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15th April 2023 – the day that MSVT Trackday Championship roared into life for its ninth successive season.
A sunny, dry Silverstone National circuit welcomed TDC competitors late Saturday morning for the first qualifying session of the season. Two of last season’s overall championship protagonists were immediately in the mix for 2023’s first pole position, as both Tylah Motorsport #71 and Unique Racing #89 exchanged fastest lap times at the top of the leaderboard. However, as qualifying progressed it was an intense battle between Datum Motorsport #3’s Steve Summers and Another Level’s Jonathan Mee that seemed destined to decide who would head the 40-strong grid. Each enjoyed spells on provisional pole, but ultimately it was a tremendous lap of 1:06:146 by Mee that secured the bragging rights of first pole of the year for Another Level. Datum Motorsport #7 would have to settle for second, narrowly missing the front of the grid by less than 0.100secs! Last season’s overall champion Tylah Motorsport #71 lined up in third, ahead of Unique Racing #89’s Renault Clio and TSC Racing. Se7en Motorsport’s Stewart Donovan secured the first class C pole position, ahead of Wolf Motorsport’s Chris Reade and Team Banana Racing’s duo of Jackson-Moore/Mckechnie. Scuderia Dave made the step up from Trackday Trophy to TDC this year and immediately put themselves in the thick of class D, claiming pole position ahead of last year’s class champions Fiesta Club Racer. Greenstar Racing rounded out the top three in class D.
Anticipation, tension and excitement levels all continued to rise as the day progressed, climaxing as the cars took their starting places on the grid. Strong getaways from the line became synonymous with John Lyne (Tylah Motorsport #71) last season and he started this year in the same fashion, launching up to second by the end of lap one. Datum Motorsport #3 snatched the lead, while polesitter Another Level dropped to fourth. Undeterred, Jonathan Mee (Another Level) recovered through the field and eventually reclaimed the lead. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Mee, as retirement cut his season opener short. Datum Motorsport’s Summers, who had put in an impressive, controlled drive of his own reaped the rewards and secured the opening victory of the year! A tense battle for the final two steps of the podium brewed throughout the race, cultivating in Unique Racing #89 hunting down Tylah Motorsport #71 for second place. Ultimately, last season’s champion Tylah Motorsport prevailed to finish in second, with Unique Racing #89 having to settle for third – just 0.537secs behind. Datum Motorsport #7’s Mick Presland enjoyed a strong TDC debut coming home in fourth, while Unique Racing’s sister Clio #88 followed in fifth.
Se7en Motorsport’s Stewart Donovan expertly kickstarted his 2023 TDC campaign by securing class C victory, ahead of PRO-AM Racing’s new-for-2023 line-up of Kemp/Harvey and Tylah Motorsport #23’s Dean Hyde. Having qualified sixth and eighth in class respectively, both PRO-AM Racing and Tylah Motorsport can be immensely proud of their efforts in getting onto the podium. Fiesta Club Racer have proved a real force to be reckoned with in class D in recent years and duo Wright/Glover profited from a Scuderia Dave retirement to take home the first class top step of the year. Brian Chandler Motorsport’s Colin Wells qualified seventh in class, but a storming drive through the field resulted in the MX-5 driver taking the second step on the D podium. The final step on the class D podium went the way of Jon Dundee (Driven Motorsport) and his Ginetta G40. A huge congratulations to all of our podium finishers.
View the Championship Standings here.
Round Two at Anglesey can’t come soon enough.