With a short break in race meetings for MSVR this weekend, we thought it timely to have a quick recap of how the start of the 2023 racing season has been for our fantastic series and championships:
Both the GB3 and GB4 Championships roared into life at Oulton Park at the beginning of April, bringing strong grids and vast excitement to the Cheshire circuit. Joseph Loake of JHR Developments stormed into the early championship lead in the GB3 Championship, while KMR Sport’s Tom Mills paves the way in GB4. The new-for-2023 Bell Sport Challenge Series enjoyed a successful season opener at Donington Park, with two races taking place on April 2nd. Wayne Marrs etched himself into the history books, as the Ferrari Challenge 488 driver won not just the first-ever Bell Sport Challenge Series race, but the second too.
Also kicking off their 2023 campaign in early April at Donington Park was GT Cup, with the premium GT championship attracting a stellar grid for the season opener. The second round of GT Cup took place last weekend on the prestigious Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with yet another excellent grid. Paul Bailey and Ross Wylie are currently four points clear at the top of the overall championship standings. The Porsche Club Motorsport Championship with Pirelli also featured at both the Donington Park and Brands Hatch GP meetings, along with Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup. In the Porsche Club Motorsport Championship, Pete Morris and Oliver Chatham have set the early pace in Class 1 and 2 respectively. Meanwhile, it’s Jon Lovell that’s enjoyed some fantastic early results in the Boxster Cup.
Daryl De Leon tops the standings in the new-look Hagerty Radical Cup UK, despite an exceptional start to the season for reigning Champion James Lay. Theo Micouris currently heads the Pro SR1 Championship after also enjoying an excellent start to his 2023 campaign. The opening Ferrari Challenge UK event of the year took place last weekend at Snetterton and a 17-strong Prancing Horse grid provided a great spectacle for the Norfolk crowd. Congratulations goes out to Andrew Morrow for securing the victory in both of the opening two races.
Gary Smith bested a large pack of 420R Caterham’s in the Toyo Tires 7 Race Series opener at Donington Park, before Jonathan Mitchell edged the second race of the day over Smith by just 0.472secs! Ben Winrow took to the top of the 1600 podium twice, with Stephen Clark winning the third race in Leicestershire. After two competitive races at Donington Park and Brands Hatch, Lewis Clark has a nine point lead at the head of Focus Cup standings over rival Ian Mitchell. The single-make championship now prepares for back-to-back rounds at the technical Snetterton circuit. Bernie’s V8s & Historic Outlaws brought muscle and power to Northamptonshire in mid-April, with overall victory in the first race of the season heading the way of Jason Clegg’s TVR Tuscan. It was a great opening day for Clegg, who also picked up victory in the second round too.
After qualifying on pole for the opening race of the Clubmans Sports Prototype Championship, Steven Dickens had to settle for second in the race behind the Phantom PR22 of James Clarke – who took a hat-trick of overall victories at the opening Silverstone meeting. After two competitive rounds of the Sports 2000 Championship, Michael Gibbins (MCR S2n) and William Schryver (Royale RP37) head the Duratec and Historic championships respectively. The outstanding Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit awaits Sports 2000 competitors for rounds three and four.
As things stand, the points couldn’t be closer in United Formula Ford Championship as Lucas Romanek and Andy Clark both head the standings with ten points apiece. Chris Middlehurst won the opening race of the season at Donington Park, but finds himself fifth in the overall championship. Tony Bishop and his Dallara F307 became the first winners of the 2023 Monoposto Championship, but had to settle for second in the next race – finishing behind Karl O’Brien’s Dallara. James Colbourne bested a combined grid at Donington Park by just 0.199secs to finish on the top step of the first Production GTi Championship round of the year, while Edd Giddings achieved the win in Z Cars. Ryan Sayer (VW Golf GTi) and Edd Giddings (BMW Z4) won their respective races second time out at Donington Park. An excellent performance from Kevin Clarke earned the BMW M3 driver victory in the opening Snetterton Saloons race, finishing a nail-biting 0.298secs ahead of Bryan Bransom.
The long-awaited debut of Miata Trophy caught the eye on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, with epic, clean battling the theme of both opening races. Aidan Hills enjoyed a stellar day, topping the inaugural SuperPole session and claiming both race victories in his Mk3 Mazda MX-5. The opening Miata Trophy meeting attracted a very strong grid, as did the first EnduroKA race of the year. The popular endurance series visited Silverstone for the first time and it was the #555 SuKAru Racing Ford KA that recorded victory after a five-hour test. The eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy kickstarted it’s season in style, with a sold-out grid taking to Silverstone’s National circuit. Unique Racing’s Pottinger/Palk duo took the overall top step in Northamptonshire for the second year in a row, after a great performance in their Renault Clio. The ever-competitive Trackday Championship also attracted a bumper grid, with the Lotus Elise of Steve Summers recording his first TDC victory at the season opener at Silverstone. Attention for Trackday Trophy, TDC and Miata Trophy fans now turns to Anglesey in mid-May for their second race meeting of 2023.
Everyone at MSVR cannot wait to see what comes in the next few months of racing. Bring it on!