The British Automobile Racing Club’s North Western Centre enjoyed a full-throttle start to the 2025 season at Oulton Park this past Saturday (April 12) as three different categories took centre stage on the famed International layout.

As momentum for the new campaign continues to build around the country, it was the turn of the Club’s North Western Centre at the weekend as both the CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship and OT Coupe Cup with Toyo Tires made their first appearances of the year.

For the CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship – which is the centre’s flagship series – competitors were undoubtedly chomping at the bit to hit the track given the fact that a bumper 47-car entry list was confirmed for the opening two rounds.

Such was the enormity of the grid, organisers opted to double the amount of races on the day, amalgamating those in Class A, B and G together for two races and those in Class C, D, E and F together for a further two races.

Simon Allaway proved to be in a league of his own in the two Class A, B & G contests as he made the perfect start to the new season by powering his Lotus Esprit V8 to a commanding brace of victories.

Race one saw Allaway quickly make his escape from the chasing pack and he ultimately never looked back, taking the chequered flag by more than 20 seconds ahead of Bod Buckby and Ben Roberts. In race two, his winning margin was to be eight seconds at the end.

Over in Class C, D, E and F, Chris Roberts showed similar levels of dominance as he too claimed a clean sweep of front-running results – winning both races by more than ten seconds in his sensational BMW M4.

There was plenty of edge-of-the-seat entertainment when it came to the OT Coupe Cup with Toyo Tires, with the budget-conscious tin top series serving up two frenetic bouts around the picturesque 2.692-mile circuit.

With last year’s victor Daniel Munro moving onto new pastures, all bets were off when it came to the battle for supremacy at the front of the field – although three drivers staked their claim with exemplary performances.

Nathan Williams underlined his credentials as one to watch as he fended off the race-long advances of Adam Jones to win the season-opener before Jones turned the tables in race two to open his account for the season.

While both Williams and Jones claimed a win apiece, Max Papworth demonstrated that he will undoubtedly stand on the top step of the podium in the near future as he tallied a pair of top-three finishes.

Rounding out the North Western Centre’s race day at Oulton Park was the P4 Emergency Lighting Caterham Graduates Championship, which was back in action after competing at Donington Park last month.

In the Sigma 150 Class, it didn’t take reigning champion Jamie Ellwood long to pick up where he left off last season as he bagged two wins from two races. Max Haynes, Stephen Clark, Harry Cramer and Ben Winrow all scooped podium finishes behind the charging Ellwood.

The Sigma 135 Class – which had almost 40 entries – saw spoils shared as Giles Derry and Tom McEwing maintained their strong starts to the season by tallying a win apiece.

To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Oulton Park, CLICK HERE.