Caterham Academy Championship – Page 3

BARC delivers Cadwell Park cracker of a weekend

The British Automobile Racing Club enjoyed a bumper two days of wheel-to-wheel entertainment at Cadwell Park this past weekend (April 15/16) as a further seven championships lifted the curtain on their 2023 campaigns.

On what was the first of two visits to the popular Lincolnshire venue this year – the second coming in late July – the Club staged no less than 23 races across Saturday and Sunday, with each of them putting fans on the edge of their seats.

Renowned for producing its fair share of full-throttle thrills, one of the weekend’s headline acts came in the shape of the 5/8 scale pocket rockets that make up the Legends Cars Championship with MRF Tyres.

Serving up six breathtaking races, last year’s series runner-up Will Gibson kicked off proceedings with victory in the opener before Andy Bird and Marcus Pett chalked up two wins apiece. Matthew Isherwood then concluded the action with a win in the finale.

The Junior Saloon Car Championship blasted into life for another season with a 26-car grid of 14 to 17-year-old racers all eager to kick-start their burgeoning motorsport careers.

Boasting an entry list of both second-year drivers and rookies, the one-make category delivered a pair of blockbuster encounters, with the spoils being shared between Oskar Dix and Daire Flock.

In the North West Centre’s CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship, Andrew Southcott enjoyed a winning start to the new season by comfortabley romping to a brace of victories.

At the wheel of his MG Midget Lenham, Southcott topped the times in qualifying and then didn’t look back when the lights went out; leading home the duo of Roddie Paterson and reigning champion Jamie Cryer by sizeable margins in both races.

Kris Tovey made a flying start to the 2CVParts.com Championship as he opened his account for the year with two superlative wins. Despite missing out on pole position in qualifying, Tovey made no mistake in the races as he powered clear of the opposition.

Behind him, defending champion David O’Keeffe, Nick Crispin and Lucas Proietti all scored podiums – setting up an exciting remainder of the season.

Novice racers beginning their journey’s in the sport put on a show across two Adrian Flux Insurance Caterham Academy races. Adam Kene narrowly pipped Matt Kirland in the White race before Callum McIntyre triumphed in the Green bout.

Cadwell Park also marked the dawn of a new era for the Track Attack Race Club as they ran under the BARC banner for the first time in its illustrious history. Encompassing all saloons, coupes and sports cars, the budget-conscious category kicked off the year with Andrew Neal guiding his Peugeot 106 to back-to-back race wins.

Another new championship to debut over the course of the weekend was the MINI CHALLENGE Clubsport with Airtec Motorsport; a one-make series designed to provide a first step on the racing ladder for entry level club racers.

Stephen Berry, Zac Blackwell and Freddy Hewitt proved to be the cream of the crop across the weekend’s three contests however despite their best efforts, Blackwell and Hewitt couldn’t stop Berry from taking a clean sweep of victories.

miniRounding out the weekend’s bumper programme were four frenetic contests from the British Superkart Racing Club, all of which were won by the dominant Matt Robinson.

To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Cadwell Park, CLICK HERE.

Caterham Cars revving up for 50th Anniversary celebrations at Donington Park

Caterham Cars is set to celebrate its golden anniversary this year with a special ‘Caterham 50th Festival’ at Donington Park on September 2/3.

Marking five decades of the famous British manufacturer, the two-day event at the Leicestershire venue is poised to commemorate the past, present and future with a number of on and off-track attractions.

Taking centre stage on the circuit will be wall-to-wall racing from Caterham Motorsport as they bring the curtain down on their 2023 campaign for a majority of their championships.

Champions will be crowned in the Academy, Roadsports, 270R and 310R categories whilst the battle for supremacy in the Seven UK Championship is set to reach fever pitch ahead of their finale on the British Touring Car Championship package at Silverstone.

Adding to the full-throttle thrills and spills will also be contests from the Caterham Graduates Racing Club and Classic Sports Car Club’s Magnificent Sevens Series.

Away from the racing, visitors will have plenty to be captivated by with confirmation that there will be an owners display and parade, pop-up club house and merchandise store and paddock party.

For more information on the Caterham 50th Festival, head to https://www.caterhamcars.com/en.

Caterham Academy welcomes new influx of drivers following ARDS days

Caterham Motorsport took centre stage at Castle Combe for two days last month as it played host to its ARDS days, which saw its annual intake of novice drivers – a total of 50 – into the Caterham Academy.

With exclusive use of the Wiltshire venue, fledgling Academy drivers were put through their paces whilst also building bonds as they prepare to share a grid at some of the UK’s top venues this year.

Among the new influx of competitors were parents of Academy drivers from previous years. Cadwell Park local Dave Jarvis, who looked after his son Will’s car last year, decided it was his turn to get behind the wheel whilst Ann Hall is set to follow in the footsteps of her son James.

The family connections didn’t stop there either with brothers Arif and Barry set to compete against each other whilst another brother pairing – Henry and Orlando – will share also share the same grid. Other notable additions to Caterham fans on the entry list include Barry Thompson and Andy Bruce.

Alongside the ARDS course, Caterham also laid on some skid pan exercises in a BMW to give drivers an idea of what rear-wheel-drive feels like, as well as a valuable lesson in car preparation.

With 50 new drivers having successfully passed their ARDS courses over the two days it now means that more than 1,300 competitors have started their racing careers in the Academy since it started back in 1995.