Trackday Trophy – Snetterton 300 12th May
22nd May 2018
Qualifying
Trackday Trophy joined the festivities of the Snetterton Mini Festival over the weekend with 45 cars looking to secure pole position within the 30 minute qualifying session.
The SRR Motorsport pairing of Kevin Fulbrook and Keith Issatt, again sharing the driving duties behind the wheel of their MINI Cooper S, were looking to set a quick time from the moment the session went live. It wasn’t long until the Mini was up to speed with a flurry of increasingly quick laps seeing them sitting atop the time sheets and ultimately securing pole position. John Lyne in his BMW E36 looked set to stage a late charge however the Tylah Motorsport driver was unable find the elusive last few tenths for pole.
Kevin Stirling proved the quickest of the Class C cars in the Team Norfolk Ford Fiesta ST, breaking the grasp of the Class B cars at the front of the field. Sam Gay and Paul Harvey starting alongside Stirling in their Class C Honda Civic Type R on the fourth row – both cars separated by less than a tenth of a second!
The Class D pole was secured by Alex Miller in the Boreham Motorsport prepared Mazda MX5. Trackday Trophy newcomers Tristan Scrivens and Thomas Seckel was the quicker of the Novice Open class entrants in qualifying and would start from eleventh alongside fellow Novice racer Jamie Ward in the KJL Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST.
Qualifying complete; Snetterton was again set to host an exciting round of Trackday Trophy with a capacity field of 45 heading into turn one at full race pace.
A fantastic start by Alf Hyde saw the Tylah Motorsport Ford Fiesta launch quickly from the line before making rapid progress up through the order; making a number of passes that would see the Fiesta up into ninth by the end of the opening lap having started back in twenty fifth!
The SRR Mini of Fulbrook and Issatt, having started on pole, would lead the race over the opening laps however the MSDT Race Develoments pairing of Matt Shawyer and David Traviss in their Toyota Celica were working their way forward – taking the lead and control of the race on lap four.
Close battles could be seen throughout the field with CM Racing’s Cameron Mclean and Blue Bolt Racings James Clink both in Class C Renault Clio’s challenging the Civic Type-R of Sam Gay and Paul Harvey who were themselves focused on defending their position from series newcomer Jamie Ward in the KJL Motorsport Fiesta.
With a small gap opening between the Class B race leaders and the rest of the field it was Kevin Stirling in the Class C Team Norfolk Fiesta ST who found himself ahead of the pack and paving the way forward.
Tim Evans, behind the wheel of the SW Motorsports Honda Civic, opted to pit relatively early in the pit window, a decision that would go on to pay dividends as Evans found himself second overall following the stops and within striking distance of race leaders Shawyer and Traviss. The final pass for position coming just four laps from the chequered flag. Evans would continue to the flag securing both the Class B win and the overall race win ahead of Shawyer and Traviss in second and Class C entrant Dean Hyde in the Tylah Motorsport BMW E30 in third.
The Class B podium would be completed by another of the Tylah Motorsport entries John Lyne in his BMW E36. Second place in Class C would go the way of James Clink in the Blue Bolt Racing Clio ahead of the Peugeot 306 of Dan Abbitt.
Alex Miller secured the Class D win in his Boreham Motorsport Mazda MX5 ahead of Martyn and Rob Adams in the second Boreham Motorsport entry. Ben Abbitt and Jack Mitchell completed an all Mazda class podium in third.
The TJS Racing pairing of Tristan Scriven and Thomas Seckel could celebrate the Novice Open class win on their Trackday Trophy debut. The class second going the way of Jamie Ward with Chris Mayhew and Richard Thompson bringing the RC Racing Renault Clio home for third in class.
Pictures by Lloyd Horgan
