amy Harrison for wearing, what else but a Minnie Mouse toque.
Best Short Joke — Kyle Bast for his nonstop delivery of jokes.

It may not have been a highly profitable event for the club, but it was a whole lot of fun with smiles throughout the paddock and race control.

We look forward to 2026!

BARC kicks off 2025 season in style at Donington Park

The British Automobile Racing Club lifted the curtain on its 2025 season in sensational style this past weekend (March 22-23) as a number of championships battled changeable conditions at Donington Park.

TCR UK Championship

It was the dawn of a new era for TCR UK as the championship competed under the BARC banner for the very first time – and it saw two of its most experienced drivers take centre stage as they laid down their markers as credible title contenders.

Adam Shepherd and Callum Newsham entered the new campaign as ones to watch and they duly lived up to all expectations, with Shepherd striking first as he hustled his Cupra to pole position in qualifying.

Shepherd converted his front-row start into a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the opener. Despite having to deal with early pressure from the chasing pack – which was led by the Laidlaw duo – and a safety car interruption, the Capture Motorsport driver was wheel-perfect on his way to top spot.

Race two would see Shepherd double his tally for the weekend as he came through the field on a drying track to win the reverse grid encounter. On a damp track, the grid was split between wet and dry tyres, providing an intriguing spectacle.

Steve Laidlaw rolled the dice to stay on wets and led much of the race however all eyes were on the slick-shod Shepherd and Newsham as they charged forward. Shepherd would ultimately close down a gap of 12 seconds to snatch the win on the penultimate lap ahead of the aforementioned duo.

Newsham was able to end Shepherd’s run of success with a dominant victory in the final race of the weekend – which took several attempts to run. Making a demon start, the Scotsman was never headed as he beat Finn Leslie and Shepherd to the chequered flag.

Milltek Sport Civic Cup

Alongside TCR UK, the Milltek Sport Civic Cup also made its BARC debut under the flightpath of East Midlands airport with two highly entertaining races setting the stall out for what promises to be a season to remember.

Home to the pocket-rocket Honda Civic, the one-make series is billed as a feeder category for TCR UK and has seen a number of promising drivers rise up the ranks in recent years.

At Donington Park, Alistair Camp and former TCR UK champion Lewis Kent underlined their credentials as the leading lights to look out for as they claimed a win apiece around the 1.979-mile National circuit.

Camp snatched pole position by the slender margin on 0.052s in qualifying and duly converted it into victory in race one, pulling clear of Kent and Liam McGill to open his account for the campaign.

Race two proved to be a much closer affair with just six tenths of a second covering the top-three at the finish. This time it was Kent that came out on top as he edged out Harvey Caton and Camp to triumph.

Classic Touring Car Racing Club

Variety was the spice of life when it came to the Classic Touring Car Racing Club as bumper grids of vintage tin top machines went wheel-to-wheel; putting those in attendance and watching online on the edge of their seats.

The Everard Pre-66 Touring Cars rolled back the years with two enthralling encounters, both of which were won by Michael Cullen. The Ford Lotus Cortina driver comfortably beat Oliver Law in race one but had a tougher time of things in race two as he faced competition from Piers Grange.

Cullen came oh-so close to extending his winning streak to the amalgamated Shell Oils Group 1 Touring Cars, Trackhub.uk Pre-93 Touring Cars, Burty Pre-03 Touring Cars and Super Tourers Series contests.

Swapping his Ford Lotus Cortina for a BMW E30 M3, Cullen finished half a second away from Ian Bower in race one while William Davison completed the podium. Nobody would ultimately come close to Bower in race two as he scarpered out front to win by more than 14 seconds.

Bower was a winner in one of the two PRG Trailers Classic Thunder and Rikki Cann Aston Martin Specialist Historic Thunder Saloons races too, with last year’s inaugural champion Colin Voyce claiming the spoils in race two.

Rounding out the Classic Touring Car Racing Club entertainment were two races from the Burton Power Blue Oval Saloon Series. A haven for Fast Fords, the weekend arguably belonged to Andy Robinson as he clinched a clean sweep in his Ford Falcon.

Junior Saloon Car Championship

The Junior Saloon Car Championship lifted the curtain on a brand-new season with three breathtaking contests delivering three different race winners.

Home to the next generation of racing talent, the budget-conscious series has been a staple of the junior racing pyramid for more than a decade and this year’s edition looks to be as competitive as ever.

With a grid made up of second and third-year racers, as well as promising rookies, the single-make category had everyone enthralled and it was Josh Selvadorai that struck first as he bagged pole position in qualifying.

His moment in victory lane would have to wait though as Wilf Butler scored bragging rights in the opening contest as he triumphed ahead of fellow returnees Luca Masarati and Lewis Stannard.

Selvadorai was imperious in race two though as he pulled out a gap of more than seven seconds to beat Butler, with Masarati a few seconds further adrift in third place.

The weekend’s third and final bout went the way of Stannard as he pulled off a sublime number of overtakes to go from fifth to first. Following him to the chequered flag was Masarati and Oliver Kerr.

P4 Emergency Lighting Caterham Graduates Championship

Some of the biggest and smallest winning margins of the weekend came in the ultra-competitive P4 Emergency Lighting Caterham Graduates Championship – which staged two races for its Sigma 135 Class and two for its Sigma 150 Class.

In the Sigma 135s, nobody was stopping Adam Kene as he stamped his authority on the early championship battle with two exemplary performances.

His first victory saw him triumph by almost 16 seconds ahead of Tom McEwing and Stephen Merritt while win number two saw the same three drivers finish on the podium, although this time the gap was capped at six seconds.

Over in the Sigma 150s, Will Stilwell trounced the opposition to win by more than ten seconds in race one. Things however were much closer when it came to race two.

Paul Goldstein – a double Caterham champion last year – emerged victorious from a captivating contest that saw him eventual beat Max Haynes to the chequered flag by just 0.006s. Stephen Clark was a further four tenths back in third.

Adrian Flux Insurance MG Owners Club Championship

The McDermid family had plenty to celebrate on Sunday night as they reigned supreme in the opening rounds of the Adrian Flux Insurance MG Owners Club Championship.

Entering the year as the defending champion, Steve McDermid was wheel-perfect in his MG ZR – which had the number one adorning his window – as he claimed a brace of race wins ahead of his son, Jake McDermid.

There was very little to separate the McDermid duo however behind, Lee Sullivan could only manage to be the best of the rest as he netted a brace of third-place finishes.

To view the full results from all sessions at Donington Park, CLICK HERE.

You can also re-watch all the action via the British Automobile Racing Club YouTube channel, HERE.

Gordon Murray to be honoured as part of Festival of Speed Central Feature

Gordon Murray will be honoured at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, with some of his greatest hits in car design being part of this year’s Central Feature.

His road car company, Gordon Murray Automotive (GMA), will be a major element of this year’s celebration, symbolising the culmination of Murray’s life that has seen him forge a legacy as one of motorsport’s great innovators across more than six decades.

Goodwood will also once again serve as the host for GMA’s latest car reveal, where the company will showcase its newest creation in front of the world’s eyes for the first time.

“For 60 years I have enjoyed the design and engineering challenge of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible – be that in racing or road cars,” said Murray.

“The supercars that Gordon Murray Automotive builds today are inspired by every car I’ve designed, raced, and owned. Lightweight design, innovative use of materials, the latest technologies, and even bending the laws of physics come into all we do.

“I am thrilled we will celebrate my 60th anniversary of design and the driver-centric cars we produce today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.”

The Duke of Richmond CBE DL, added: “Gordon has been a part of the Festival of Speed since the very beginning and I’m delighted that he has chosen to celebrate his 60-year career here with us at Goodwood.

“His name is synonymous with engineering art and superlative automotive design, which has seen him triumph at the very pinnacle of motorsport with five world championships and create the most coveted supercars.”