The Milltek Civic Cup – Rounds 1 & 2
Donington Park National – 22nd & 23rd March 2025
Two typically close-fought races over the opening weekend of the 2025 Milltek Civic Cup season at Donington Park (22-23 March) brought wins for previous champion Alistair Camp and first-time victor Lewis Kent.
A busy 27-car entry produced entertaining racing throughout the field with some new names giving the established frontrunners plenty to think about ahead of next month’s second event at Brands Hatch (19-20 April).
Qualifying
The first qualifying session of 2025 was topped by Area Motorsport’s Alistair Camp as the 2021 champion showed his FN2 model to be on a par with the traditionally more common EP3.
Camp pipped team-mate Liam McGill’s EP3 by just 0.05 seconds as Lewis Kent, Harvey Caton and newcomer Jake Hewlett completed an Area top-five lockout.
Best of the non-Area cars was Jack Ruddell in his EP3 prepared by MJB Sports Cars, some 1.3s off the ultimate pace. Impressive performances from newcomers Adam Parker (privateer), Matt Wilkins (Motion Motorsport) and Aidan Mitchell (Ben Sharpe Motorsport) also put themselves into the top 10, ahead of the second best FN2 of Dave Marshall (DMR with KA Car Sales). Wilkins set his time despite minimal running as he spun off in Saturday morning’s greasy conditions.
DONINGTON PARK NATIONAL QUALIFYING RESULT
Round 1 – Race Report
The drivers had to wait until after midday on Sunday to get the real action under way but that gave them the benefit of a dry track on which to compete. Sadly, Wilkins was unable to take the start, pulling up on the green-flag lap after his incident the previous day.
When the lights went out, Camp converted his pole position into the race lead, with McGill slotting in behind and Kent just holding off Caton after the pair went side by side through the tricky Craner Curves.
McGill began to put the pressure on Camp but a slight mistake afforded the race leader a gap and left McGill turning his attentions to fending off those behind.
Losing front-end grip, and having to optimise his brake bias on the fly after numerous brake problems in testing and qualifying, McGill was passed by Kent into the Old Hairpin with Caton bump-drafting Kent ahead on the exit and following through.
Their battle allowed Camp to escape, and with Kent receiving a track-limits warning flag, the top two then settled into a rhythm. Camp secured victory by 2.3s, with Kent a further 1.8s clear of the rest.
McGill and Caton had traded third place with some good manoeuvres before the Scotsman secured the position. Caton dropped further to fifth in the results after receiving a 5s track-limits penalty. That promoted one-time Type R Trophy champion Hewlett to fourth on his championship debut.
Ruddell was sixth, well clear of a battle that raged for seventh. Parker took the position on the road but was classified 11th after receiving a track-limits penalty. That handed seventh to fellow debutant Charlie Constable (Orex Competition EP3) who had come to blows with Dave Marshall as they exited the chicane at one point.
Marshall dropped to ninth behind Jamie Petters (Team Petters Racing EP3). The top 10 was completed by Wesley Swain (Area Motorsport) who climbed from the back of the grid after his FN2 was devoid of its VTEC power boost at higher revs during qualifying.
DONINGTON PARK NATIONAL RACE ONE RESULT
Round 2 – Race Report
Swain’s fine drive was rewarded with pole position for the reversed-grid rematch later that afternoon.
He and Marshall initially kept their FN2s at the front of the field as Constable demoted Petters from third and then faced an onslaught from the regular pacesetters behind as Petters was shuffled down the order.
Caton was first to breach Constable’s defences and he then fired in a fastest lap to latch onto Marshall. He dived into second at Redgate on lap three of 12, moments before Ruddell got ahead of Constable at the Old Hairpin. That left Constable bouncing over the grass, dropping him a number of places.
By the end of the lap, Caton was into the lead, passing team-mate Swain into the chicane as Kent did likewise on Marshall just behind. Kent then immediately dispatched Swain into Redgate before losing time with a small mistake at the Old Hairpin. That brought Swain and Marshall back onto his tail and allowed Caton some breathing space.
By now, opening race winner Camp was also entering contention having climbed from 10th on the grid. Marshall’s exits from the chicane were a weakness that Camp quickly seized upon before getting a run on Swain out of Coppice on the next lap to reach third.
Despite numerous left-rear lockups, Kent had strong pace in his car. He closed up to Caton, dived inside at Redgate and completed the move into the Old Hairpin after running side by side through the Craner Curves on lap eight.
Caton kept Kent honest but couldn’t prevent the two-time TCR UK champion from finally securing his first Civic Cup win after seven previous podiums. But the Staffordshire racer did hold onto second, having to go defensive on the final lap to keep Camp at bay.
Swain also lost out to McGill as he suffered with understeer in the closing stages, while Hewlett completed an incredible sweep of the entire top six by the Area cars.
Behind them, Ruddell was again best of the rest in seventh. Marshall slipped to ninth, as the meat in a Petters sandwich, Jamie fighting back to another eighth position, with elder brother Dan 10th after a weekend compromised by an early spin in qualifying.
DONINGTON PARK NATIONAL RACE TWO RESULT
Ruddell’s performances also gave him two wins in the Paul Winfield Trophy sub-classification, for rookies and other less experienced drivers.
In the Goodyear Diamond Award, for drivers aged 40 and over, the laurels in race one went to series newcomer Adam Jackson (AMW Motorsport FN2) in 12th overall. Matt Wilkins climbed from the back of the grid to top the classification in race two, 11th overall.
After the opening weekend of the season, Kent holds a single-point advantage over Camp in the championship standings. Caton and McGill are a further 16 points adrift ahead of battle recommencing at the world-famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent next month.
Driver Quotes
Round 1 winner, Alistair Camp
“We worked a bit on the car over the winter and it seems to come stronger and stronger [over the race] so I can keep putting fast laps in right towards the end.
“I knew that Liam [McGill] and Lewis [Kent] would be nipping at my ankles. Down the Craners, if you get sideways you lose momentum, which I did, and Liam nearly got up the inside. Once I got into that rhythm, and Lewis came into contention with Liam, I managed to get a bit of a gap and maintained it.”
Round 2 winner, Lewis Kent
“It’s been a long time coming! I’m very, very happy.
“I’ve been struggling with a left-rear lockup all weekend, ever since Friday – probably since media day! I can’t get rid of it but I don’t care, as long it turns in all right and gets round the corner, I’m fine.”
Next time – Brands Hatch Indy!
The 2025 Milltek Sport Civic Cup is back in action in just over 4 weeks, on Saturday 19th April and Sunday 20th April for the first of two visits to Brands Hatch, using the Indy circuit for rounds three and four.
It’s the first of three events where they will join the British Truck Racing Championship, providing the exciting spectacle of Trucks and Civics on the same bill
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 final event of the 2024 season, at Silverstone on the International circuit, from their website:
https://www.brandshatch.co.uk/2025/april/british-truck-racing
To find out more about the Milltek 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 2025 Milltek Civic Cup Calendar, visit https://civic-cup.co.uk/2025-season-calendar/ for more info.
