This weekend the grid travelled to the Norfolk-based track Snetterton for the fourth race weekend of the year and rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the championship.
Qualifying results:
Joseph Loake went into the weekend with the championship in hand, however qualifying did not play out in his favour. Instead, it was Matthew Rees and Callum Voisin who took pole in race 1 and 2 respectively. Rees’ lap time also broke the outright lap record for the circuit, which was set back in 2011.
Race 1:
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, 1m39.616s
- Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, +0.112
- Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +0.187
- Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.221
- Noah Ping, Arden VRD, +0.265
- James Hedley, Arden VRD, +0.277
- Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +0.362
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +0.404
- Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +0.412
- Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.502
- McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.533
- Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.561
- Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.785
- John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +0.814
- Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +0.815
- Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +0.931
- Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +1.129
- David Morales, JHR Developments, +1.147
- Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +1.150
- Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +1.191
- Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +1.341
- Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.500
- Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +1.900
- Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed, +1.976
- Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, NO TIME
Race 2:
- Callum Voisin, Rodin Carlin, 1m39.728s
- Tymek Kucharczyk, Douglas Motorsport, +0.107
- Alex Dunne, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.263
- Noah Ping, Arden VRD +0.284
- Matthew Rees, JHR Developments, +0.318
- Costa Toparis, Rodin Carlin, +0.380
- James Hedley, Arden VRD, +0.450
- Joseph Loake, JHR Developments, +0.454
- McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport, +0.515
- Souta Arao, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.525
- Zak Taylor, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0.527
- Nico Christodoulou, Arden VRD, +0.578
- Michael Shin, Hitech Pulse-Eight, +0.678
- John Bennett, Rodin Carlin, +0.758
- Oliver Stewart, Elite Motorsport, +0.968
- Gerrard Xie, Hillspeed, +1.055
- Ayato Iwasaki, Elite Motorsport, +1.083
- Jarrod Waberski, Fortec Motorsport, +1.123
- David Morales, JHR Developments, +1.193
- Edward Pearson, Fortec Motorsport, +1.218
- Lucas Staico, Douglas Motorsport, +1.516
- Arthur Rogeon, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.602
- Daniel Mavlyutov, Hillspeed +1.910
- Shawn Rashid, Douglas Motorsport, +2.15
- Max Esterson, Fortec Motorsport, NO TIME
Snetterton Race 1 Rundown:
In typical British weather, the sun had been shining all week and when it came to the start of the race weekend the rain appeared. Even with the heavens threatening to open, the grid opted for slicks.
As soon as the race started Arden VRD’s Christodoulou lost his front wing and finished the first lap in the pits for a change. Headley took the lead of the race as the grid set off but the JHR developments car was back ready to challenge the front runner by lap 3. For the next few laps, the gap between the two was within 10ths of seconds with Rees being within 0.2 seconds for multiple laps.
Toparis’ race did not go as planned as the Rodin Carlin spun at Riches. On lap 5 Kucharczyk passed Loake for P5, which put the championship leader further down in the points gained for the race which won’t help him in his campaign.
As we came into lap 8, the top 5 were covered by less than three seconds with the fight between Headley and Rees still alight. When the checkered flag was waved to finish the race, Headley took the win by a mere 0.353s, with Rees in second and Callum Voisin in third.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Snetterton Race 2 Rundown:
The second race of the weekend proved to be a similar battle between the top two drivers, just like the first race. Voisin took the lead over Kucharczyk, with Ping, Dunne, and Hedley trailing behind. Unfortunately, Stewart faced problems with his Elite Motorsport car at the start of the race, making it a race to forget for him.
On lap 4, there was a dramatic moment as Kucharczyk, who had been closing in on Voisin since the start of the race, collided with him at Wilson corner. This incident ended Voisin’s race, but Kucharczyk managed to keep his car on track, albeit dropping down to P3 as the safety car was deployed.
After the restart, Ping took the lead following the collision, with Dunne in second and Kucharczyk trying to find an opportunity to overtake. Meanwhile, Hedley was closely behind, looking to snatch the final grid place. With one lap remaining, the race concluded with Loake spinning off and Ping securing his second race win of the season. Dunne finished in second place, and Kucharczyk had to settle for third at Snetterton.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
Snetterton Race 3 Rundown:
The final race of the weekend followed the usual reverse grid format, with Mavlyutov in the lead, followed by Rogeon and Staico. At the start of the race, Bennett lost his front wing, and all drivers were within a second of the car in front of them. Voisin, aiming to make up for a disastrous first race, made impressive progress, climbing from P23 to P16.
On lap 3, Kucharczyk had a moment when he spun and briefly went off-track. The spinning didn’t end there, as Morales and Cresswell collided on lap 7 while fighting for P6, forcing both of them to retire from the race.
As the checkered flag waved at Snetterton, Mavlyutov claimed the victory, with Rogeon in second and Staico in third.
Image credit: @JakobEbrey
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