Autosport’s top 10 club rivalries of 2025
It was another season full of hard-fought title fights. From rivalries that boiled over to others that were ludicrously close, here are some of this year’s best
By Rachel Harris-Gardiner, Steve Hindle, Mark Libbeter, Stephen Lickorish, Mark Paulson, Peter Scherer and Ian Sowman
10. McFie Puntos vs exotic Alfas
Photo by: Steve Jones
750MC Alfa Romeo & Italian Intermarque
The 2025 Alfa Romeo & Italian Intermarque grid was full of elegant Alfas, the odd Ferrari and… two Fiat Puntos. Chris and Simon McFie were normally one behind the other at the lower end of the top 10. Simon’s Punto blew up at Brands Hatch, but Chris’s car (left) starred in the Silverstone finale, running second in race two ahead of Jamie Thwaites’s monstrous TCR Giulietta and the 4C of Jack Berry (right).
9. Gordie Mutch vs Shane Stoney
Photo by: Steve Jones
750MC Radical Club Challenge
On his switch from British GT, Gordie Mutch was run by Derby University students in the SR1 class of the revamped Radical Club Challenge, reeling off wins and fastest laps all season. Shane Stoney’s similar run came to an abrupt end with mechanical woe for his PR6 at Snetterton, which were his dropped rounds. Both drivers ended with a perfect 160 points, Mutch’s extra finishes denying Stoney (above) on countback.
8. Jake McDermid vs Steve McDermid
Photo by: Steve Jones
BARC MG Owners’ Club Championship
While series bigwig Jim Baynam – in his 45th and final full season – took his MGB to a sixth MG Owners’ Club title, the men he vanquished faced an intra-family battle at the front. Four-time champion Steve McDermid’s ZR (left) won the first three races before rapidly improving son Jake scored a maiden success at Snetterton. Three more wins gave McDermid Jr class glory, their overall bids hit by engine woes.
7. Ary Bansal vs Daniel Guinchard vs Isaac Phelps
Photo by: JEP
MSVR GB4
The GB4 rivalry ticked many of the classic boxes. A close scrap full of twists, team-mates fighting at the front and key contenders clashing. On his racing return, Daniel Guinchard led much of the way while Ginetta Junior graduate Isaac Phelps was the best over a single lap. Ary Bansal (left) seemed down and out with a poor qualifying at the finale, but Guinchard and Phelps coming to blows led to his surprise success.
6. Olympian GRD vs UVio/Hofmann’s
Photo by: James Roberts
BRSCC Fun Cup
The Olympian GRD trio of Chris Dovell, Simon Rudd and Riley Phillips started the season as they finished the last with three wins. Four-time champions Farquini Deott and Fabulous Randaccio (UVio/Hofmann’s, left) had early season issues again, but came good by winning round five at Croft. Oulton Park was the decider and a terrific duel went in Olympian’s favour, making it three successive titles by 12 points.
5. Connor Grady vs Joe Doble
Photo by: James Roberts
BRSCC BMW Compact Cup
Compact, defined as ‘close together’, is precisely how Connor Grady (right) and Joe Doble spent the year battling in the Compact Cup. Merged onto the BMW Supercup grid, these two pushed their cars and each other beyond expected limits of adhesion. They jousted and jostled through a season-long contest, Grady’s racecraft finding an edge over Doble’s instinctive pace to retain his crown by nine points.
4. Liam McGill vs Alistair Camp
Photo by: Mick Walker
BARC Civic Cup
The Civic Cup has earned a reputation for ultra-competitive, fair racing and it served up another epic title scrap. It was an all-Area Motorsport affair as 2021 champion Alistair Camp fought Liam McGill. The EP3 of McGill gained the upper hand in the year’s second half, Camp wringing his beam-axled FN2’s neck to stay in touch. A dramatic finale ended in contact – instigated by another driver – as McGill (above) edged it.
3. Bill Cowley vs David Reid vs Mark Windley
Photo by: Steve Jones
750MC 750 Formula
This was an intriguing battle that went to the wire. Both Mark Windley and David Reid (right) fielded cars new to them, respectively the Darvi in which Peter Bove won multiple titles and the ex-Dave Hodkin HRD, while Bill Cowley was in the car built by his grandfather. Reid usurped Windley, but an off in the opener at the Croft finale meant even a win in race two wasn’t enough to stop Cowley (left) triumphing by a point.
2. Matt Armstrong vs Harry Senior
Photo by: JEP
BARC Caterham Seven UK
The guest appearance of the Caterham Seven UK series on the TOCA package at Brands Hatch gave onlookers a glimpse of a titanic title tussle between Matt Armstrong and Harry Senior (leading Armstrong, above). Both tasted success at Brands, and the pair claimed 19 out of 21 wins between them during the season. At the Silverstone finale, a superb pass in race one helped Armstrong prevail in the title fight.
1. Rupert Deeth vs Ian Curley vs Aaron Smith vs Kane Astin
Photo by: Richard Styles
M7RC Mini Miglia
With 10 Mini Miglia titles between them, the battle for 2025 honours between four of the most successful racers to have graced the series was destined to be a thriller, and so it proved. Ian Curley, Aaron Smith, Kane Astin and eventual champion Rupert Deeth (right) triumphed in all but one of the races, while typically close action and mixed fortunes ensured they were remarkably split by four points in the end.
This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the January 2026 issue and subscribe today.
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
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