The battle for the 2023 Milltek Sport Civic Cup begins at Snetterton this weekend (8-9 April), with a packed 30-car grid set to provide action-packed close-quarters racing in Rounds 1 & 2 of the championship.
The TCR UK feeder series, for EP3 and FN2 models of the Honda Civic Type R, will appear at five out of the seven events as the headline category and has a race each on Saturday and Sunday at this weekend’s meeting.
Trying to pick a winner from the bulging entry list would be a tough task, but among the favourites will be Alistair Camp. The 2021 champion was a four-time winner on his way to second in the standings last year and has joined Pro Alloys Racing for his 2023 title tilt.
After fielding a number of guest drivers alongside regular entry Owen Hillman last year, Pro Alloys has expanded into a multi-car team for his 2023 campaign. Joining Camp and Hillman in the squad is Will Redford, a 2022 newcomer who impressed with his pace and stays on for the 2023 campaign after switching to the team during last season.
Alex Kite, a driver with experience in TCR UK, and Ryan Bensley, who endured a difficult 2022 campaign that was highlighted by a pair of podium finishes, also join Neil Greenland’s outfit. The line-up is completed by Civic Cup rookies Adam Jones, Travis Chapman and Jackson White.
If a driver from the Pro Alloys team is going to take the Milltek Sport Civic Cup title, they will first have to beat the quintet fielded by the multi-champion Area Motorsport squad. Perhaps the driver most likely to lead Area’s title challenge is Danny Hobson, who returns to the championship after three years focusing elsewhere. A multiple race winner with plenty of experience of running Civics himself, Hobson has formed an alliance with Rob Baker’s team that could be the combination to beat.
Max Edmundson joined Area Motorsport part-way through his debut Civic Cup campaign last year and stays on for second season, looking to build on the experience he gained. Making the switch from the Mini Challenge Trophy, where he was second in the 2021 championship standings, Louie Capozzoli brings race-winning pedigree from a competitive one-make series and so will be aiming to hit the ground round running in the Milltek Civic Cup.
Completing the Area Motorsport team are newcomer Tommy Knight and racing novice Luke Sargeant who will be using the Snetterton weekend to build his experience and gain the necessary licence signatures before stepping up to TCR UK.
Jack Harding made plenty of people sit up and take notice with his Civic Cup performances last year. It was the long-time Mazda MX-5 Supercup frontrunner’s first taste of front-wheel-drive racing and yet he placed fifth in the championship with four podium finishes despite missing the opening round.
For his second season, Harding looks set to benefit from being part of a multi-car team as he joins Ben Sharpe Racing, the eponymous outfit of the Civic Cup race winner and talented engineer who is now focusing on running his own team. The Ben Sharpe Racing trio is completed by second-year drivers Dan MacDonald and Adam Kruger.
Motion Motorsport’s Dan Thackeray took three wins en route to fourth in last year’s Milltek Sport Civic Cup championship and certainly has the ability to mount a championship challenge this year. Thackeray is joined in the team by a convert from the Mini Challenge JCW ranks, Leo Panayiotou.
Runner-up in the championship last year, with more wins to his name (five) than anyone else, Morgan Bailey can only have one target for 2023 – to take the title. Bailey’s form in his family-run car took him to within three points of lifting the 2022 crown. With three wins from the last five races of the season, including the finale at Snetterton (albeit on the shorter 200 circuit), he could be the man to beat this weekend.
Track action for the Milltek Civic Cup begins with a free practice session on Saturday (8 April) at 0925hrs. Race 1 grid positions will be determined in qualifying at 1245hrs and the race itself is scheduled to start at 1530hrs. The second race, featuring a partially-reversed grid, takes place on Sunday (9 April) with a scheduled start time of 1115hrs.
All the race action will be streamed live and can be accessed via the Civic Cup’s official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@civiccup7654
To find out more about the Milltek Sport Civic Cup, visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/ for more info and how to get involved.