Round 5 Race Report

Just over a month after its last outing, Trackday Championship returned on August 13^th for the fifth round of the 2022 season. It has been a year of hard battling to date and there was a high level of expectation that Brands Hatch’s Grand Prix circuit would provide the perfect platform for more of the same.

Glorious sunshine welcomed competitors to the Kent circuit, with the sweltering heat providing a distinct challenge for both man and machine. Apple Car Centre seemed to deal with the heat best in the opening exchanges of qualifying, setting the early pace in their Renault Clio. However it wasn’t to be for Jordan Honeybone, as Unique Racing #89 would ultimately be the one to claim pole in their Renault Clio, courtesy of Adrian Pottinger. Apple Car Centre would line up in second, ahead of Team HARD Racing and Tylah Motorsport #71. It was a good qualifying session for the current championship leaders in classes C and D, as both Abbitt Motorsport and Fiesta_ClubRacer put their machinery on class pole position. Pro AM Racing and Mangoes Racing rounded out the fastest three in class C in qualifying, while Coupes & Convertibles Racing and Ronan Quinn Racing did the same in class D.

A lightening getaway from the line saw current championship leader John Lyne (Tylah Motorsport #71) leapfrog his rivals to take the lead of the race and begin to open a gap to the chasing pack. Tylah Motorsport #71 and Apple Car Centre had been the protagonists of an epic race to the line last time out and all eyes were focused on the pair again at Brands Hatch, with a gripping battle developing at the front between them. Continuous jostling for position saw the lead swap on a number of occasions, all the while being hunted down by Unique Racing #89 and Team Norfolk. Coolant on the track caused a late red flag, sadly bringing an early finish to a fantastic race. It was Tylah Motorsport #71 who took the top step of the podium, extending his championship lead in the process and securing a hugely impressive fourth win of the season for John Lyne and his BMW E36! Apple Car Centre ultimately missed out on first place by just 0.824secs, another close miss but definitely a performance to be proud of nonetheless. Polesitter Unique Racing #89 saw off the challenge of a surging Team Norfolk to secure the final step of the class B podium and keep their title challenge kicking.

Abbitt Motorsport and Fiesta Club_Racer both capitalised on strong qualifying pace to muster highly impressive class grand slams and extend their championship leads of class C and D respectively. Despite having two teams seemingly dominate at the front, the racing throughout the grid was of a top standard and there was plenty of competitive action on display for spectators to enjoy. Unique Racing #98 managed a step higher on the podium than their teammate, rising to second in class C -ahead of: Pro AM Racing, AMS Racing and Ollysport. Ronan Quinn narrowly edged Coupes & Convertibles Racing to second in Class D, finishing ahead of rival Jamie Jeffery by just 0.711secs. Boreham Motorsport #11 and SGR Racing rounded out the top five in Class D, adding valuable points to their championship tallies.

Attention now turns to the penultimate round of the season at Donington Park in September. See you there!