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Trackday Championship concluded its 2025 season at Brands Hatch on Saturday 15 November.
An entertaining race resulted with Swaffer Racing’s Matt Swaffer claiming a hard-fought Class B victory, with Nathan Mcphail (MCS Racing) and Burnham/Voce (Greenstar Racing) winning in Class C and D respectively.
It will be a day that won’t be forgotten by Clubracer’s Henry Wright and Kevin Glover, whose fourth-placed finish was enough to clinch both the Overall and Class B titles for the pairing, while Dan Abbitt (Abbitt Motorsport) and Stephen Docker (Independent) were officially crowned Class C and D Champions.
Qualifying
Swaffer demonstrated his pace right from the off in qualifying. The BMW 130i driver looked strong as he continually improved on his times in the opening stages of the session. However, it was the VW Golf of Wright/Glover that would start the season finale from the front of the grid, with their superb time of 1m00.358s ultimately proving an unbeaten benchmark.
Tylah Motorsport’s John Lyne completed the front row, edging out early pacesetter Swaffer by a mere 0.024s.
Class C qualifying belonged to Abbitt. The DC5 Integra driver was in the battle for the overall championship and it showed, hitting the ground running to qualify fastest in his class courtesy of a stellar 1m02.019s. Mcphail and Aindale Racing’s Wayne Cockerill qualified second and third fastest in class.
Paul Sheard Racing’s Benjamin Taylor ended the session as fastest Class D qualifier, with Burham/Voce and Colin Wells second and third respectively.
Race
Wright/Glover maintained the lead through the opening exchanges. Swaffer and Jack Wright (Team Air Supply) got passed Lyne, while there was also a fast start for Justin Roberts (Motion Motorsport). Abbitt continued to lead C, but with Mcphail hot on his heels.
Taylor had enjoyed an exceptional start to maintain the Class D lead, running sixth overall. There was action aplenty throughout the bumper grid, with each driver looking to make headway to end the season in as strong manner as possible.
Mcphail had now seized the Class C lead from Abbitt, while Wright/Glover continued to pave the way out front. Swaffer had the leaders firmly in his sights, with Wright just keeping Roberts at bay behind.
As the race neared the time for mandatory pit stops to be made, Roberts had managed to make a move on Wright stick to take third overall. A safety car period just inside the pit window saw a large number of cars dart into the pit lane.
Once the stops had been made, Swaffer was right on the tail of Wright/Glover and applying the pressure. Into Paddock Hill Bend, Swaffer made his move stick and seized the lead of the race. Roberts also managed to get by Wright/Glover, trying to keep Swaffer and the race lead within close proximity.
There was now two different leaders in Class C and D too, with Mcphail and Burnham/Voce leading the way, but with plenty of cars looking to pounce in the closing laps.
Despite the efforts of Roberts and Wright, when the checkered flag fell, it was Matt Swaffer who claimed his third victory of the season to cap a solid year for the #45 driver and cement his place as second in the overall standings.
In a dramatic and tense finish, Roberts managed to edge Wright to the finish line to come home second by only 0.204s! It had been an exceptional battle between the two drivers in the final laps that went right to the wire.
Wright/Glover finished fourth, sealing the 2025 Trackday Championship title after a memorable year for the team in the process.
Mcphail ended the season on a high by taking the Class C victory, with Cockerill finishing the race as class runner-up and the father and son Harts Racing duo of Phil and James Hart completing the class podium.
There was an equally exciting dash to the finish line in Class D, with Burham/Voce managing to hold to claim their first class win of the year by just 0.187s over Clapham North MOT’s George Grant, who in turn finished only 0.311s ahead of Misty Racing’s Steven Kelly!
Congratulations to all.
Photo: Gary Hawkins