2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup – Rounds 8, 11, 12 & 13
Silverstone National – 17th & 18th August 2024
An action-packed weekend of Milltek Sport Civic Cup racing produced four race winners from four enthralling contests at Silverstone.
In a fantastic advert for the championship, the racing was close and hard-fought but scrupulously clean, with all drivers showing the utmost respect for one another.
Harvey Caton scored his first-ever win in the championship, while there were also successes for regular frontrunners Josh Files, Alistair Camp and Max Edmundson. For both Files and Edmundson, it was another strong weekend towards their title challenges, as Files chipped away at his team-mate’s points lead.
Qualifying
With a busy schedule including four races, there was an early start to qualifying on Saturday morning. Ben Sharpe Racing’s Will Redford topped the times around the 1.64-mile National circuit to claim his maiden pole position and also break Area Motorsport’s unbeaten streak in 2024.
It could hardly have been closer though, as Redford pipped Area’s Josh Files by just 0.002 seconds! Files’s team-mates Max Edmundson, Harvey Caton and Lewis Kent were all with 0.1s of Redford’s best, while Dave Marshall (DMR with KA Car Sales) produced a fine effort to edge Alistair Camp to sixth overall and best of the drivers in the FN2 model Civic.
Josh Bromley (Bromley Motorsport with AMW Motorsport), Daniel Petters (Team Petters Racing) and Jack Ruddell (MJB Motorsport) would all have been pleased with their efforts to break into the top 10. Less than 0.4s covered the top 10, and 18 of the 26 runners were with a second of pole position.
So close were the times that the grid for the weekend finale, based on second best times, was a little jumbled, with Edmundson securing pole position from Caton, who was just 0.001s faster than Files. Redford dropped to sixth, behind Kent and Camp.
SILVERSTONE NATIONAL QUALIFYING RESULT
Round 8 – Race Report
The first race of the weekend took place at midday on Saturday and featured a slightly smaller grid of 20 cars, as this was the contest postponed from Oulton Park in June, open only to those who had been at that event.
The grid was based on a top-10 reversal of Oulton’s first race result, which put Pro Alloys Racing’s Alex Kite on pole position ahead of Caton, Redford and Camp. Title rivals Files and Edmundson would start from row four.
Kite converted pole into the race lead, but was caught out on cold tyres at Becketts, running wide and letting Caton ahead. He was then further demoted by Redford at Copse at the start of the second tour and by Camp at Becketts on lap three.
Meantime, Edmundson and Files were setting the tone for the weekend by running side by side for almost the whole of the first three laps, without ever pushing the boundaries.
Files eventually got the upper hand exiting Luffield on lap three of 14 and the pair then both got inside Kite at Becketts half a lap later.
By that stage, Caton had opened a lead of around 1.5s over Redford, with Camp a similar distance further back. A sideways moment at Copse for Files let Edmundson past, and the duo both managed to pass Camp a lap later.
Edmundson set the fastest lap as they closed in on Redford’s second position. But as he challenged his fellow young gun in the closing stages, it allowed Files to pounce for third.
A yellow flag at Brooklands helped Redford keep the pair behind him to the flag. But he was more than 4s behind Caton who drove a fine race to deservedly secure his maiden win in the championship.
Files completed the podium and Edmundson was fourth despite picking up a 5s track-limits penalty late on. He had been just over 5s ahead of Marshall who starred on his climb through from 17th on the grid to finish fifth and pip Camp on the line to being the first FN2 home.
Edmundson’s BSR team-mate Spencer Stevenson was seventh, and winner of the Paul Winfield Trophy section for rookies and less experienced drivers. Kite slipped back to eighth ahead of Ruddell and Wesley Swain (Pro Alloys), each recording their second consecutive top-10 finishes.
OULTON PARK ROUND EIGHT RESULT (REPLACEMENT RACE)
Round 11 – Race Report
Silverstone’s own first scheduled race followed at the end of the afternoon.
A lightning getaway from Files propelled him past Redford and into the lead. It took little time for his shadow, Edmundson, to join him out front, as the reigning champion went around the outside of Redford at Brooklands later in the lap.
After a two-lap safety-car period, the championship’s dominant pair began to pull away en route to their fifth one-two finish of the season.
Edmundson intended to mount a challenge in the closing stages but was caught out by not seeing a last-lap board, although he did still have a good go at Brooklands on what turned out to be the last lap. But Files held on for his third win of the season.
Behind them, Redford faced a lot of pressure from Caton, with the pair running side by side before Caton got inside at Brooklands mid-race. Kent, who had dropped out of the points in race one with his engine lacking its VTEC power boost, also briefly passed Redford before losing out again.
Kent’s attentions then turned to a terrific scrap also involving Camp, Marshall and Bromley, who was enjoying his best showing of the season having fine-tuned his set-up after resolving earlier differential issues.
There was plenty of side-by-side action before Marshall secured fifth, once again just pipping Camp, and Bromley beat Kent to seventh, taking Paul Winfield Trophy honours in the process. Daniel Petters and Stevenson completed the top 10
SILVERSTONE NATIONAL ROUND ELEVEN RESULT
Round 12 – Race Report
Stevenson and Petters were therefore the front-row men for Sunday morning’s reversed-grid race.
Kent and Bromley managed to split them at the start, while Petters got shuffled further down the top 10 over the next couple of laps.
Kent looked to be on a mission to secure his first race win in the championship and managed to get around Stevenson and into the lead through Maggotts on lap two of 14.
Camp too had terrific pace having reduced his rear tyre pressures from the previous day. The 2021 champion rounded Bromley at Brooklands to take third, and then passed Stevenson into Copse half a lap later to move into second.
The two Area Motorsport drivers then pulled away. As Kent eked out a small advantage over Camp, it looked like the result could be settled in his favour.
But Kent started to lose grip in the latter stages and Camp sniffed a chance at victory. He renewed the pressure and then seized on a small moment for Kent through Woodcote on the penultimate lap to get a run and dive ahead into Copse on the last lap.
Kent responded at Becketts and the pair ran side by side down the Wellington Straight and through the following complex of Brooklands and Luffield. It came down to a drag race to the line and Camp, on the outside, managed to pip his team-mate by just 0.012s. Kent will have to wait a little longer for that elusive maiden victory.
In the battle for the final podium place, Edmundson led team-mates Caton and Files in their charge forward from the lower reaches of the top 10, and the trio formed a train to all pass Bromley and take third, fourth and fifth positions on lap five.
But Edmundson began to hit trouble mid-race, losing pace in the higher-speed sections. Caton got back past exiting Copse and then Edmundson slowed even more before pulling into retirement.
He had lost fourth and fifth gears. A second retirement in four races means he can ill afford any further issues for the rest of the season, in the face of Files’ relentless consistency.
So it was Caton who took a third consecutive podium finish, ahead of Files, with Marshall once again going well enroute to fifth.
Redford was sixth, while Petters pipped Stevenson to seventh – and PWT laurels – in a near dead-heat: just 0.002s split the pair! Ruddell and Swain completed the top 10.
SILVERSTONE NATIONAL ROUND TWELVE RESULT
Round 13 – Race Report
The weekend finale produced a fantastic three-way battle for the lead between Caton, Edmundson and Files.
The two youngsters traded the advantage in the first half of the race, as Files kept a watching brief, before the contest settled down with Edmundson in front of Files and Caton.
Behind them, Marshall was working his way forward from seventh on the grid. The genial north-easterner fired in a couple of fastest laps as he got into fourth and began homing in on the leaders.
The Area Motorsport trio were set for a final-lap sort-out but had to be wary of Marshall looming in their mirrors. As their tyres scrabbled for grip, Edmundson ran wide through Copse at the start of the final lap.
He just held on but the race could still go any one of four ways.
Caton was also on the limit of grip and agonisingly ran wide at Luffield, the last proper corner, which allowed Marshall to pounce.
Ahead of them, Edmundson just held on to take his sixth win of the season – and continue a run of winning at every race weekend – by 0.3s from Files.
Marshall’s strong pace was rewarded with his first podium of the season, denying Caton a weekend quartet in the process.
Camp was fifth ahead of Kent and PWT winner Bromley, with Redford, Swain and Stevenson completing the top 10
SILVERSTONE NATIONAL ROUND THIRTEEN RESULT
Among the Goodyear Diamond Award competitors – those aged 40 and over – Mark Hughes backed up Marshall’s strong form with his clean sweep of honours making it a great weekend for the DMR squad.
He finished just outside the top 10 overall in race and his lead over Simon Welch in the standings is now approaching 150 points.
Meanwhile, Stevenson is more than 100 points clear of Bromley in the Paul Winfield Trophy points.
The overall standings continue to be led by Edmundson, but Files is keeping up the pressure, some 29 points back.
Realistically, it looks set to be one of that pair who takes the 2024 crown, with third-placed Camp almost 100 points further adrift.
Next up is a trip to the fastest circuit in the country. Rounds 14 and 15 of the championship take place at Thruxton on 21/22 September.
Driver Quotes
Round 8 winner, Harvey Caton
“It’s been so long since I’ve gotten a win. It’s been three years since I’ve been in the championship and we’ve worked so hard to get the car right, and just it’s finally worked out today – and by a big margin, so I’m really happy about it.”
Round 11 winner, Josh Files
“It was good fun but it was really respectful – everyone gave each other just the right amount of space.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they’re the hardest car to drive I’ve driven by far. There’s so many nuances in them. They’re definitely fun and hard but very rewarding.”
Round 12 winner, Alistair Camp
“I thought I was running out of time but I just saw Lewis [Kent’s] front end through Turn 1 starting to lose a bit and he was starting to run track limits and I thought: ‘Might have a chance here’.
“I didn’t expect to get a run but he slipped on something out of the last turn which set up the initial overtake.
“I didn’t know it was the last lap because I didn’t see the last lap board, so I kept it pinned and saw the flag and I’m just looking at his car, thinking, ‘Who is it?!’
“It was a great battle. I don’t want to nudge him and then cause an overtake through nudging him so it’s just trying to be as respectful as you can.”
Round 13 winner, Max Edmundson
“I’ve kept up my 100% win record – I’ve had a win at every meeting this year.
“Probably the first half of the race I was side by side with someone [all the time], and there was literally no contact whatsoever. It’s good – everything’s even, everything’s fair, and that’s just what you want in a one-make series.”
Next time – Thruxton!
The 2024 Milltek Sport Civic Cup is back in action in less than 4 weeks time, on Saturday 21st September and Sunday 22nd September where rounds 14 & 15 will take place at Thruxton in Hampshire.
Its the first time that the championship will race at the Hampshire venue since 2020, and its also the last weekend in the season where dropped scores will count.
At the end of Sunday 22nd September when the racing is all done, all scores will be locked in, ahead of the Silverstone Finale in October.
Racing action will take place on the Saturday and Sunday with both days livestreamed on the official TCR UK YouTube channel.
You can purchase tickets for the next event of the 2024 season, at Thruxton, from their website: https://thruxtonracing.co.uk/racing/brscc
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.
