Another Successful Year

Another Successful

Year Words: Neil McDonald Photos: Jon Elsey

The BMW Car Club Racing Championship has recorded another remarkable year with a record number of drivers and new champions in every class. Most importantly, however, we had fun. At the end of the year, as restrictions relaxed and the social side returned, drivers and supporters received a fantastic send off. The championship is a credit to club racing.

Ben Pearson - Class 6 & Overall 2021 Champion

For the drivers, it was a year to remember. There were some ups and down, but as they say, that’s motorsport. As a club we are incredibly proud of the group we have who race together as one big #BMWFAMILY and helped one another. It’s their championship and together we can make it even better year on year.

We managed to get 14 races in this year thanks to the support of 750mc. We started at Silverstone, then onto Castle Combe, Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone International, Oulton Park and Snetterton. We covered many of the Club’s regions and it was great to see members who were able to attend and display their cars.

As a multi class club championship all the drivers started the year with a good chance, and reliability and consistency is as important as outright speed. Those drivers who had both during a season were going to be in the mix for a win at the end of the year.

We welcomed many new drivers this year, too. It was good to also witness them integrate into the club ethos and support the championship and fellow drivers.

In M1 it was very close and competitive but also fair. The drivers of that class included Niall Bradley, Brad Sheehan, Mike Cutt, Rick Kerry, Lee Piercey, Paul Cook, Mike Eustace, Mark Culmer, Mark Havers, Kaz Singh and Colin Whitmore, who became our oldest entrant at 76 years young. The outright wins were shared between Niall, Brad and Lee, while Mike and Rick also lead races. It went down to the last race between Niall and Brad, with Niall claiming his first BMWCCR Championship Class win and second overall and Brad third overall

Karl McMillam - BMWcup Champion

with lap records tumbling along the way. Rick Kerry claimed third in class after an emotional year with mechanical woes, but credit to his team on sorting the issues. In M2 class it was a year that would be judged by reliability, as the early leaders Wayne Lewis and Adrian Williams suffered failures and allowed Gary Burstow in his E46 M3 to claim the most class wins and take the hard won class award. Adrian was second and Shaun Jackson took a very creditable third in his non-M powered E36 following some close battles with Rahim Balloo, who claimed fifth in class. Wayne was fourth and Steve Schweikhardt was sixth after swapping to Class 6 later in the season.

In Class 6 we were entertained by some close battles in the largest class in the championship, with ex-Ginetta driver Ben Pearson in close company with Jim Benson and Bill Reddrop. The other drivers of the class included Paul Travers, Dan Harborow, Clive Watson, Cavan Grainger, Tom Singleton, Saranga Sothisrihari, Stuart Pywell, Sergei Mineev, Jordan Saywood, Rob Lyons and James Dalzell. It was a busy grid with many closely matched cars and drivers.

It was Ben Pearson who took the class win and overall championship for 2021 at the last meeting after finishing every race and winning the most races all season. After Jim’s engine failure at Brands Hatch it was Bill Reddrop and Paul Travers who took the class battle to Ben, eventually finishing second and third respectively. Dan Harborow claimed fourth, and Clive fifth.

The BMWcup Class was dominated by Karl McMillan and Paul Laramy this year, with Dave Morris being a front runner when he entered. Karl took more wins and fastest laps during the year to win the Cup, but Paul rued having to miss one round as he had to self-isolate. Karl and Paul finished fourth and fifth overall and it was new driver Sam Walton in the ex-Matt Page Compact who claimed third in class. Paul also took the 2021 Gripper Differentials top novice to go with his 2019 Automac Rookie award. The fourth place driver was Gareth Thomas with David Morris in fifth and this year’s Rookie award went to William Lake.

We missed several drivers during the season due to the pandemic and car issues, but it was great to welcome back Rob Davidson and Dave Kempton to the last meeting. We have awarded the highly-prized Whizzo award that is in memory of former club patron Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams to Dave for his help assisting with driving standards and mentoring many of the drivers during the season. The Russ Cockburn award this year went to Steve Schweikhardt for his

Niall Bradley - M1 Champion Niall Bradley M1 Champion & 2nd Overall

Dave Kempton - Whizzo award Winner

Steve Schweikhardt - Russ Cockburn Award Winner Gary Burstow - M2 Champion

Paul Laramy - Gripper Novice Winner

William Lake - Automac Rookie of the Year

car prep and also the way he behaved on and off track.

Those drivers who topped the tables were checked throughout the season to prove they were deserved winners and we must congratulate them on their driving all season.

This season, whilst we had our oldest entrant we also welcomed our youngest, Olivia Martin. At 18 she was our youngest driver and we hope she will enter the full season next year. Already we have new drivers wanting to join all of the classes. The Cup has also seen a new lease of life in part as the leading drivers are moving up to Class 6 and our overall champion Ben is planning that his next car that will likely be entered in M1. It’s all getting very exciting for next season, even though we are still celebrating this year.

As mentioned, towards the end of the year the restrictions became more flexible allowing us to entertain and offer hospitality to guests and club members with a special treat. At the last round our club patron Colin Turkington offered his support and handed out the trophies to all the drivers.

Apologies for not giving detailed articles on each race meeting through the year for those who follow the club’s racing, but the dates and events made it difficult to publish regular articles and images. You can catch up on the @BMWCCR Facebook page at any point or come along with your region or register to next year’s meetings. Dates of each race will be on the club calendar soon.

The drivers will now enjoy some time to relax with their families and then we will be organising an awards event that all members are welcome to attend in February.