CHAMPION CROWNED AT SNETTERTON

The MG Car Club held its final race meeting of the marque’s 100^th-anniversary year at a bright but breezy Snetterton.  It was the season-closer gathering for most of MGCC’s championships, meaning that as well as race honours to fight for there were plenty of titles to settle on the Norfolk venue’s 300 layout.

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MG Cup celebrated the contest’s 35 years at its Snetterton season-closer with a special Saturday night hog roast and a big grid of 25 competitors.

There was a fresh look at the front of the field as Jake Fraser-Burns made his championship debut in his MG ZR 190 while the similarly equipped Steve McDermid was back for the first time since his race-winning outing at Brands Hatch’s season-opener. The pair, with Fraser-Burns on pole, took their places on the front row of the grid for race one. McDermid took the lead at the start and stayed ahead to lead Fraser-Burns home by 1.5 seconds. Invitation clas entry, Stuart Tranter was third in his Rover 220 Turbo. Simon Lowery in fourth completed the Class C podium and was voted Driver of the Race by the race commentators.

Overall championship contender Ian Boulton was first to the flag in Class B, leading home his title rival and fellow MG ZR 170 runner Dan Ludlow. Class C’s Ashley Woodward, who led the overall points coming into Snetterton, could only finish seventh in class with a down-on-power MG ZS 180.

McDermid and Fraser-Burns again filled the front of the grid for race two with McDermid on pole this time. The duo again had a close scrap for victory. Although Fraser-Burns got ahead briefly, McDermid again emerged on top after 20 minutes of very entertaining racing.

McDermid said: “I didn’t really expect it and that second race I nearly lost it, I’m having a nightmare selecting gears. It happened at least four or five times and every time it happened obviously Jake closed the gap and he was right on me again. I’d pull away and get a little bit of a distance and it would all be for nothing.

“[Fraser-Burns] is good [to battle with], he’s consistent, and we were about the same speed. [The car] wasn’t really set up right [in race one] but it was better in the second race.”

Tranter in race two again was third home ahead of another returnee, Lance Ellington in his 220 also competing for the first time since Brands. He was third in Class C and also got driver of the race.

Jack Chapman in his 170 won the Class B race, beating Boulton by just half a second, while Ludlow was fourth home in class. The result ensured that Boulton is overall MG Cup champion for 2023.

Boulton said: “I had a bad time getting here because the van broke down! And [in race one] we had a brilliant race and got a class win, which was lovely.

“[In race two] I wanted a clean race with no nonsense and it was anything but that. I managed to avoid getting any contact, but everyone around me was getting contact everywhere. And I found myself stuck in the middle of a pack, and I just had to pick my way through it to get into a safe space. When I got there, and I caught up with young Jack, and I thought ‘well he wants to win, I don’t need it’, and I just sat behind him.

“[The season was] fantastic, enjoyable, with some lovely people.”