CTCRC & British Endurance Championship Silverstone GP 25th & 26th March 2023
The Classic Touring Car Racing Club kicked off its 2023 season on the wide open space that is the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of March.
Classic Thunder Qualifying/Race One: Unsettled weather was forecast for the weekend and qualifying would take place in greasy conditions. A combined grid with the BOSS and Jaguar Challenge cars meant a packed circuit of 45 cars attempting to set a time. Andy Robinson returned to the Classic Thunder field with a bang in his ’green-eyed monster’ liveried Ford Falcon AU V8 Supercar, having missed the majority of the 2022 season, taking pole position by 1.299 seconds. Two BMW M3 E46s were next, Jason West joining Robinson on the front row and Bryan Bransom's bright orange example heading row two. Starting next to Bransom was the imposing Aston Martin V8 of Sam Wilson, whilst on row three came Jasver Sapra's E36 M3 and Nick Vaughan’s revised Team Prawn Racing Audi A3, which featured a new gearbox, engine and turbo. Now on a dry track, the opening metres of the 20-minute encounter saw V8 grunt give poleman Andy Robinson the lead at the rolling start, the BMW M3 of Jason West, the Wilson Aston and Sapra's BMW slotting into second, third and fourth. A lock-up for the Falcon turning into Becketts put West into the lead and delayed the pack whilst Robinson gathered up the Falcon. Bryan Bransom further relegated Robinson around the outside of Village and the Ford also slipped behind Sam Wilson’s Aston Martin V8 coming onto the Wellington Straight. West ended lap one with a big lead from a charging Nick Vaughan's A3, who had reached third by Stowe before usurping an under-the-weather Robinson at Club on a great opening lap for the Audi. West's advantage was quickly extinguished as the Safety Car was deployed for a fire onboard the spaceframed Peugeot 206 CC of Joe Collier. The car came to rest in the pitlane entrance, where the conflagration was extinguished. One week on from his Modified Ford Series race win, Simon Light made solid progress from his starting position of ninth to end lap one side by side with Jasver Sapra’s BMW for sixth. After three laps behind the Safety Car, the field was released with seven and a half minutes remaining. Vaughan looked to pounce immediately at the restart, diving up the inside of West at Copse but ploughed straight on into the gravel and into retirement. Just behind, Wilson used his V8 power to harass Bransom for third at Copse and the BMW ran wide on the exit trying to hold off the advancing Aston, giving Wilson an easy pass. The fifth-placed Robinson also had his hands full fending off Sapra's BMW and the Capri V8 of Simon Light down the Hangar Straight after a hesitant run through the Becketts complex but kept his position. West ended the lap 1.4 seconds clear and was now being pursued by Bransom, who had repassed Wilson at the Village right-hander. With the top four positions looking settled, attention turned to the battle for fifth between Sapra and Light. The rumbling Capri had a couple of goes in a straight line at deposing Sapra but the BMW outbraked the Ford at Stowe and again at Brooklands to stay ahead. Leading BOSS runner Mike Manning joined the fight on the next lap, passing the Capri towards Becketts and then powered up alongside Sapra down the Hangar Straight. Sapra held the inside line to defend his spot but the Texaco Sierra eventually got the place by the Village/Loop sequence. Light tried again towards Stowe next time around but is held off once more. Time was now ticking down and the red flag flew with a minute to go, an errant Fiesta was stuck in the mud at Vale. West thus took the win by 1.6 seconds from the similar BMW of Bransom. Sam Wilson took third under pressure from Robinson's Falcon in fourth. Top BOSS competitor Manning bagged fifth overall in his Sierra RS500. Mike Seabourne came out on top in the Jaguar Challenge aboard Derek Pearce’s XK8, ahead of Guy Connew's Group 44 liveried XJS.
Race Two: Heavy overnight rain made for a sodden circuit and drizzle continued to fall as the Classic Thunder field lined up for their second race on Sunday morning. The all-BMW front row of West and Bransom headed the field into Copse, Bransom taking the initiative on the outside. West attempted a pass into Stowe but Bransom stayed in front. Heading into Stowe for the second time, West drove around the outside of Bransom and completed the move at Club to take the lead with a gutsy move. The gap ebbed and flowed in traffic thereafter and, in the end, West won by 2.294 seconds. The Gulf-liveried Aston Martin V8 of Sam Wilson came home in a lonely third, with the Sapra E36 M3 a respectful distance behind in fourth. Mike Manning topped the BOSS category once more in fifth, the Sierra had AJ Owen's Honda Civic snapping at his heels all race. Three more BMWs filled seventh to ninth in the hands of Ian Craig, Paul Wood and Gavin Dunn. After his non-finish on Saturday, Nick Vaughan climbed through the field to finish tenth, the A3 with a mountain to climb after starting from the 21st row. Similarly starting at the rear of the field, 2022 Donington race two victor Kirk Armitage came through to twelfth. Andy Robinson’s Ford Falcon AU retired into the pits at the end of the opening lap, as did the Capri V8 of Simon Light further into the race. Jack Robinson topped a battle of the XK8s in the Jaguar Challenge as he bests the similar car of Saturday winner Seabourne, or he thought he had as Robinson was later excluded from the results.
Classic Thunder Qualifying/Race One: Unsettled weather was forecast for the weekend and qualifying would take place in greasy conditions. A combined grid with the BOSS and Jaguar Challenge cars meant a packed circuit of 45 cars attempting to set a time. Andy Robinson returned to the Classic Thunder field with a bang in his ’green-eyed monster’ liveried Ford Falcon AU V8 Supercar, having missed the majority of the 2022 season, taking pole position by 1.299 seconds. Two BMW M3 E46s were next, Jason West joining Robinson on the front row and Bryan Bransom's bright orange example heading row two. Starting next to Bransom was the imposing Aston Martin V8 of Sam Wilson, whilst on row three came Jasver Sapra's E36 M3 and Nick Vaughan’s revised Team Prawn Racing Audi A3, which featured a new gearbox, engine and turbo. Now on a dry track, the opening metres of the 20-minute encounter saw V8 grunt give poleman Andy Robinson the lead at the rolling start, the BMW M3 of Jason West, the Wilson Aston and Sapra's BMW slotting into second, third and fourth. A lock-up for the Falcon turning into Becketts put West into the lead and delayed the pack whilst Robinson gathered up the Falcon. Bryan Bransom further relegated Robinson around the outside of Village and the Ford also slipped behind Sam Wilson’s Aston Martin V8 coming onto the Wellington Straight. West ended lap one with a big lead from a charging Nick Vaughan's A3, who had reached third by Stowe before usurping an under-the-weather Robinson at Club on a great opening lap for the Audi. West's advantage was quickly extinguished as the Safety Car was deployed for a fire onboard the spaceframed Peugeot 206 CC of Joe Collier. The car came to rest in the pitlane entrance, where the conflagration was extinguished. One week on from his Modified Ford Series race win, Simon Light made solid progress from his starting position of ninth to end lap one side by side with Jasver Sapra’s BMW for sixth. After three laps behind the Safety Car, the field was released with seven and a half minutes remaining. Vaughan looked to pounce immediately at the restart, diving up the inside of West at Copse but ploughed straight on into the gravel and into retirement. Just behind, Wilson used his V8 power to harass Bransom for third at Copse and the BMW ran wide on the exit trying to hold off the advancing Aston, giving Wilson an easy pass. The fifth-placed Robinson also had his hands full fending off Sapra's BMW and the Capri V8 of Simon Light down the Hangar Straight after a hesitant run through the Becketts complex but kept his position. West ended the lap 1.4 seconds clear and was now being pursued by Bransom, who had repassed Wilson at the Village right-hander. With the top four positions looking settled, attention turned to the battle for fifth between Sapra and Light. The rumbling Capri had a couple of goes in a straight line at deposing Sapra but the BMW outbraked the Ford at Stowe and again at Brooklands to stay ahead. Leading BOSS runner Mike Manning joined the fight on the next lap, passing the Capri towards Becketts and then powered up alongside Sapra down the Hangar Straight. Sapra held the inside line to defend his spot but the Texaco Sierra eventually got the place by the Village/Loop sequence. Light tried again towards Stowe next time around but is held off once more. Time was now ticking down and the red flag flew with a minute to go, an errant Fiesta was stuck in the mud at Vale. West thus took the win by 1.6 seconds from the similar BMW of Bransom. Sam Wilson took third under pressure from Robinson's Falcon in fourth. Top BOSS competitor Manning bagged fifth overall in his Sierra RS500. Mike Seabourne came out on top in the Jaguar Challenge aboard Derek Pearce’s XK8, ahead of Guy Connew's Group 44 liveried XJS.
Race Two: Heavy overnight rain made for a sodden circuit and drizzle continued to fall as the Classic Thunder field lined up for their second race on Sunday morning. The all-BMW front row of West and Bransom headed the field into Copse, Bransom taking the initiative on the outside. West attempted a pass into Stowe but Bransom stayed in front. Heading into Stowe for the second time, West drove around the outside of Bransom and completed the move at Club to take the lead with a gutsy move. The gap ebbed and flowed in traffic thereafter and, in the end, West won by 2.294 seconds. The Gulf-liveried Aston Martin V8 of Sam Wilson came home in a lonely third, with the Sapra E36 M3 a respectful distance behind in fourth. Mike Manning topped the BOSS category once more in fifth, the Sierra had AJ Owen's Honda Civic snapping at his heels all race. Three more BMWs filled seventh to ninth in the hands of Ian Craig, Paul Wood and Gavin Dunn. After his non-finish on Saturday, Nick Vaughan climbed through the field to finish tenth, the A3 with a mountain to climb after starting from the 21st row. Similarly starting at the rear of the field, 2022 Donington race two victor Kirk Armitage came through to twelfth. Andy Robinson’s Ford Falcon AU retired into the pits at the end of the opening lap, as did the Capri V8 of Simon Light further into the race. Jack Robinson topped a battle of the XK8s in the Jaguar Challenge as he bests the similar car of Saturday winner Seabourne, or he thought he had as Robinson was later excluded from the results.
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Super Touring/Pre '93/Pre '03 Race One: A paltry field of three Super Touring cars turned out and it would be the Vauxhall Vectra of Jason Hughes that sat on pole by just 0.025 seconds. The Nissan Primera of Richard Wheeler sat alongside for the rolling start, the sister Nissan of Anthony Reid lining up third. Spots of rain began to fall as the race got underway, Hughes took the lead at the start from Wheeler in ever-trickier conditions. Reid's Nissan soon moved up to second, after Wheeler ran wide at Chapel. The start of lap two saw Wheeler depart the fray at Copse, spinning into the gravel as the grip levels decreased. On a bad lap for the Primeras, the sister Nissan of Reid retired into the International Pit Lane with engine maladies to leave Hughes alone to win the category. A mid-race Safety Car to retrieve the Simon Mann Cadbury's liveried BMW from Maggots and Jamie Thwaites’ beached Sierra Cosworth from Luffield allowed the leading Pre '93 and '03 runners to come through to the front of the field, headed by Stuart Waite's Pre '93 BMW. At the restart, the slick-shod Vectra was swamped by Waite, Gary Prebble and James Everard exiting Copse on their more suitable treaded tyres, the squabbling BMW pair of Mike Dugdale and Clint Le Chalmers further demoted the Vauxhall on the Hangar Straight. Hughes was able to split the BMW pair starting the final lap and would be fourth past the flag as he bested Dugdale's BMW with the track conditions starting to dry. Prebble's Pre '03 topping Honda had briefly taken the lead of the non-Super Tourers off Waite into Stowe on the opening lap but the BMW quickly got back ahead at Vale, where it stayed. The Pre '93 E30 M3 of Everard, which finished in third overall, and Oliver Owen's Pre '93 M3 E36 made it a lead group of four early on before Owen fell away.
Race Two: This race was contested by just the Pre '93 and Pre '03 competitors on the still very wet circuit, the Super Tourers withdrawing due to repairs needed as well as the poor weather conditions. A delayed start due to Simon Mann's stranded BMW at Farm Curve reduced the race's duration to twenty minutes. From pole, Stuart Waite swept around the outside of Gary Prebble at Copse but ran wide at the exit. His slow exit made the leaders go three-wide heading towards Becketts and James Everard burst between Waite's BMW and Prebble's Honda into the lead, Prebble and Waite slotted into second and third. Prebble had a nibble for the lead into Brooklands at the end of the first tour but Everard stayed ahead. Race One winner Waite soon started to make progress from the back of the group of three, relieving Prebble of second on the outside at Stowe on lap two. Later in the lap, he took the lead off the barking E30 M3 of Everard, going all the way around the outside of Luffield. The black and gold BMW gradually began opening a gap, helped by Everard running wide at Brooklands with just over nine minutes left. Unfortunately, the race wouldn't go the distance as the red flag flew with just over six minutes remaining after Joe Dorrington spun his Civic into the path of the unfortunate Mark Fynney's Astra GTE at Becketts. The Vauxhall was unable to avoid clouting the Honda’s rear, badly damaging both cars but thankfully not the drivers. The race would not be restarted so Waite won by half a second from Everard on countback to the end of the third lap. Prebble won the Pre '03s in third after falling away from the front two when his windscreen misted up, his windscreen wipers then failed too which made visibility quite a challenge! Ross Craig was Pre '03 runner-up in another Honda, the third-placed Pre '93 BMW of Oliver Owen finishing in between the two Civics.
Race Two: This race was contested by just the Pre '93 and Pre '03 competitors on the still very wet circuit, the Super Tourers withdrawing due to repairs needed as well as the poor weather conditions. A delayed start due to Simon Mann's stranded BMW at Farm Curve reduced the race's duration to twenty minutes. From pole, Stuart Waite swept around the outside of Gary Prebble at Copse but ran wide at the exit. His slow exit made the leaders go three-wide heading towards Becketts and James Everard burst between Waite's BMW and Prebble's Honda into the lead, Prebble and Waite slotted into second and third. Prebble had a nibble for the lead into Brooklands at the end of the first tour but Everard stayed ahead. Race One winner Waite soon started to make progress from the back of the group of three, relieving Prebble of second on the outside at Stowe on lap two. Later in the lap, he took the lead off the barking E30 M3 of Everard, going all the way around the outside of Luffield. The black and gold BMW gradually began opening a gap, helped by Everard running wide at Brooklands with just over nine minutes left. Unfortunately, the race wouldn't go the distance as the red flag flew with just over six minutes remaining after Joe Dorrington spun his Civic into the path of the unfortunate Mark Fynney's Astra GTE at Becketts. The Vauxhall was unable to avoid clouting the Honda’s rear, badly damaging both cars but thankfully not the drivers. The race would not be restarted so Waite won by half a second from Everard on countback to the end of the third lap. Prebble won the Pre '03s in third after falling away from the front two when his windscreen misted up, his windscreen wipers then failed too which made visibility quite a challenge! Ross Craig was Pre '03 runner-up in another Honda, the third-placed Pre '93 BMW of Oliver Owen finishing in between the two Civics.
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Pre '66/Pre '83 Race One: Perennial Pre '83 pacesetter Stephen Primett took pole position in his Mk1 Escort by 0.606 seconds from Jonathan Corker's Datsun 510, Will Davison's BMW E30 and Mark Cholerton's Mk2 Escort made up row two. Ford V8 Americana headed Pre '66 qualifying with Peter Hallford's Mustang grabbing pole from Alan Greenhalgh's Falcon. Running last on Saturday's schedule, the field had a slightly greasy circuit to contend with after the shower in the preceding Super Touring/Pre '93/Pre '03 race. At the start of the 20-minute bout, Davison shot through from the second row to head the field into Copse for the first time from Primett. Mark Osborne also got away well from sixth to sit in third through Copse, ahead of the Corker Datsun and Cholerton Mk2 Escort. Down the Hangar Straight for the first time, Primett has a look approaching Stowe before drawing alongside the BMW on the Hamilton Straight and taking the lead at Abbey. The Safety Car was deployed at the conclusion of lap one after the unlucky Osborne's Triumph Dolomite grinds to a halt at Club. Corker and Cholerton lined up third and fourth in the queue, just ahead of the top Pre '66 runners Hallford and Greenhalgh who completed the top six. After one lap the field is released and Davison quickly got back in front approaching Becketts but Primett was back ahead by the end of the lap, the move coming at Brooklands. Cholerton also got ahead of Corker too, after the Datsun driver lost momentum fishing for gears at Chapel. With time ticking down, Davison started to build another attack and looked to the outside of Village before regaining the lead at Abbey on the penultimate lap. The BMW didn't hold the lead for long as Primett hit back at Brooklands and took a lead he wouldn't lose, a better run through a clutch of lapped traffic at Club aided his cause to take a great win. Corker managed to get back ahead of Cholerton for third on the last lap after driving around a loss of fourth gear, which put him down the order following the restart. Jason Christie's Mk1 Escort and Carl Shreeve's Dolomite, as well as the leading Pre '66 runners Hallford and Greenhalgh, had all passed the struggling Datsun when the field was released. Top Pre '66 runner Hallford - who had ran as high as fourth overall after the restart, took the flag in seventh overall after the scrapping Mk1 Escorts of Graham Smith and Jason Christie both passed the Mustang on the last lap. Greenhalgh crossed the line in second but had the Lotus Cortina of John McGurk closing in fast at the end, finishing within half a second of the Falcon.
Race Two: Sunday morning's wetness had dried out for the longer 25-minute race two. Having made great starts, Davison and Corker headed Primett out of Copse but the Escort was soon back up to second at Stowe. An exciting race looked in the offing as the top three remained close together ending lap one. Closing on Davison completing lap two, Primett had a look at Copse then hit the front at Vale on lap three but the BMW immediately cut back inside at Club. The third-placed Corker, with a new gearbox installed, got a great run on the pair of them and they were three-wide on the Hamilton Straight, the Datsun taking both at Abbey! Primett sent his Mk1 Escort up the inside of Davison into Brooklands soon after and set about catching Corker, the Escort having a big slide through Becketts which cost the white Mk1 ground to the leading Datsun. A lap later, Corker skated wide entering Luffield which lets Primett slip by into the lead on the inside. Davison also tried unsuccessfully to follow Primett by at Copse. The Escort and Datsun started to drop Davison after the red and blue BMW ran wide at Copse next time around. A lap after Davison's wayward moment, Corker took the lead with a cracking move in the middle of Becketts but Primett fought back straightaway at Stowe. Their squabbling saw Davison begin making ground back up on the lead pair but the BMW slithered wide at Brooklands for the penultimate time. Up front, Corker started the last lap right on Primett's bootlid but the Escort edged away to take the win. Corker bagged second, with Davison reeling him in to complete the podium of a superb race. Canadian Hallford won the Pre '66 category comfortably, Greenhalgh took second after an entertaining dice with Dave Thomas' Mk1 Capri. Billy Kenneally scored a lonely third but was in the Greenhalgh/Thomas fight earlier in the race, passing Greenhalgh's Falcon a couple of times in the twisty sections but the Falcon powered back by when the track straightened.
Race Two: Sunday morning's wetness had dried out for the longer 25-minute race two. Having made great starts, Davison and Corker headed Primett out of Copse but the Escort was soon back up to second at Stowe. An exciting race looked in the offing as the top three remained close together ending lap one. Closing on Davison completing lap two, Primett had a look at Copse then hit the front at Vale on lap three but the BMW immediately cut back inside at Club. The third-placed Corker, with a new gearbox installed, got a great run on the pair of them and they were three-wide on the Hamilton Straight, the Datsun taking both at Abbey! Primett sent his Mk1 Escort up the inside of Davison into Brooklands soon after and set about catching Corker, the Escort having a big slide through Becketts which cost the white Mk1 ground to the leading Datsun. A lap later, Corker skated wide entering Luffield which lets Primett slip by into the lead on the inside. Davison also tried unsuccessfully to follow Primett by at Copse. The Escort and Datsun started to drop Davison after the red and blue BMW ran wide at Copse next time around. A lap after Davison's wayward moment, Corker took the lead with a cracking move in the middle of Becketts but Primett fought back straightaway at Stowe. Their squabbling saw Davison begin making ground back up on the lead pair but the BMW slithered wide at Brooklands for the penultimate time. Up front, Corker started the last lap right on Primett's bootlid but the Escort edged away to take the win. Corker bagged second, with Davison reeling him in to complete the podium of a superb race. Canadian Hallford won the Pre '66 category comfortably, Greenhalgh took second after an entertaining dice with Dave Thomas' Mk1 Capri. Billy Kenneally scored a lonely third but was in the Greenhalgh/Thomas fight earlier in the race, passing Greenhalgh's Falcon a couple of times in the twisty sections but the Falcon powered back by when the track straightened.
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British Endurance Championship: The three-hour enduro featured a close race between the GT3 cars of Peter Erceg/Marcus Clutton and Claude Bovet/David McDonald. Converting his pole position, Erceg took his Audi R8 LMS into an early lead but was soon passed by the Bovet Mercedes AMG GT on lap two. The Mercedes drew away for a short while before the R8 made up the deficit and retook the lead at the 40-minute mark. The first round of pit stops after an hour saw Erceg's Audi pitting a lap before Bovet's Mercedes, here the strategies split with the Mercedes gaining a 30-second lead as the Audi was stationary for that much longer. The Mercedes continued to look strong as they extended their lead to over a minute, standing at 1 minute 10 seconds when the Audi pitted again after a short 20-minute second stint - which put it a lap down. However, with the rapid Marcus Clutton now installed in the R8, the pendulum began to swing. A drive-through penalty for track limit offences forced the leading Mercedes into the pits and then its second mandatory stop came only seven minutes later, bringing Clutton's Audi back onto the lead lap and lurking only 4.8 seconds behind. Regularly lapping the 3.6-mile circuit in less than two minutes brought the R8 back onto the tail and past the Mercedes in potentially the race-winning overtake, the move coming with a forceful move at The Loop with 45 minutes to go. Drama was to follow as the Audi was judged to have been 0.7 seconds below the minimum pitstop time at its third stop, which it took twelve minutes after taking the lead. The car was hit with a drive-through penalty and then a 14-second stop/go a lap later. The penalty dropped the R8 well behind, the Mercedes taking the flag with more than a minute in hand over the Audi. The mighty Aston Martin Vulcan of Gleb Stepanovs/Steve Tomkins completed the podium, having overtaken the Chris Goddard/Charlie Hand/Charlie Hollings Ferrari with under ten minutes to go.
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Other Highlights
The inaugural Britcar Prototype Cup races had a slim field dominated by five of the rakish Czech-built Praga R1s, plus a lone Radical SR3 RSX. The category opened Sunday’s racing with a 25-minute voyage in the worst of the wet weather. Venezuelan former GP2 and Marussia F1 test driver Rodolfo Gonzalez came through to win after slipping down to third on the opening lap. Poleman Charles Hall splashed home 4.5 seconds behind the Venezuelan, he had led from the start until he skated through the Luffield gravel trap with seven minutes remaining. Aston Martin F1 ambassador Jess Hawkins took third. There was a wild moment mid-race when the leaders encountered a Fox on the Hangar Straight, the creature scurried clear from the middle of the track without harm. Race Two was a second 25-minute sprint and Wolverhampton University's Shane Kelly took a dominant win in the damp by just under fifteen seconds, coming through from the second row to grab a lead he wouldn't lose on the opening lap. Scott Mittell took second as Ben Stone showed good pace to finish right behind Mittell having had a late spin at Aintree and falling to the back of the Pragas. Race Three would be a 50-minute pit stop race: Hawkins/Kelly started from pole with Hall/Mittell alongside. Hall got the jump on Hawkins towards Copse at the rolling start, Teddy Wilson also got by at Stowe to slot into second on the opening lap. Hall quickly opened a 2.5-second lead but can’t escape any further. Indeed, second-placed Wilson started coming back at Hall and, with 34 minutes left, Wilson makes his move into Brooklands to take the lead. Temporarily, it transpired, as a good run for Hall and a twitchy moment for Wilson through Copse put Hall back into the lead. A lap later, Wilson passed Hall for good and began pulling away with the pit window about to open. Hall was first in of the top three, to swap with Scott Mittell. A lap later and Hawkins pitted to install Shane Kelly before leader Wilson stopped the lap after that, to be replaced by Ben Stone. Not all went to plan on pit road as the Hall/Mittel car lost 22 seconds due to their timer breaking down and Hawkins/Kelly lost nearly a minute in their stop to check an engine overheating warning. This broke up the leading cars, Stone retaining the lead by over twenty seconds from Mittell. Another eighteen seconds back sat Chris Bridle/Will Stowell's Praga in third, after benefitting from Hawkins/Kelly’s slow stop. Kelly was another thirteen seconds from the Bridle car but had the bit between his teeth. Stone eased to the win from Mittell and Bridle. Kelly regularly set the fastest lap in his fruitless pursuit of Bridle for third, his 1 minute 57.239 best over half a second quicker than the pole time.
The inaugural Britcar Prototype Cup races had a slim field dominated by five of the rakish Czech-built Praga R1s, plus a lone Radical SR3 RSX. The category opened Sunday’s racing with a 25-minute voyage in the worst of the wet weather. Venezuelan former GP2 and Marussia F1 test driver Rodolfo Gonzalez came through to win after slipping down to third on the opening lap. Poleman Charles Hall splashed home 4.5 seconds behind the Venezuelan, he had led from the start until he skated through the Luffield gravel trap with seven minutes remaining. Aston Martin F1 ambassador Jess Hawkins took third. There was a wild moment mid-race when the leaders encountered a Fox on the Hangar Straight, the creature scurried clear from the middle of the track without harm. Race Two was a second 25-minute sprint and Wolverhampton University's Shane Kelly took a dominant win in the damp by just under fifteen seconds, coming through from the second row to grab a lead he wouldn't lose on the opening lap. Scott Mittell took second as Ben Stone showed good pace to finish right behind Mittell having had a late spin at Aintree and falling to the back of the Pragas. Race Three would be a 50-minute pit stop race: Hawkins/Kelly started from pole with Hall/Mittell alongside. Hall got the jump on Hawkins towards Copse at the rolling start, Teddy Wilson also got by at Stowe to slot into second on the opening lap. Hall quickly opened a 2.5-second lead but can’t escape any further. Indeed, second-placed Wilson started coming back at Hall and, with 34 minutes left, Wilson makes his move into Brooklands to take the lead. Temporarily, it transpired, as a good run for Hall and a twitchy moment for Wilson through Copse put Hall back into the lead. A lap later, Wilson passed Hall for good and began pulling away with the pit window about to open. Hall was first in of the top three, to swap with Scott Mittell. A lap later and Hawkins pitted to install Shane Kelly before leader Wilson stopped the lap after that, to be replaced by Ben Stone. Not all went to plan on pit road as the Hall/Mittel car lost 22 seconds due to their timer breaking down and Hawkins/Kelly lost nearly a minute in their stop to check an engine overheating warning. This broke up the leading cars, Stone retaining the lead by over twenty seconds from Mittell. Another eighteen seconds back sat Chris Bridle/Will Stowell's Praga in third, after benefitting from Hawkins/Kelly’s slow stop. Kelly was another thirteen seconds from the Bridle car but had the bit between his teeth. Stone eased to the win from Mittell and Bridle. Kelly regularly set the fastest lap in his fruitless pursuit of Bridle for third, his 1 minute 57.239 best over half a second quicker than the pole time.
The results for the two 50-minute Britcar Trophy races should really have shown a double victory for the Jasver Sapra/Bryan Bransom BMW M3 E46 but a 'clerical error' saw them miss the pit window closing by five minutes whilst well ahead in race one, which saw them slapped with a 300-second stop/go penalty. The pit window time had been reduced for 2023 and the BMW crew hadn't read the new rules... Axel van Nederveen's Ginetta G56 GTA took the victory from the chasing Lotus Elise of William Sweeney. Van Nederveen and Sweeney also disputed the lead in the opening stages of race two before the Ginetta started to take control. The car really on the move was the Sapra/Bransom BMW, Sapra producing a mighty opening lap from starting 22nd to complete it in seventh position. An early safety car compressed the field and Sapra had picked his way through to third when another Safety Car was called as the pit window opened. The leading Ginetta and the BMW both stop but the second-placed Lotus of Sweeney stayed out, losing a hatful of time completing the extra lap. With Bransom now on board, the BMW jumped the erstwhile leading Ginetta of van Nederveen in the pits and the similar Ginetta of Jim Edwards did likewise. Bransom was able to make his escape at the restart as the two Ginettas squabbled. With less than ten minutes remaining, the Edwards Ginetta spun into the mud at Aintree and forced another Safety Car. The BMW ably controls the restart to jubilantly take the flag. The van Nederveen Ginetta came in second and the hard-charging Sweeney Lotus completed the podium. Later, the Sapra/Bransom BMW would be disqualified from race two so van Nederveen completed a victory double from Sweeney. Credited with third position was Simon Clark's Porsche 997 Carrera S.
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The Classic Touring Car Racing Club's next meeting takes place on the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd April.