Silverstone GP - Event Report

Trackday Trophy returned to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on Sunday 12 April for Round 2 of the 2026 season.

Following an exciting race, Paddock Performance Racing’s Michael Rawlings secured the Class B victory on his first outing of the year with the series. GS Racing’s Gareth Sockett and Andy Burton (Burton Power Racing) also claimed their first silverware of the season, for winning in Class C & D respectively.

Qualifying

Qualifying belonged to Team Air Supply’s Jack Wright. The driver was on the pace straight away in his VW Golf, setting a strong benchmark for rivals to aim for. Ultimately, Wright was the only driver able to go quicker than his original lap time, eventually securing pole position with an excellent 2m26.255s.

Rawlings managed to get closest to Wright’s time and would join the Team Air Supply driver on the front row as a result, while Dubshack Motorsport’s David Zakrzewski and Team Rebbieha’s William Heslop formed the second row.

Team Wheelcare’s Trevor Hurrell edged Heslop’s teammate Paul Mchugh to be the fastest Class C qualifier, with Mchugh outqualifying class rival Sockett by only 0.006s. Wayne Cockerill (Aindale Racing) and Sarah Hobson (Hobson Racing) completed the top five fastest C qualifiers.

A tremendous lap set early in the session by JSR’s Stewart/Sandle-Brownlie earned the pairing the front of the Class D field, qualifying ahead of fellow Mazda MX-5 driver Colin Wells (BC Car Motorsport) and the Ford Focus of Burton. Rose Motorsport’s Rose/Rose were fourth fastest in Class D, with Chris Stone fifth (Boreham Motorsport).

Race

A strong opening lap ensured that Wright remained at the front of the field. Rawlings was piling on the pressure, but was having to be wary of a surging Heslop behind. Hurrell had also managed to maintain the lead of Class C, but with Sockett in hot pursuit. There was plenty of excitement at the front of the Class D field too, with Stewart/Sandle-Brownlie and Rose/Rose in close competition.

Over the next few laps Wright maintained a small buffer to Rawlings, who was becoming under increasing threat from the Honda Civic of Heslop. An intriguing battle followed, with Heslop eventually getting past Rawlings and immediately trying to take the lead from Wright. There was no let up in the excitement, as the leading three were covered by less than two seconds over the timing line for multiple laps.

Meanwhile, Hurrell was still paving the way in Class C, with Sockett in second and both Cockerill and Mchugh gaining ground behind. There was plenty of overtaking going on throughout the grid, including for the Class D lead, where Rose/Rose had managed to get past the JSR MX-5. Stewart/Sandle-Brownlie immediately set about making amends and were back in front by the time the race reached the pit window.

Pit stops often prove impactful on the race result and that proved to be the case at Silverstone. Late stops by both Wright and Heslop resulted in two-lap penalties, promoting Rawlings to the race lead. Strong and consistent laps from that point onwards ensured it would be the Paddock Performance Racing driver who secured his first victory of the season, being joined on the podium by Jonathan Williams (Misty Racing) and Zakrzewski. Williams had managed to fend off Zakrzewski by 6.418s by the time the flag fell, with fellow Misty Racing driver Mark Jones coming home fourth in Class B. Team Tumble’s David Griffiths completed the class’s top five.

Following the pit stops, Sockett had managed to get the jump to lead in Class C. The Renault Clio driver wouldn’t look back from that point, beating Hurrell to the chequered flag and recording a well-earned class victory. Hurrell would finish second with the fastest lap in class, while Cockerill’s charge ended with the final spot on the podium. Mchugh and Stephen Goodliff rounded out the Class C top five.

After a very competitive race in Class D, it was Burton Power Racing’s Andy Burton who claimed the top step, with a particularly strong end to the race a big factor in his success. Early race leaders Stewart/Sandle-Brownlie would claim their first trophy of the year by finishing in second, while Chris Stone gained seven positions overall from where he started to take the final spot on the Class D podium. Rose/Rose and Steven Kelly finished fourth and fifth in D respectively.

Congratulations to all!

It’s Cadwell Park up next for Trackday Trophy in 2026, on Saturday 9 May.

Secure your spot on the grid today.

Photo: Gary Hawkins Photography