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Trackday Trophy returned on Sunday 6 April, with three classes of production and production-based saloon, hatchback and sports cars taking on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in search of the podium places.
Qualifying
Team Air Supply’s pairing of Wright/Allatt were quick out of the blocks in qualifying. Their Porsche 944 hooked up nicely around the current home of British F1 to set the first representative benchmark for rivals to beat. Michael Rawlings (Paddock Performance Racing) rose to the challenge to post a blistering lap time of 2m28.520s, which secured pole position for the #34 BMW E36.
Wright/Allat would line-up second, with the Wolf Motorsport brother pairing of Luke and Chris Reade qualifying third.
A tremendous session by Cameron Mclean (CM Racing) saw the Renault Clio 182 driver qualify fastest in Class C, ahead of Paul Mchugh and Gareth Sockett in second and third respectively. Mazda MX-5’s dominated the top of the Class D timing sheet, with all three of the fastest class qualifiers competing in the Japanese roadster. Colin Wells was quickest, ahead of Ethan Lundy and Chris Stone.
Race
An excellent race start for Rawlings ensured the BMW driver remained at the front of the field through the opening corners, but an equally impressive start for Reade/Reade had the MINI immediately in the battle for the lead. Semprini Racing’s Jeremy Evans was up into third place, while Mclean and Wells continued to lead their respective classes.
Constant overtaking throughout the entire field provided plenty of entertainment for drivers and spectators, as each competitor pushed to make their way up the order. Tommy Valentine (Burton Power Racing) had enjoyed a good start, as had Jonathan Peerless (M J Motorsport).
Heading into the mandatory pit stops, Rawlings continued to lead out front with a narrow buffer to the pursuing Reade/Reade. Zakrzewski had managed to overtake Evans into third, as both Mclean and Wells maintained their leads over their competitive classes.
After the stops, the battle for the lead between Rawlings and Reade/Reade resumed. Despite the unrelenting pressure from Reade/Reade, Rawlings remained unphased, but ultimately it wasn’t to be for the Paddock Performance Racing driver. Mechanical failure a couple of laps before the finish cut short Rawlings race, promoting Reade/Reade to the race lead.
From there, an assured drive to the checkered flag ensured it was Luke and Chris Reade who took the Class B victory, making it back-to-back Trackday Trophy podiums for the Wolf Motorsport brothers in 2025. Zakrzewski claimed a well-earned second place finish, while Jordan and Ray Honeybone expertly rose through the Class B places to finish third. Wright/Allatt narrowly missed out on the podium, with Evans coming home fifth.
Mclean converted his impressive showing in qualifying to strong race pace, leading all but one lap in Class C enroute a vintage class victory. The battle for second-in-class went right to the wire. In a breathtaking finish, Sockett managed to just hold on to finish ahead of Mchugh by a mere 0.187s! Hart/Hart finished fourth in Class C, one spot above Valentine in fifth.
Class D provided yet another exciting race. Lundy challenged Wells at the front, managing to get the leap heading into the second half of the race. From there the #8 MX-5 didn’t look back, fending off all advancements to take the class victory. Wells held on to finish second, though a surging Adams/Adams (Boreham Motorsport Midlands) almost pried the position away – ultimately finishing just 1.054s short of the mark.
Trackday Trophy returns next month, with the next leg of the series 2025 Grand Prix Grand Slam.
Entries for the Brands Hatch Grand Prix round, on Saturday 24 May, can be made here.
Photo: Gary Hawkins Photography