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Anticipation for the start of the 2024 Trackday Championship season couldn’t have been higher. On April 20, a bumper, three-class, grid were all ready and raring to take on Donington Park for the first trophies and points of the new season.
A dry and sunny circuit greeted the teams for the first qualifying session of the year. As the first representative laps were set, 2022 TDC Champion John Lyne found himself at the top of the timing sheet, along with Swaffer Racing’s Matt Swaffer. The duo exchanged fastest laps on multiple occasions, before Team Air Supply’s father and son combination of George and Jack Wright bettered both with a time of 1:20:895. Impressively, Team Air Supply then improved on their time once more to ensure it was the #46 Volkswagen Golf on pole position. Matt Swaffer would line up in second ahead of Motion Motorsport’s Roberts/Drought and Team Rebbieha’s Mchugh/Heslop. MCS Racing’s Nathan Mcphail secured Class C pole position, less than one tenth ahead of reigning Champion Stewart Donovan. Fiesta Clubracer’s Wright/Glover pairing looked impressive in Class D, continually setting a new benchmark for rivals to beat. They would line up on class pole, ahead of the Mazda MX-5’s of Stephen Docker and Alister Esam.
The stage was set for the first race of the new year.
Strong getaways from both Swaffer Racing and Tylah Motorsport #71 weren’t enough to overcome Team Air Supply’s Jack Wright, who continued to lead the field through the opening exchanges. Elsewhere, cracking overtakes at each corner shuffled the order in each class. Alister Esam had launched out of the starting blocks to seize the Class D lead, while Abbitt Motorsport’s Ben Abbitt had done the same in Class C. Out front in Class B, Jack Wright showed his pace and set about building a gap to the chasing pack. Behind the Team Air Supply Golf, almost nothing could separate Lyne, Roberts/Drought, Swaffer and Tester/Quinn as they battled lap on lap. The jostle for the Class C lead remained incredibly competitive, with Ben Abbitt staunchly defending the lead he had gained on the opening lap. In Class D, Wright/Glover had regained control from Esam, but with a number of class competitors hot on their heels. Just as the pit lane opened, the safety car was deployed causing most of the field to dart into the pits for their mandatory two-minute pit stop.
With the lead Team Air Supply had amassed at the front now neutralised, Tylah Motorsport’s John Lyne launched his attack on first place. Lyne managed a decisive overtake on the #46 car on lap 19 and didn’t look back. Fast and consistent lap times ensured that Lyne would build a buffer of his own to the cars behind to take the first Class B and overall victory of the 2024 season. Team Air Supply’s George and Jack Wright would have to settle for second, but can take a lot of positives from a strong showing. Motion Motorsport and Swaffer Racing continued to keep the leading two honest throughout the race, finishing narrowly behind in third and fourth respectively. Unique Racing’s Charle Palk rounded out the top five in Class B.
PRO-AM Racing’s pairing of Thompson/Johansson rose an impressive eight places from their starting position to clinch the first Class C win of the season, ahead of SVG Motorsport’s Alex Turnbull and LDR Performance Tuning’s Ben Jenkins. Each team earned a good haul of championship points as a result. Other than the opening two laps, Fiesta Clubracer’s Wright/Glover led every single lap of the race in a very competitive Class D class, finishing in a hugely impressive fifth place overall! Greenstar Racing’s Burnham/Voce enjoyed a strong race of their own, displaying plenty of overtakes enroute the second step of the D podium. The final trophy belonged to Stephen Docker, who finished less than two seconds clear of CBR Motorsport’s Cameron Bell in fourth.
A huge congratulations to each and every one of our class podium finishers!
Rewatch all of the racing action on the MSVT Racing YouTube page, link HERE.