Round One Race Report

On April 21, Trackday Trophy made its long-awaited return. Donington Park’s National circuit was the venue, hosting the series season opener for the first time since 2021. The feeling of excitement to be back racing again was clearly apparent in and around the paddock, as drivers and teams were keen to hit the ground running.

Both Motion Motorsport’s pairing of Roberts/Drought and Supatune Motorsport’s Tester/Rolling duo immediately got to work, lighting up the timing sheet in the early stages of the morning’s qualifying session. It was the Supatune Motorsport Porsche who seemed to just about edge the early exchanges, with a strong time of 1:18:621 the benchmark for rivals to best. As the session continued, challengers in all three classes looked to improve on their time to put themselves in the best position possible for the afternoon’s race. A storming lap from Michael Rawlings (Paddock Performance Racing) of 1:18:098 seized provisional pole position for the BMW 328i. With less than ten minutes remaining, no competitor was able to better this time and it was Rawlings who secured the front of the grid for the #34. Early pacesetters Supatune Motorsport would line up in second, ahead of Team Rebbieha’s Mchugh/Heslop and Motion Motorsport’s Roberts/Drought. PRO-AM Racing’s Harvey/Richardson looked strong in Class C, earning class pole position ahead of Sarah Hobson (Hobson Racing) and Trevor Hurrell (Team Wheelcare) in third. Two Mazda MX-5s qualified fastest in Class D, with Colin Wells edging Boreham Motorsport Midlands father and son duo of Martyn and Rob Adams in second. Greenstar Racing rounded out the top three qualifiers in D, courtesy of Burnham/Voce.

At race start, both of the drivers on the front row enjoyed brilliant getaways. Colin Tester was at the wheel of the Supatune Motorsport Porsche and managed to just edge Michael Rawlings into the first corner. Elsewhere, a flying start for Team Air Supply had put Wright/Allat straight into the action, narrowly trailing the front-running two over the line after the first lap. In Class C, PRO-AM Racing continued to lead the way after the opening lap, but with class rivals hot on their heels. Team Wheelcare’s Hurrell had leapfrogged into second, but almost nothing separated the four cars behind the class-leading Harvey/Richardson. Martyn and Rob Adams (Boreham Motorsport Midlands) have enjoyed a lot of success in Class D over the years and the pair were clearly keen to start the season in that same strong fashion, making an early overtake to seize the Class D lead from Colin Wells to head the competitive class through the opening exchanges.

The first half of the race was filled with some truly thrilling racing, with plenty of overtakes and jostling in every class. Minutes before the pit window was open, the safety car was deployed, prompting a number of drivers to head straight into the pits for their mandatory two-minute pitstop. As the race headed into it’s final fifteen minutes, the order had been shaken up. Paddock Performance Racings’ Rawlings was at the front of the field, followed impressively by Class C leader Trevor Hurrell. The Team Wheelcare driver had expertly navigated the pit window to get the jump on his rivals and pull a commanding lead to those behind. The battle for Class D lead was hotting up, as Colin Wells piled on the pressure, retaking the class lead once the pit stops had been made.

Motion Motorsport were a team surging through the pack. Building on a solid opening stint from Nicole Drought, Justin Roberts began picking off rivals to take second in his Honda Civic. When mechanical misfortune struck for leader Rawlings, the #70 Motion Motorsports car was there to take the spoils and the first win of the 2024 season! It was a spirited and strong performance that the team should be proud of. Semprini Racing’s combination of Jeremy Evans and Phil Hart had looked consistently quick in Class B and utilized this to claim second on the podium, ahead of Team Rebbieha’s Mchugh/Heslop in third – completing a 1/2/3 for Honda Civics on the Class B podium! Trevor Hurrell’s excellent effort in Class C was thoroughly rewarded with the top step of the class podium, being joined by Sarah Hobson (Hobson Racing) and Cameron Mclean (CM Racing) in second and third respectively. The battle for the Class D podium went right to the wire, with Martyn and Rob Adams ultimately the team claiming the top step. Colin Wells would have to settle for second, ahead of strong display from Trackday Trophy debutant Steven Orant (Brotato Motorsport) in third!

A huge congratulations to all of our podium finishers, as well as to the number of drivers and teams who were competing in their first ever race at Donington Park.

To relive the action via live stream, the whole race can be found via the following LINK.