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A scorching Snetterton welcomed Trackday Championship competitors on June 10th, for the third round of the 2023 season. Given all the thrills that had been provided by the opening two races, great excitement and anticipation built as TDC machinery took to the Norfolk circuit.
Magnificent sunshine greeted competitors for the morning qualifying session. Adrian Pottinger (Unique Racing #89) headed into the round just three points behind top spot in the championship standings and the Renault Clio driver immediately applied the pressure, setting the early pace. Overall championship leader Steve Summers (Datum Motorsport #3) was quick to respond, bettering Unique Racing #89’s time by just over 0.150secs. Like the weather, the competition for pole position was hotting up. As drivers found their rhythm the lap times throughout the classification began to tumble. Datum Motorsport #3 improved on their previous time with an exceptional 2:13:835, which was quick enough to secure pole position for the Lotus Elise driver. Unique Racing #89 would join the #3 car on the front row, ahead of Team Rebbieha’s Mchugh/Heslop duo and Another Level #20’s Alexander/Mee. In class C, the battle for class pole was intense as five different teams found themselves on provisional pole during the session. Eventually it was PRO-AM’s Kemp/Harvey who secured the honours, narrowly besting Trackside Racing (Howells/Baxter) and Se7en Motorsports #112 (Stewart Donovan). Just one tenth of a second separated the front two in class D, with Scuderia Dave edging Fiesta Club Racer. The Ginetta G40 of Peter Dilnot (Dilnot) qualified third in class D on his Trackday Championship debut.
A solid getaway from Datum Motorsport #3 at lights out ensured Steve Summers maintained his position at the front of the field by the end of the first lap, while Team Rebbieha jumped Unique Racing #89 for second place overall. Se7en Motorsport #112 enjoyed an exceptional opening lap, rising from third on the class C grid to lead the class over the line by the end of lap one. Also benefiting from a quick getaway was the Ford Fiesta of Fiesta Club Racer, who overcame championship rival Scuderia Dave to head the class D field.
Through the opening exchanges, in class B the top five remained unchanged – Datum Motorsport #3 heading: Team Rebbieha, Unique Racing #89, Another Level #20 and Team BG. Despite the heat, it was clear to see how hard every driver in the field was pushing, with some exceptional overtakes displayed from a number of drivers. Unique Racing #89 had dropped to fourth in class B when the pit stop window opened, but excellent strategy and strong pace from driver Adrian Pottinger saw the Clio rise to second in class by the time the pit window had shut. Out front in class B, Datum Motorsport #3 was maintaining a comfortable gap to his rivals, setting consistently strong lap times. Driver Steve Summers displayed excellent racecraft and race management to take the checkered flag first in class B to secure his second class victory of the 2023 season – extending his championship lead in the process. Unique Racing #89 pushed all the way to the finish and were rewarded with second in class, earning important championship points in the process. The final step of the podium went the way of Team Rebbieha’s Mchugh/Heslop, rewarding the team for their consistently strong pace. Team BG and Another Level #20 rounded out the top five in B.
Se7en Motorsport #112’s Stewart Donovan built on his exceptional opening lap to take the top step on the class C podium, finishing just over six seconds ahead of PRO-AM Racings pairing of Kemp/Harvey. Both teams have now made it three podiums from the opening three races and can be immensely proud of their efforts. Special mention goes out to the Trackside Racing duo of Howells/Baxter who were rewarded for an impressive weekend, with the team’s first podium – finishing third in class C. After a disappointing second round, Fiesta Club Racer bounced back in the best way possible by winning class D. Both Wright/Glover put in brilliant drives on their way to class victory. Current class championship leader Scuderia Dave (Connell/Wilkinson-Hughes) had to settle forsecond in class, while the Mazda MX-5 of Alister Esam skillfully rose from fifth on the D grid to seal the final spot on the class podium.
A huge congratulations to all of our class podium finishers!