Snetterton 2026

After a successful 2025 season in which the eligibility for competing cars had been extended to include a wider range of Italian marques, the championship now returns for its 45^th season, running as a HSCC championship with an expanded race programme to include 7 double headed race meetings featuring exciting opportunities to make a first visit to the Brands Hatch GP circuit in 15 years and an invitation to be part of the race support programme for the Oulton Park Gold Cup. A number of changes to the Regulations have taken place over the winter break, the most significant being a change in the bhp per tonne figure for the Turismo class and a halving of the percentage reduction in the power to weight classes for turbocharged and diesel engined models.

The 14-race programme commences once again with a season opener on the Snetterton 200 circuit to contest rounds 1 and 2 of the championship. A strong 23 car entry was reduced after the Friday test day after the unfortunate late withdrawal of Barry McMahon’s Giulia with ECU issues and Mark Skeggs’s GTV with engine problems. The 21 car entry was headed by reigning champion Toby Broome, this year at the helm of the Revs Italia 4C. Joining Toby in a 6 car Modified class was the Alfa Workshop 4C driven once again by Jack Berry, the Giulia TCR car of last year’s championship runner up Jamie Thwaites and the 116 Giulietta of Andy Page. Scott Austin returned in the Integrale engine 156 hoping for better luck than last season and the entry was completed by the Invitation Ford engined Ferrari Dino of Charlie McCarthy.

Just three runners made up the Power Trophy class for this opening round. Last year’s class runner up Stacey Dennis in the Giulietta, Graham Seager in the Revs Italia supported 147 GTA and Mark Purcell in the Talos Motorsport 155 Touring Car.

Last year’s class runner up James Powell headed a 5 car Turismo line up which included George Warren in a Bianco Motorsports supported GTV and Steve Godfrey in the Alfa Workshop supported 156. The class was completed by two drivers new to the championship, as we welcomed Sam Kay in the ex Nathan Bignell class winning 33 and Jasper Gilder in the Coastal Motorsport Alfa 33.

In the Twin Spark class, last year’s champion Richard Ford was joined by former champion Paul Plant in the Bianco Motorsports 156, Rob Hollyman in the Coastal Motorsport supported 147, Ian Fenwick in his 147, Dave Pickup in his 156 and Mark Sullivan in the 146. We welcomed another driver new to the championship, Richard Wardlow-Smith, also driving a 146 with the support of Dave Pickup.

QUALIFYING

As qualifying got under way just before 10:30 on a bright and sunny Saturday morning, it was Toby Broome who made the pace, immediately getting sufficiently acquainted with his 4C to record a lap 2 time of 1:22.229, following that up with his session best time of 1:21.009 on the next lap. Regular 4C driver Jack Berry was in close attendance though and set provisional pole on lap 4, improving over the next couple of laps to set what would be the pole time with a 1:18.939 on lap 6. Always in the mix was Jamie Thwaites in the TCR Giulietta, setting his fastest time of 1:20.008 on lap 5 to secure a spot on the front of the grid by a second. Scott Austin was also putting in some creditable lap times as the session progressed, culminating with a best of 1:21.433 on his final lap to take the second slot on row 2. 5^th overall with a 1:24.203 was Stacey Dennis in the revamped Giulietta, almost 3 seconds clear of Andy Page who took 5^th in the Modified class and 6^th overall. 3 seconds further adrift in 7^th and 8^th overall were the Turismo and Twin Spark pole sitters of James Powell and Paul Plant, themselves separated by less than a tenth of a second. Rounding off the top ten were Mark Purcell in the PT 155 and George Warren in the Turismo GTV.

Richard Ford was 11^th and 2^nd Twin Spark ahead of the Ferrari Dino in 12^th. Sam Kay was experiencing his first competitive outing and his time of 1:30.707 was good enough for third in the Turismo class and 13^th overall. In 14^th-17^th spots were the 4 Twin Spark cars of Rob Hollyman, Ian Fenwick, Dave Pickup and Richard Wardlow-Smith ahead of the Turismo 156 of Steve Godfrey in 18^th. Graham Seager had been having clutch problems with his 147 GTA resulting in 19^th overall and only completing 7 laps. His problems would mean that he was unfortunately unable to compete in any of the races. Mark Sullivan finished 20^th in his Twin Spark ahead of Jasper Gilder making his debut in the Turismo class Alfa 33, although Mark was also having clutch problems with the 146 which would subsequently rule him out of the races to come.

RACE 1

The lights went out just after 2:30 to signal the start of race 1 of a new season.

The leading Alfa Workshop 4C got off the line smartly and led into Riches closely followed by the TCR Giulietta of Jamie Thwaites, the 156 of Scott Austin and the leading Power Trophy Giulietta of Stacey Dennis. The second 4C of Toby Broome hadn’t had a good start and got swallowed up by almost half the field on the opening lap before he was able to set about making a recovery drive back through the traffic.

First across the line to complete the opening lap was Jack Berry’s 4C, just over a second ahead of Jamie’s TCR car with Scott’s 156 in close attendance. Then a 4 second gap to the lead PT car of Stacey with Andy Page’s Giulietta fifth. George Warren’s GTV led the Turismo class in sixth followed by the leading Twin Spark of Paul Plant, the second placed Turismo 147 of James Powell, the second placed TS car of Richard Ford with Toby’s recovering 4C crossing the line in tenth spot.

The 4C of Jack Berry maintained a slender lead over the TCR car for the first few laps extending it to a couple of seconds until the Giulietta started to fall away by lap 11. A new turbo on the Giulietta was starting to cause problems and unfortunately this resulted in Jamie’s retirement after 13 laps. Scott Austin was driving a controlled race in third for the first half a dozen laps, keeping the leaders in sight and mindful of trying to avert some of the recent problems that have beset the car.

Toby Broome meanwhile, had set to work regaining some of the ground lost on the opening lap, passing the Turismo and Twin Spark leaders on lap 2 to be within 4 seconds of Stacey’s PT Giulietta at the end of the lap, although the gap to the leader had extended from 13 to 15 seconds during the course of the lap. He caught and passed the Giulietta on lap 3, then set about reducing the 12 second deficit to Scott’s 156 which he caught and passed on lap 7, by which time the gap to Jack Berry’s leading 4C had increased to over 20 seconds. The gap continued to increase and by the time he inherited second as a result of Jamie’s retirement it had increased to 35 seconds but nevertheless, it was a satisfying recovery drive through the field to gain second from Scott’s third place podium position. Stacey’s Giulietta had taken a well earned fourth place in the Power Trophy car and she was well pleased with the performance and handling of the car after its winter revamp. Andy Page brought the 116 Giulietta home in fifth whilst Charlie McCarthy’s Invitation Dino completed the Modified class finishers in tenth spot. Mark Purcell, in the second PT car, had crossed the line in thirteenth spot at the end of the first lap and had moved up to ninth when on lap 7 he was forced to retire as a result of braking problems.

In the Turismo class, George Warren had maintained his lead over James Powell’s second placed car, with the 147 in close attendance for the majority of the race. James eventually took the lead on the penultimate tour to take first spot. Sam Kay had a solid outing on his first race in the ex Nathan Bignell 33, quickly settling in to a rhythm and lapping consistently around the 1 minute 30s to bring the car home ninth in the third podium slot, a very good result. Steve Godfrey had acquired the Alfa Workshop 156 and set about getting used to the new car on its first outing, taking fourth position in class ahead of Jasper Gilder, again relishing his first race outing in the Coastal Motorsport Alfa 33.

In the Twin Spark class, Paul Plant maintained a steady lead over Richard Ford throughout the race with Rob Hollyman close behind in third spot. Ian Fenwick’s 147 was in fourth ahead of Dave Pickup’s 156 until he had to unfortunately retire on lap 6 with engine problems. Richard Wadlow-Smith was also enjoying his first race outing, his 146 taking a fifth place finish and fifteenth overall. Both leading Twin Sparks had been lapping inside the lap record with Richard Ford setting a fastest lap in the 1:29s. With Ian Fenwick, Jamie Thwaites and Mark Sullivan unable to repair their cars to take the start of race 2, 17 cars would assemble on the grid on the following morning.

ARIIC Race 1 Results

RACE 2

As the lights went out to signal the start of race 2, it was the 4C of Toby Broome that had the better start to lead the pack into Riches, followed by Scott Austin’s 156 and Stacey Dennis’s Power Trophy Giulietta. The Turismo cars of George Warren and James Powell and the Twin Spark 156 of Paul Plant had made good starts as well, but this time it was the 4C of Jack Berry that needed to recover lost ground. As the cars completed lap 1, Toby led from Scott Austin’s 156 whilst Jack had got the 4C up to third spot just over 2 seconds adrift of the leader. Stacey had soon assumed the position from the first race, 4 seconds behind Jack’s 4C and starting to put clear air between the Giulietta and the Turismo and Twin Spark cars following. This group was led by George Warren’s GTV with Paul Plant a second behind, then came James Powell’s 147, Andy Page’s Giulietta and Sam Kay’s 33. A 3 second gap had opened up to the next group with Charlie McCarthy’s Dino closely followed by the 155 of Mark Purcell and the 147  of Rob Hollyman. Richard Ford had Dave Pickup within a second, then came Richard Wadlow-Smith in the 146 Twin Spark, Steve Godfrey’s 156 and Jasper Gilder’s 33.

Jack Berry continued to close on the leading 4C and took the lead himself on lap 5, with Toby’s car 3.5 seconds adrift as the pair started lap 6. It soon became evident that Toby’s 4C had an issue, and he had to retire off the circuit with what turned out to be a deflated tyre that had detached itself from the rim. Scott Austin’s 156 consolidated its position in second spot with a succession of lap times in the 1:22s and 23s, but he was unable to make any impression on Jack’s lead. Stacey was once again circulating in clear air and enjoying the power and handling of the Giulietta, settling into a rhythm that would ensure a satisfying third overall and a second class win of the weekend. Andy Page took fourth overall and third in class with a fine drive and Charlie McCarthy’s Dino rounded off the Modified class finishers in seventh overall. Mark Purcell was putting in some consistent times into the 1:20s during the first few laps but on lap 8 his braking problems recurred and he managed to bring the 155 to the finish in tenth place overall.

Meanwhile, George Warren had James Powell for close company in the Turismo class in the early laps with Mark Purcell’s PT car in the mix from lap 5. Mechanical problems unfortunately led to some contact on lap 8, resulting in George having to retire the GTV. James Powell led the Turismo class until his car slowed on the last couple of laps allowing newcomer Sam Kay to take the first place and fifth overall with James in second and eighth overall. Steve Godfrey took his first podium with third place and twelfth overall in the 156 with Jasper Gilder fourth and fourteenth overall.

In the Twin Spark class, Paul Plant held the lead until his car slowed with clutch problems and Richard Ford took the lead on lap 10, bringing the 156 home in sixth overall. Paul’s 156 also had a deflating tyre and he had to retire the car after 12 laps. Rob Hollyman brought the Coastal Motorsport 147 home in second and ninth overall, just over ten seconds behind the leader. Dave Pickup was third in class and eleventh overall with Richard Wadlow-Smith fourth in class.

ARIIC Race 2 Results

Scott Austin was presented with the Driver of the Weekend award in recognition of a strong drive following the problems that he encountered last season.

Leading the championship after 2 rounds is Jack Berry with James Powell second and Richard Ford third. Jack Berry leads the Modified class from Scott Austin and Andy Page. Stacey Dennis leads the Power Trophy class from Mark Purcell. James Powell leads the Turismo class from Sam Kay and Stevev Godfrey. Richard Ford leads the Twin Spark Cup class from Rob Hollyman and Dave Pickup. Next rounds are at Donington Park on the 30^th and 31^st May.

Pre 85 Race 1 Results

Pre 85 Race 2 Results