A SUPERB SILVERSTONE WEEKEND AWAITS

The newly rebranded F1000 Championship will revel in the high speed nature of Silverstone's National circuit – Photo: Shaun Smith

We’ve got a couple more visits left to the Home of British Motorsport this year as Silverstone welcomes our competitors on to the National circuit for the second time with some drivers having already seen these corners earlier in the season at the end of May. Single seaters and tin-tops dominate the timetable with plenty of close racing expected.

The headline act in many ways is the Britcover National Formula Ford 1600 Championship with Avon Tyres as the drivers close in on the coveted prize of a place on the Mazda Road To Indy USF2000 Scholarship shootout and a chance to win a cool $200,000 towards a season’s racing in the USA. After an eventful meeting at Castle Combe, Luke Williams maintains a solid advantage of over 30 points in the Pro Class standings, but Neil MacLennan still has good chance of overhauling it. That said, he needs to be racking up strong points finishes in every single race until the end of the season in order to do so, plus the likes of Luke Cooper, Jamie Thorburn, James Roe Jnr and more will all be out to cause an upset. This year’s National Championship has been simply electric and it’s only getting stronger and stronger!

Continuing the Ford theme, the BRSCC Fiesta Championship makes its second appearance on the National circuit this season after entertaining spectators back in May. Class C will once again be racing separately as it did on the first visit, meaning Lewis Kent will only have his own classmates to give him trouble as he continues to head the class standings. Lee Dendy-Sadler and David Nye are in close proximity after dropped scores, while the Specialized Motorsport pair of Simon Horrobin and Samuel Priest will also be keen to repeat their race winning form. Over in the remaining classes, Jamie White stormed back to his usual form at Snetterton by dominating the entire weekend, reclaiming both the Class D and overall points lead from John Cooper. Expect the Class D cars to continue mixing it up amongst each other, while Classes A and B will also entertain in their own private battles.

The racing stars of the future once again come out to play in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship, with a real contest shaping up at the head of the table. Despite missing out on victory to current key rival Nicholas Reeve on both occasions at Snetterton, Jack Davidson returns to the scene of his FJC whitewash back in May full of confidence. He’ll be eager to extend the slender lead he holds ahead of Reeve even further, while returns to the podium will certainly be welcomed by the likes of James Waite, Lochlan Bearman, James Hillery and Scott Cansdale. Who knows – the names and faces you see here may be on a British GT or BTCC grid in the not too distant future!

Providing a cost effective and entertaining way to experience touring car style racing on a budget, the Nankang Tyres BMW Compact Cup never fails to entertain and put on a show wherever it touches down. It’s the second visit of the year for these guys and girls too, however it was the International circuit that was utilised at the start of the season in April, providing a slightly different challenge on this occasion. Reigning champion James Gornall is bidding for back to back titles, but given how close his battles with Steven Dailly were at Castle Combe (at times a little too close!) this won’t be plain sailing. Add in the likes of Owen Hunter and Mark Skeats as credible threats and this will have to be one title that Gornall will need to get his elbows out for – and believe us, he will!

Heading into their second meeting under their new identity, the BRSCC F1000 Championship (formerly known as Formula Jedi) brings some of the fastest single seater race cars out to play on one of the fastest circuits they’ll visit all year. Off the back of a superb meeting at Castle Combe, these pocket rockets now have more long straights and long corners to deal with. Title contenders Michael Watton, Dan Clowes and Paul Butcher all took a win each last time, while reigning champion Rob Sayell and front runner Lee Morgan will also be in the hunt for personal glory. Also, keep an eye out on experienced debutant Peter Lague and returning rookie Laura Chapple to make an instant impact this weekend.

There’s two guest championships on the bill with us too this weekend – first of all, the excellent Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Cup joins us for the second time this season after appearing on the timetable at Rockingham. The points table is looking mighty close at the top with Mike Williams only in the lead by two points, while the Ashton siblings Andrew and Jack are hot on his heels in their pursuit with fellow teammates and family pairing Tony and Lee Connell trying to keep them in sight. The Metro Cup is seen by many as another great way to get into racing for less than you might think.

Also, there’s some superb sportscar action provided by the Track Attack Race Club as they bring the MR2 Classic Racing Series to the party on Sunday. This is a series that’s dedicated to the Toyota MR2 Mk1, with the small Japanese sports car having built up something of a cult following. Like many championships and series here this weekend, the MR2 Classic Racing Series is another fine example of racing on a budget with close, competitive racing the order of the day.

The weather is telling us that (at the time of writing) it’ll be cloudy, but relatively warm and dry, which should mean ideal track conditions for the drivers to handle this weekend. With the National circuit having provided a belter of a race weekend back in May, we’re hoping that with the likes of Formula Ford, F1000, Fiestas and Compact Cup in town, it’ll be another barnstormer!

Scott Woodwiss