BTCC supports battle through rain as Jewiss and Martin shine

The pre-season expectation was another close battle for supremacy in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this year. And that has proved to be the reality as just four points separate the top five drivers in the standings after the opening two events – the arrival of rain having added extra spice to the Brands Hatch contests.

Considering he did not score in the first Donington Park encounter and then only qualified eighth in Kent, it’s perhaps a surprise that 2018 British Formula 4 champion Kiern Jewiss leads the way, but he was in inspired form during the races.

While polesitter Will Martin surged clear at the front in race one, Jewiss was on a charge. He was up to fourth by the end of the first lap and quickly closed on the battling Matthew Graham and Adam Smalley. But the contest then turned on its head mid-race when rain arrived and Smalley spun off at Graham Hill Bend.

With the rain intensifying and cars skating off track left, right and centre, the race was red-flagged to allow drivers to switch to wet-weather tyres and a five-minute restart was given. Given Martin’s advantage was more than five seconds at this point, he had mixed views. “I was relieved and annoyed at the same time,” he said. “I knew we were going to have to come in for wets at some point.”

Graham went straight on at Druids at the restart, leaving Jewiss to hound Martin but the Richardson Racing driver held firm – “I just had to defend like mad,” he said. Graham was later deemed to have jumped the start and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB runner-up Jack Bartholomew was therefore promoted to his maiden podium.

It was very wet by the time of race two but it was the same story for Jewiss as the Team Parker man made a blistering launch from fifth, darting into second before Paddock Hill Bend and then grabbing the lead when Theo Edgerton skated off at Surtees. He never looked back from there, charging clear and even a mid-race safety car period didn’t threaten his bid.

Behind, Smalley – keen to make up for his race-one disappointment – and Martin were making impressive progress, Redline racer Smalley grabbing second from Edgerton at Druids and Martin also getting through when the JTR driver was blocked by backmarkers.

But Smalley then ran wide at Paddock, allowing Martin into second to cap off a strong weekend.

Assetto driver Reynolds kept horde of rivals at bay to win Ginetta Junior finale

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Sophomore drivers Josh Rowledge, Harri Reynolds and Joe Warhurst again showed they are key Ginetta Junior contenders this year at Brands Hatch, but they were challenged by a trio of impressive rookies in three entertaining encounters.

One of those rookies, Luke Watts, grabbed pole for the opener and kept his advantage for the first two laps before Elite Motorsport driver Warhurst got ahead at Druids. But it was far from a comfortable lead, with Watts piling the pressure on into Paddock Hill Bend, only to allow his R Racing team-mate Rowledge to sneak past at Druids.

It was then Rowledge’s turn to attack Warhurst, the pair making contact up Hailwoods Hill and Warhurst was forced wide at Druids, losing a handful of places.

A late safety car period threatened to make Rowledge’s defence even more tricky but the two-lap restart proved to be a breeze as team-mates Watts and Sonny Smith needlessly tangled at Druids, while Ian Aguilera was also in strife, promoting rookies Kanato Le and Will Macintyre to the rostrum. But there was to be another twist as Rowledge was later demoted to fourth, behind Warhurst, for the contact, giving Le a maiden win.

Fellow Elite driver Macintyre was another first-time winner in race two, having passed Warhurst at Graham Hill Bend early on. He then pulled clear only for Rowledge to close in during the final stages, a red flag coming to Macintyre’s rescue. “It’s a bit surreal to win – it’s only my third weekend in the car!” he enthused.

Points leader Reynolds was third in that race, and fifth in the opener (having only started ninth), but he was back at the front in the wet finale. He led throughout, building a gap before an early safety car meant he had to keep a host of chasing drivers at bay – that pack eventually being headed by Aqil Alibhai after he passed Macintyre at Surtees late on.

“I was just trying to soak up the pressure from everyone!” said Reynolds. “I got a bit of a gap and then the safety car didn’t help. The track was constantly changing – you didn’t know how much speed you could carry into each corner.”

But Reynolds mastered those conditions best and, with Rowledge again fourth, he has built a 12-point lead in the standings after another frenetic weekend.

No one could defy the charging Kellett all weekend in Ginetta GT4 Supercup

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Blasting into a lead of 2.5 seconds on the opening lap of the Ginetta GT4 Supercup season. Winning race two despite a faulty clutch. Becoming the first driver to take a hat-trick in the series since 2016. James Kellett was simply superb at Brands Hatch as the championship’s new G56 era began.

It all started in qualifying. The Century Motorsport driver only set six laps to grab pole around the short Indy circuit by an impressive 0.36s. Then he stormed clear in the opener, before doing it again following a safety car restart, although he was slightly aided by Elite Motorsport team-mates Josh Rattican and Tom Emson pitting with punctures early on.

Instead, series veteran Reece Somerfield, fresh from a best-ever qualifying of third, took second from Ginetta Junior champion Aston Millar. Race two was also a similar story of Kellett control.

He then had a challenge on his hands, starting sixth for the partially reversed-grid finale. In the wet, he was into fourth on the first tour – “I put my car on the outside and then got stuck in” – and on lap four passed Emson out of Clearways to grab the lead.

He again pulled away before he had a scare when the safety car was deployed then, as it pitted, he caught slow backmarkers as the pack had strung out and narrowly avoided hitting them. He defended from Rattican on the restart, with the race soon red-flagged.

“It’s unbelievable!” said Kellett. “I can’t thank the team enough – we worked hard in the winter to get the car on point.” As first rounds go, it was quite some marker he laid down for the rest.

Ugochukwu survived this moment to head Carlin 1-2-3 in British F4

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

It was an ominous start to the British Formula 4 weekend. Having dominated at Donington Park, Alex Dunne added another win in the first Brands Hatch race to move onto 96 points – double that of nearest rival Oliver Gray.

But, after that dominant performance – where he was aided by fellow front-row starter Aiden Neate stalling – the Hitech GP driver’s event took a turn for the worse.

The partially reversed-grid contest was always going to be tricky but it was made all the more difficult when he got stuck in fifth gear and had to pit. But there was further strife in the wet finale as it was Dunne’s turn to struggle off the line before spinning at Clearways and then tangling with team-mate Oliver Stewart.

With Dunne out of the picture, it was a chance for others to shine and they included Virtuosi racer Michael Shin, who took his maiden win in race two having always had the edge over the fast-starting Gray.

Then it was McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu’s turn to triumph, grabbing the race-three lead when Carlin team-mate Gray had a wobble at Clearways, to win with Zak Brown in attendance. Second for Gray means Dunne’s lead is now just 15 points, a reminder of how fortunes can change.

Two wins for Mitchell were followed by windscreen woes in Mini Challenge

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Considering it was only a few days before the Mini Challenge season began that Motorbase young driver Jack Mitchell knew he was taking part, he has made an excellent start to the campaign. After taking two podiums at Donington Park, he then won the first two Brands Hatch races before his joy was tempered by a DNF in the finale.

Mitchell led throughout the uneventful opener, while champion Dan Zelos challenged Sam Weller at Druids – a move that ended with the Excelr8 driver instead dropping behind Jason Lockwood.

But things did not get off to a good start for Mitchell in the wet second race as he fell behind Weller off the line. But, after a long safety car period, Mitchell reclaimed the place on the inside at Surtees. Weller then dropped back further as Zelos and Max Coates got by when he had a half-spin at Clearways.

Mitchell’s run of good results was then ended in race three when he pitted from ninth with a misted-up windscreen and then later got clouted by Kenan Dole, in a clash that brought a race, which also had two safety cars, to a premature end.

Coates emerged as the winner having pulled out three impressive lead gaps over Zelos and Alex Denning. Behind, Jack Davidson was classified fifth despite a wild Paddock spin after a wheel failure.

Report by Stephen Lickorish. Photography by Jakob Ebrey Photography/Motorsport Images. Want more reports from the world of national motorsport? Subscribe today and never miss your weekly fix of motorsport with Autosport magazine

Coates dominated the final Mini Challenge race at Brands Hatch

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey