BRSCC Mazda Round 2 – Snetterton 2018

For Round 2 of the BRSCC Mazda Season the team took the 55 mile trip from Haverhill to our Home Circuit of Snetterton in Norfolk on April 14th and 15th.

Drivers Update

In the Mk1 Championship one of our regulars, Sam Gendy, returned and also David Martin would make an appearance after joining us for 1 round in the 2017 season. In the new Mk3 Super Series Simon Woods joined the grid after racing in the Mk1 Championship at Brands Hatch.

The Circuit

After Round 1 being at the shortest circuit on the calendar (Brands Hatch Indy) Round 2 was at the longest. The “300” layout at Snetterton is so called because it is approximately 3 miles long (2.969 in fact). The circuit is dominated by 2 long straights which requires the car to have plenty of power and an intricate infield section which requires the car to be setup well for cornering.

For a good fast lap around Snetterton the key is to be brave and carry a lot of speed into Turn 1 (Riches) and again through the Bombhole and into the daunting Corum which feels like an endless corner.

Qualifying

For both groups the Qualifying sessions on the Saturday morning. The weather was dry and sunny which was a welcome to the whole team.

Championship Mk1 – 3 of the drivers qualified in the A Group (Teddy Clark P7, Charlie Burge P12 and Lewis Cannon P22). The other 5 drivers qualified in the B Group with BC Cars front row lockout (Sam Gendy P1, Adrian Burge P2, Clive Chisnall P7, Bruce Robinson P16 and David Martin P21).

Super Series Mk3 – With only one group the drivers all qualified well (Joshua Jackson P1, Patrick Collins P7, Matt Pickford P8 and Simon Woods P12 with Patrick and Matt split by less than one tenth of a second).

Race 1

Championship 1A – The Top 4 cars made a big break from the rest of the field and finished 10 seconds ahead of P5. Ollie Allwood, who had performed well at Brands Hatch and was untouchable in qualifying took the win with Wil Blackwell-Chambers and Brian Trott taking the other 2 steps. BC Cars Charlie Burge made up good places to take the best finish for the team in P7. Teddy Clark dropped a couple of spots in the first lap and again a place in the second lap to eventually finish in P12. Lewis Cannon had to retire on Lap 2 after contact bent the nearside steering arm and damaged the offside rear hub. As a result Lewis would take the drop to Race 2B.

Championship 1B – A great scrap between our two front row sitters would see the lead change hands a couple of times during the race with Sam Gendy eventually taking the spoils and the win. Adrian Burge finished P2 and an amazing drive by Harry Deane, who started last due to a penalty and fought through the whole field, who finished in P3. With the first silverware of the weekend in the bag there were strong performances by the rest of the team with Clive Chisnall in P7, Bruce Robinson in P16 and David Martin in P18. Sam and Adrian were both promoted to Race 2A.

Super Series – Joshua Jackson took P1 after starting on pole and also the fastest lap. Patrick Collins finished P7, Matt Pickford in P9 and Simon Woods finished P10 in is first Super Series race.

Race 2

Championship 2A – Another close race with all 24 cars finishing. Ollie Allwood would prove unbeatable again and take his second win of the weekend. Mike Comber and Jason Greatrex took P2 and P3 respectively. Charlie Burge gained a place to finish P6, Teddy Clark gained 3 places to finish P9, and the promoted Sam Gendy and Adrian Burge couldn’t do enough to get out of the last 5 so would be demoted to Race 3B finishing P22 and P23..

Championship 2B – The mechanics would have a busy lunchbreak after Race 2 when there were 2 gearbox failures for Bruce Robinson and Lewis Cannon. Both cars would finish the race though which is testimony to these cars. The podium would be Sam Smith in P1, Adam Bessell in P2 and Martyn Canning in P3. The BC Cars boys all finished with Lewis Cannon in P5 (even after taking a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits) and being promoted to Race 3A. Clive Chisnall would finish P7, Bruce Robinson P18 and David Martin in P21.

Super Series – Josh Jackson took his second win of the weekend with Richard Breland in P2 and Jake Bailey in P3. Patrick Collins finished in P7 and Simon Woods improved to finish P10. Matt Pickford suffered a collapsed front offside wheel bearing which would slow is performance and finish in P12 leaving the mechanics yet more work to complete over lunch.

Race 3

Championship 3A – Ollie Allwood rounded off the perfect weekend with his third win but a photo finish was required with only 3 thousandths of a second separating him from second place Jason Greatrex. Brian Trott rounded off the podium. Charlie Burge made another improvement to finish P5 and only 1.2 seconds from P1 which was an excellent performance. Lewis Cannon made a great comeback to finish in P15 and after a couple of nudges Teddy Clark would finish back in P19.

Championship 3B – John Langridge took the win with Paul Tucker in P2 and our own Adrian Burge having a great race with Sam Gendy but this tame getting the upper hand and finishing in P3. Sam Gendy would take P4, Clive Chisnall in P12, David Martin in P19 and Bruce Robinson in P20.

Super Series – Josh Jackson took the hattrick with a clean sweep of victories and a fastest lap to boot. Jake Bailey would take P2 and Richard Breland in P3. Patrick Collins would finish P8, Simon Woods in P12 after going off the track and Matt Pickford in P15 after sustaining a spin on Lap 3 at Agostini when there was rain on parts of the circuit.

Championship Standing after Round 2

Charlie Burge and Teddy Clark lead the way in the Championship with Charlie now having the upper hand.

P8 – Charlie Burge (510 Points)
P10 – Teddy Clark (474 Points)
P20 – Adrian Burge (318 Points)
P24 – Lewis Cannon (252 Points)
P35 – Clive Chisnall (184 Points)
P37 – Sam Gendy (168 Points)
P45 – Bruce Robinson (134 Points)
P52 – David Martin (60 Points)