2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup – Rounds 9 & 10
Croft – 13th & 14th July 2024
An action-packed double-header weekend for the Milltek Sport Civic Cup at Croft was highlighted by a heroic drive from Max Edmundson as he recovered from an early spin to win the opening race. Tough conditions meant that Sunday’s encounter was as much about survival, as Alistair Camp took the spoils.
Qualifying
Another masterclass from the Area Motorsport squad brought the team its second consecutive top-six lockout in qualifying, as reigning champion Max Edmundson led the way on a damp track. Edmundson’s 0.4s advantage over Harvey Caton – moving across to the team for the first time this weekend – was barely less than covered the rest of the top six, which were completed by Liam McGill, Josh Files, Lewis Kent and Sam Kirkpatrick.
Best of the rest was Ben Sharpe Racing’s Will Redford, ahead of Alex Kite (Pro Alloys Racing) and the seventh Area car of Alistair Camp. The one-time champion was quickest of those in FN2 machinery, feeling that the circuit’s bumps did not suit the skittish nature of the car.
BSR duo Dan McDonald and Spencer Stevenson were next, the latter frustrated to have had his best lap time disallowed for a marginal track-limits call. Completing the top dozen of a 28-car field was Jamie Petters (Petters Team Racing), his best qualifying performance to date.
CROFT QUALIFYING RESULT
Round 9 – Race Report
It was wetter by the time of Saturday afternoon’s first race. Local driver Edmundson converted pole position into the race lead, while McGill squeezed past Caton into second.
But while the rest of the top six scrapped among each other, Edmundson escaped. He led Kent by an incredible 2.9s after the first lap, with McGill, Files, Caton and Camp completing the top six and Redford seventh.
Then it went wrong for the race leader. Thinking the big field of cars would have swept enough of a dry line, he took the chicane leading onto the back straight flat out. But the grip wasn’t there and Edmundson spun, scattering the chasing pack in avoidance, before rejoining in seventh.
Then came another of Edmundson’s increasingly familiar mega-drives. Redford, Camp and Caton were dispatched before the end of the second lap. He then passed McGill and Kent – who had lost the lead to Files at Sunny – next time around, only to get a poor exit from the hairpin and let the pair back through.
Edmundson picked off Kent at Clervaux, then McGill at Tower on lap four, before homing in multiple international touring car champion Files. The youngster charged around his experienced team-mate heading into Clervaux and looked set to drive off into the distance.
Sadly the race was cut short after Alex Kite took a heavy trip into the barriers at the super-fast Barcroft. His car tipped on to its side but Kite was able to scramble out, unharmed.
So Edmundson took his fifth win in eight starts, ahead of Files and McGill. Caton pipped Kent to fourth, with Kirkpatrick completing a clean sweep of the top six for Area Motorsport.
Edmundson was seventh, ahead of Dave Marshall’s FN2, Camp and Petters. It meant that Petters and Camp would start Sunday’s reversed-grid race from pole position.
CROFT ROUND NINE RESULT
Round 10 – Race Report
The drivers faced the worst conditions of the weekend in Sunday’s race, with the amount of water on track making visibility difficult in the spray as well as testing the tread on their semi-slick Goodyear rubber to the limit.
Poleman Petters got too much wheelspin when the lights went out, so Camp’s successful second-gear launch elevated him into the lead, followed by Marshall and Redford. Young gun Redford managed to get inside Marshall for second at Tower, with Kent and Kirkpatrick further demoting the local man over the next few corners.
Behind them, McDonald was the first casualty as he slid into the wall at Tower. That brought out a safety car, during which the rain began falling heavier still.
The race resumed with five minutes left on the clock. Seeking his first win for more than a year, Redford got around Camp heading towards Tower. Kent followed past as Camp momentarily lost power, drained by his heated windscreen, before a quick reset restored it.
But Redford’s lead didn’t last long as he lost control through the ultra-fast Jim Clark Esses and crashed heavily into the tyre barriers. He was able to exit the car unhurt but, in the meantime, Kirkpatrick had gone off too, at Tower.
Edmundson then also spun off at Sunny and with conditions clearly too treacherous to continue, the race was stopped.
Kent was in front when the red flags came out but was denied a maiden Civic Cup win on countback – just the way it works, sometimes.
So it was Camp who claimed victory, his second of the season, ahead of Kent and Files. Fourth place for Marshall was his best result of the season, while McGill was classified fifth, “gutted” not to have had more opportunity to show his wet-weather pace.
Sixth position for Petters was his best yet, a well earned result for a strong showing across the weekend. Jack Ruddell (MJB Motorsport) and Wesley Swain (Pro Alloys) were seventh and eighth, while Caton – who ran wide on the opening lap – and Josh Bromley (Bromley Motorsport with AMW Motorsport) completed the top 10.
Mention must also go to Alex Kite, classified 15th after an impressive effort from the Pro Alloys team to get his car back on track after the previous day’s shunt.
CROFT ROUND TEN RESULT
In the Civic Cup’s sub-categories, Petters’s fine performance landed him the Paul Winfield Trophy laurels – for rookies and drivers with less experience – in both races. In the Goodyear Diamond Award, for drivers aged 40 and over, Trevor McConnell took the honours on Saturday, before Mark Hughes triumphed on Sunday.
In the overall standings, Edmundson still holds a 36-point lead over Files – after dropped scores are allowed for – despite his non-finish. Camp and Kent lie third and fourth, more than 60 points further back.
Driver quotes
Round 9 winner, Max Edmundson
“I knew I had the pace on the brakes but I kept making mistakes – I was so angry with myself to bin myself out of the lead. But luckily I brought it back.
“It feels good, but I’d prefer to have done it without binning myself.”
Round 10 winner, Alistair Camp
“Lewis was coming fast and I just thought, ‘Just finish the race, with these conditions anything can happen.’
“It’s gone against me in the past, it’s gone with me in the past, and it’s gone with me again today – it’s a cruel rule but unfortunately it is the rules. It’s such as shame because Lewis has had such bad luck.
“We’ve had a difficult weekend with the car, I think just because the circuit’s so bumpy. But the last three rounds now are power tracks – power is what we’ve got under that car now, with 10bhp extra on the FN2, so let’s see if it pays off!”
Next time – Silverstone National!
The 2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup is back in action is back in action in less than 5 weeks time, on Saturday 17th August and Sunday 18th August where rounds 11, 12 & 13 will take place at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, using the National layout.
Racing action will take place on the Saturday and Sunday with both days livestreamed on the official TCR UK YouTube channel.
You can now purchase tickets for the next event of the 2024 season, at Silverstone, from their website: https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/BRSCC-TCR-Touring-Car
To find out more about the Milltek Sport Civic Cup visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/ for more info and how to get involved.
To find out more about the events on the 2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup Calendar, visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/2024-season-calendar/ for more info.
