Club England’s Mazda MX-5 Championship

Demand for the Club England Mazda MX-5 championship gave race organizers a headache at the opening double header event at Summit Point when 48 sim racers turned up with only 28 pit stalls. Fortunately in online racing we can create another Summit Point and two races ran simultaneously!

As drivers set off in practice the organizers hastily developed a plan for scoring, although from iRacing’s perspective it was a nice problem to have. The Mazda MX-5 has proven to be extraordinarily popular in the official series and this is echoed in the club races, where first and foremost the aim is for everyone to be able to join in on Club night.

Looking back up the straight from Turn One at Summit Point at 28 MX-5s heading towards you is pretty awesome!

The first race was held on the Short configuration. Initially, Steven Jones led from Ian Smythe and Simon Hulbert, but at the finish Jones took the checkered flag whilst defending champion Adam Miles took second from James Barrington. In the other race it was Sam Appleton who took the win after pole sitter Rory King slipped down to eventually finish fourth with Jason Lovett and Simon Edwards taking the podium spots.

On to Summit Point Full and Miles and Jones resumed their battle up front from last season. This time it would be Miles coming out on top, winning by a couple of seconds from Jones with Smythe in third.

In the other race, Michael Messenger took a flag-to-flag victory but only narrowly from Nathan Johnson and Peter Ridley, with just three seconds separating the trio at the finish.

Ian Smythe exited Silverstone in spectacular fashion.

Round Three saw the MX-5s travel to Silverstone National for a single header event.  36 cars squeezed into this short configuration, leaving just three pit stalls free. As always at this track layout there was plenty of action. Not least for Ian Smythe who became a passenger as his car was flipped into a roll.

Rory King secured pole but again it was Jones who took the checkered flag with some breathing space between him and key rival Miles some ten seconds back. King took third narrowly from the charging Richard Towler who had embraced the challenge of getting past thirty odd cars from the back of the grid and got all the way up to fourth.

Jones on his way to victory at Silverstone National.

Everyone agrees the iRacing Mazda MX-5 makes for fantastic Club racing. Brands Hatch beckons for Round Four!

Positions after three rounds:

1 Steven Jones – 72
2 Adam Miles – 65
3 Rory King – 45
4 Sam Appleton – 43
5 Michael Messenger – 27
6 James Barrington – 25
7 Peter Ridley – 23
8 Tony Rickard – 21
9 Jason Lovett – 20
= Nathan Johnson – 20
11 Michael White – 19
12 Darren Seal – 19
13 Simon Edwards – 17
= Ian Smythe
15 Stephen Grier – 17
16 Michael Wrightson – 14
= Richard Towler
18 Edward Deadman – 14
19 Blake Townend – 13
20 Fabio Martins – 13
21 Andrew Stanzl – 12
= Michael Fowler
23 Jonathan Cooper – 12
24 Jason Noble – 12
25 Simon Trendell – 10
= Simon Hulbert
27 Barry West – 10
28 Robert Burton – 9
29 Neil Hind – 9
30 Toby Bushnell – 8
= Karl Hammarling
32 Damon Clewlow – 8
33 Andy Kirschetorte – 7
34 Simon Watts – 5
35 Martin Kawa – 4
= Mark Hockings
37 Chris Warner – 3
= David Hawnt
39 Anthony Levene – 2
= Richard Deighton
41 Thomas Lycett – 1
= Daren Willand

Middle-Aged Racers’ Championship (over 40s)
Provisional
1 Tony Rickard – 59
2 Michael White – 58
3 Barry West – 57
4 Neil Hind – 45
5 David Hawnt – 41
6 Jason Noble – 37
7 Michael Fowler – 34
8 Christopher Newton – 24
9 Nigel Morrison – 17
10 Andrew MacPherson – 14
= Daren Willand
12 Jim Bollands – 10

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