Donington Park played host to a memorable two days of track action on the TOCA support package this past weekend (August 1/2) with five championships kicking off their 2020 campaigns in blockbuster fashion.
Taking centre stage at the Leicestershire venue alongside the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship behind closed doors, edge-of-the-seat entertainment ran throughout each race – setting the scene for what is set to be an enthralling season.
Making its first appearance on the BTCC support bill was the MINI CHALLENGE JCW Championship and it didn’t disappoint. Replacing the Renault UK Clio Cup, the popular one-make series proved to be a smash-hit as a 30-car grid duked it out across three races.
Ant Whorton-Eales underlined his credentials as a title contender as he triumphed in race one ahead of Nathan Harrison and Lewis Brown before Harrison himself struck back with a win of his own in race two.
Max Coates, a familiar name to fans of the BTCC package, then mad it three different winners from three races as he resisted the challenge of Kyle Reid to emerge victorious.
The latest crop of teenage superstars that make up the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship took on a starring role with rookie Georgi Dimitrov enjoying a stellar debut, taking two wins and a second place.
Spearheading Richardson Racing’s line-up, the British-Bulgarian racer lost out to Bailey Voisin in a frenetic opener before going on to be perfection personified for the remainder of the meeting, winning races two and three.
Will Burns also enjoyed a near-perfect weekend in the Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 Supercup as he scooped a brace of race wins and a second place. Bidding to finally capture the crown that has so far eluded him, the former vice-champion was in unstoppable form as he led Gus Burton and Tom Hibbert in races one and two.
Burns’ hopes of completing a clean sweep however were ended by Burton in race three, who capped off a dream GT4 Supercup debut to claim a maiden win in the single-make category.
In the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Josh Webster and Harry King took a win apiece to open their 2020 accounts. King had led a majority of race one before being passed Webster whilst Esmee Hawkey made it a Team Parker Racing 1-2-3.
Race two saw no mistake from Porsche GB Scholarship winner King however as he produced a scintillating lights-to-flag drive to score victory ahead of Scott McKenna and Webster.
Rounding out the weekend were three ultra-competitive races from the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost where Alex Connor, Zak O’Sullivan and James Hedley shared the spoils.
To view the full classification of results across all sessions and championships, click here.
Several TOCA support championships will now head to Brands Hatch on August 8/9 to continue their 2020 campaigns.