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The second half of the 2023 eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy season began at Donington Park, on July 15. There was a palpable excitement for this one, with a capacity grid of competitors all keen to test themselves and their machinery to the limits on the Leicestershire circuit’s National configuration.
MCS Racing’s Nathan Mcphail led the early charge for pole position in the morning’s qualifying session, setting the first fastest lap of the day. Three different teams had won the opening three eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy races of the year and it was the winners of Snetterton, Supatune Motorsport, who displaced Mcphail’s Honda Civic Type R at the top of the timing sheet. The Porsche Boxster of Tester/Quinn set a blistering lap time of 1:19:879secs on their third lap of qualifying – a benchmark which couldn’t be beaten by any of the 39 other competitors in the remainder of the session, securing pole position for Supatune Motorsport. The team would share the front row with Michael Rawlings, who once again demonstrated his strong pace to secure the second spot on the grid for the BMW 328i driver. Team BG’s Ben Grewcock missed out on the front row by the narrowest of margins, just 0.005secs behind Rawlings for third. Aidan Hills (Hills Motorsport) enjoyed a fabulous qualifying session in class C to take class pole position, ahead of Dubshack Motorsport’s David Zakrzewski and GS Racing’s Gareth Sockett. Mazda MX-5s stole the show in class D, with all of the top five qualifiers in class being drivers of the much-loved roadsters. Alex Wilkinson-Hughes (AWH Yeah Racing) secured the honours of class pole position, pipping Lundy/Lundy (Boreham Motorsport) and Adams/Adams (Boreham Motorsport Midlands).
A strong getaway from the line ensured Michael Rawlings (Paddock Performance Racing) challenged polesitters Supatune Motorsport through the opening corners, but Rawlings was unable to get the best of the Boxster of Tester/Quinn and the Supatune Motorsport duo maintained the lead after the opening lap. A stellar race start from Aidan Hills (Hills Motorsport) ensured the Ginetta G40 not only maintained the lead of class C, but burst up the order to fourth overall by the end of lap two. Wilkinson-Hughes (AWH Yeah Racing) expertly navigated the opening stages to maintain the lead of a very competitive class D, but an excellent turn of pace from Lundy/Lundy (Boreham Motorsport) leapfrogged the team into the class lead - an overtake which would prove crucial as the race progressed.
Donington Park, as anticipated in the event preview, proved to be a truly brilliant track for eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy competitors to battle on. Epic battling for each and every position was the theme, with a number of masterful overtakes displayed on the live stream for all to see. Aidan Hills (Hills Motorsport) nailed his pit strategy to rise to second overall after the stops, while Supatune Motorsport retained their lead – now with Ronan Quinn behind the wheel. Paddock Performance Racing’s Michael Rawlings was undeterred from losing out to Hills over the pit stops and immediately set his sights on the Ginetta in front. After hunting down Hills Motorsport, Rawlings immediately looked to close the gap to the leading Porsche, however a red flag caused the session to end early and secure the win for Supatune Motorsport’s Colin Tester and Ronan Quinn – the pairs second victory of the year! A massive congratulations to both, who did not put a foot wrong all weekend and clearly demonstrated strong, consistent pace. Paddock Performance Racing finished second both overall and in class B, just over one second ahead of a surging Ben Grewcock (Team BG). The Caterham driver has put in some excellent performance this year and was rewarded with the third step. Meanwhile, MCS Racing’s Nathan McPhail edged DP Service Racing’s Damian Chrupczalski to fourth in class B by just 0.150 secs!
A combination of tremendous pace and savvy pit strategy saw Aidan Hills deservedly take the top step of the class C podium. It was a faultless drive from the G40 driver, who saw off a number of quick rivals on his way to class victory. Dubshack Motorsport’s David Zakrzeweski converted his second on the class C grid to finish second on the class podium, with another brilliant drive. The BMW E36 has been a consistent challenger for the eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy podium places and adds another trophy to the team’s collection at Donington Park. The battle for the final spot on the C podium went right down to the wire. Ultimately, GS Racing’s Gareth Sockett managed to just about hold off the fierce challenge from Wolf Motorsport’s Chris Reade by 1.254secs and take home the final class C silverware.
After managing to overtake AWH Yeah Racing early on in the race, Boreham Motorsport’s Lundy/Lundy didn’t look back to take the father and son duo’s first class victory of 2023. It was a top performance from the MX-5 team and the drivers deserve all the plaudits. Another Boreham Motorsport (Midlands) father/son pairing would take to the podium, courtesy of Martyn and Rob Adams. The Boreham Motorsport (Midlands) team are no strangers to the podium places and were worthy second place finishers at Donington Park. Nicholas Stott (Hills Motorsport) impressively completed the final podium position on his 2023 eBay MSVT Trackday Trophy debut, finishing third in class D.
Congratulations to all!