Donington Park provided the backdrop to a thrilling penultimate event of the season for the British Automobile Racing Club this past weekend (October 19/20) as both Caterham Motorsport and the Caterham Graduates Racing Club closed out their 2024 campaigns in thrilling fashion.
More than 50 drivers bid farewell to their novice stickers as the final round of the Caterham Academy Championship provided plenty of entertainment. In the Green Group, Brian Thornton reigned supreme while White Group champion Paul Ogglesby signed off with yet another win.
Not content with staging one race each, both groups amalgamated together for the Autumn Trophy race later on Sunday however nobody could stop Ogglesby from triumphing as he beat Dean Burden and Alex Coombes to the chequered flag by more than six seconds.
Earlier in the year Bruno van Dyke had been one to watch in the Academy although for the season finale he was invited to step up into the Bilstein Caterham Roadsport Championship – which is the next step up from the Academy on the Caterham Motorsport ladder.
Grabbing the opportunity with both hands, van Dyke was in a league of his own as he romped to an impressive brace of wins. Two top-four finishes for Paul Goldstein proved enough for him to be crowned champion.
With Ben Timmons having secured an unassailable lead in the Mission Motorsport Caterham Seven 270R Championship prior to the finale, the bragging rights of race wins were on the line under the flightpath of East Midlands airport – and the 32-car field didn’t disappoint.
Charlie Lower was perfection personified across races one and two as he cruised to victory however his chances of completing his hat-trick ended on lap four of the finale when he was forced to retire; which opened the door for Ben Wheatley to triumph.
The destiny of the Motul Caterham Seven 310R Championship went down to the wire with Harry Cook capturing the coveted crown ahead of Taylor O’Flanagan after the pair went head-to-head across three captivating contests.
O’Flanagan entered the weekend leading the standings after dropped scores were applied however he could only watch on as Cook charged to all three wins and in-doing so, turned the tables to walk away as the new champion.
Over in the Vertex Caterham Seven UK Championship, less than half a second covered the top two in each of the final three races of the season. William Smith was the first to stand on the top step of the podium before Harry Senior came to the fore in race two.
After missing out in each of the previous two bouts, Samuel Smith finally had his moment out front as he closed proceedings with a hard-fought victory in race three ahead of Matthew Armstrong and Paul Donkin.
Also in attendance at the Leicestershire venue was the SIM Motorsport Caterham Graduates Championship, with its two classes – the Sigma 135s and Sigma 150s – serving up plenty of edge-of-the-seat moments.
Jamie Ellwood capped off a memorable year in which he was crowned Sigma 150 champion by winning the opening encounter of the Sigma 135 Class before Giles Derry pipped Megan Bruce to top spot in a thrilling finale.
Paul Goldstein was crowned champion after a superb charge from the back of the grid in the finale. The title marked the second coveted prize he won over the course of the weekend, having earlier bagged Roadsport honours.
In the Sigma 150 category, Jack Barlow was wheel-perfect as he clinched a dominant double over Will Stillwell.
To view the full classification of results from Donington Park, CLICK HERE.
