Media in the Spotlight for the Rounds 6, 7 & 8 Weekend Focus
The Student Motorsport Competition returns to Trac Môn Anglesey for its first visit to the Welsh circuit since 2023. 14 entries, representing nine schools or colleges, will be on the Student Motorsport grid a part of the BRSCC CityCar Cup for rounds 6, 7 & 8.
In 2023, Team Northbrook Racing’s Richard Jepp took two victories in class on his way to leaving the Welsh circuit at the top of the Student Motorsport standings with a 61-point advantage over Barracksport, now sadly no longer competing in the Student Motorsport Competition. TNR went on to secure their second Student Motorsport title in that year, beating East Surrey College who finished in second place by 50 points.
Today’s Current Standings
Fast forward two years, and the title chase looks very different. Boston College Racing’s Stuart Bliss has won three of four races contested so far in 2025 and heads the SMo Competition standings on 78 points before dropped scores, 12 points ahead of TNR1 and Richard Jepp. Sussex Motorsport 1 and Alex Jackson are third in the Competition standings on 49 points before dropped scores.
Four full races have comprised the 2025 Student Motorsport Competition to date, with Round 5 at Oulton Park, the final race on the timetable at the end of a long and hot weekend, being cancelled due to two red flags following on-track incidents and a looming circuit curfew.
Weekend Focus
The Weekend Focus for the Student Motorsport Competition at Anglesey will be media and the promotional and marketing activities of each of the participating teams. Media and promotion are the lifeblood of motorsport teams, driving success on and off the track. A Student Motorsport team’s marketing and media strategy is crucial for effective ongoing promotion. Due to the importance of media and promotion, Student Motorsport, as part of its off-track season-long awards, presents an annual Media Award alongside six further awards for aspects such as Team Professionalism, Team Development and Commercial Activity.
Team Tasks
For the Anglesey weekend, competing teams will be tasked with three specific areas of media promotion to set the expectations for the rest of the 2025 season. Firstly, the teams’ student media representatives will be interviewed on-camera to present and discuss their thoughts and plans for promotion and outreach. Secondly, the Student Motorsport Work Experience photographers will be capturing images of the teams media activity, with a focus on images of the team photographers at work.
Finally, teams will be asked to creatively use social media, in all its forms, to promote their race weekend activities, their school or college, their drivers and all associated commercial partners and sponsors.
Amplifying the Action
As the Student Motorsport Competition heads to Trac Môn Anglesey the focus isn’t just on the thrilling on-track battles but also on the developing talent behind the scenes. This weekend, we put a spotlight on the Student Motorsport Work Experience Programme, a cornerstone of our commitment to nurturing the next generation of motorsport and media professionals. It’s here, at the heart of the racing circuit, that students translate their academic learning into invaluable, real-world experience, capturing the true essence of what Student Motorsport is about. This hands-on involvement highlights the vital real-to-life motorsport experience our students gain, going far beyond typical classroom education.
Continuing to lead our dynamic initiative is our superb Head of Media, Andy Lloyd, who, alongside dedicated mentors Bernice Bradley (Head of Photography, Creative Arts in Photography with the University of Derby at Boston College) and JP Latham (Managing Director, Student Motorsport), are driving the development of our work experience candidates. Their expert guidance is crucial as our students take on increasingly significant roles in shaping our event media. From pre-event planning to live race day coverage, their contributions are integral to how we capture and share the excitement of the Student Motorsport Competition.
Work Experience Activities
The Anglesey weekend provides us with another opportunity and a unique platform for our Work Experience Media Team to excel, comprising:
Photography & Videography: We’re thrilled to announce that Katie Wells (Graduate, Boston College), who has been an integral part of our photography team, will not be joining us this weekend as she has secured a role in motorsport photography. This is precisely why we do what we do at Student Motorsport – fostering talent and creating direct pathways into the industry. Katie’s success is another shining example of a Student Motorsport Success Story, and we wish her immense well-being, expecting to see her thriving in motorsport paddocks throughout the season.
Taking the lenses this weekend are the talented Tasha Williams (Media, Coleg Cambria) and Aimee-Grace Shaw (Photography, NSCG). These visual storytellers will be expertly capturing the intensity of competition and the vibrant atmosphere, ensuring every moment is documented. Under Bernice Bradley’s mentorship, they’ll further hone their skills in composition, lighting, and rapid-response action photography, creating compelling visual narratives.
Journalism & Presenting: Millie Johnston (Sports Journalism, The University of Lincoln) and Max Lovejoy (Sports Journalism, University of Derby). Guided by Andy Lloyd, they will be engaging directly with teams, drivers, and personnel, conducting insightful interviews and delivering captivating reports. This is a crucial opportunity for them to refine their interviewing techniques, on-camera presence, and ability to craft compelling narratives from the heart of the paddock.
Team Integration
Each of our work experience students seamlessly integrates into the team, benefiting from direct guidance and immediate feedback, allowing them to put their theoretical knowledge into practice and build tangible skills. They enjoyed another superb weekend with the Student Motorsport Media team back in May at Oulton Park, demonstrating exceptional engagement and enthusiasm throughout.
As noted, this event’s particular focus on media activities with the competition teams underscores our commitment to holistic development. While the thrill of racing is paramount, we ensure our teams embrace the wider, crucial aspects of motorsport, such as promotion, marketing, and media engagement. Our work experience candidates will be instrumental in supporting these initiatives, from documenting team media activities and conducting on-camera interviews with student media representatives to inspiring creative social media campaigns.
This integrated approach ensures our teams are not just developing future drivers and team personnel but also well-rounded professionals who understand the importance of media in securing sponsorship, engaging fans, and building a strong brand.
Media Support
The Student Motorsport Media Team will be there to provide support and guidance across all aspects of media, whether it is interviewing techniques, social media strategies or photography skills. Short training sessions at the circuit will be available for students looking to develop their skills in all aspects of media and promotion.
Racing Action
Looking ahead to the track action, Anglesey will see a return to the triple-header format. Qualifying and the first race of the weekend will take place on Saturday June the 7th followed two further contests on Sunday.
Boston College Racing returns to Anglesey after making their Student Motorsport debut at the circuit in 2023. As mentioned, Stuart Bliss, driving the team’s #18 Autobliss-backed Boston College Racing 1 Toyota Aygo, currently heads the Competition standings after three class victories and a second-place finish at Snetterton in April. Bliss’s teammate Andrew Dyer is 8th in the standings after a trio of podium finishes at the opening weekend followed by a points deduction for a penalty. A DNF in Race One at Oulton Park means that the #15 RTW Vans & Conversions-backed Toyota sits on 40 points, two points East Surrey College and its driver Jack Wheeler.
Reigning Student Motorsport title holders Team Northbrook Racing returns to the scene of Richard Jepp’s two class victories in 2023, having expanded to a two-car line-up starting in 2024. Jepp, at the wheel of the team’s #65 Gen II Peugeot 107, has taken one class win in 2025, in contrast to the four victories that the Harwin-backed driver had secured by this stage in 2024. Teammate Ari Barker, piloting the #87 TNR2 Peugeot, has enjoyed a solid start to the season with a 5th- and 4th-place finish at Snetterton in April. Barker’s experience and confidence in the car are reflected in his current Student Motorsport standing of 4th, just two points behind the #47 Sussex Motorsport 1 Citroen C1 driven by Alex Jackson.
West Suffolk College has not enjoyed the best of luck for the start of the 2025 season. 2024 Student Motorsport runner-up Brady Pollock, driver of the #12 WSC ME Toyota, had an incident in Race Two at Snetterton and was unable to start the final race of the weekend in Norfolk. A podium finish at Oulton Park shows that the competitive fire still burns bright in the young driver, and we can expect to see the #12 car fighting for class honours in Wales.
Pollock’s teammate Haydn Payne, who has joined WSC for the 2025 season, also had a non-scoring round at Snetterton. Payne is currently 6th in the Competition standings and will be looking to move up the Student Motorsport points table with a good showing at Anglesey.
With West Suffolk College being the only three-car squad on the Student Motorsport grid, Glenn Bee will be back in the driving seat of the #119 West Suffolk College BEE Citroen C1. Owner of Norwich-based Bee Auto Electrical, Glenn Bee is sharing the car for the 2025 season with his son Benjamin. Ben drove the #119 car to 11th in class last time out at Oulton Park and is using the season to develop his race craft with the support of his father.
Sussex Motorsports has enjoyed a highly competitive start to the 2025 season with drivers Alex Jackson and Toby Owen finishing in the top ten in every round so far and Jackson, driver of the #47 Sussex Motorsport 1 Citroen, finishing in sight of a class podium at Oulton Park with a 4th place finish in the first and only race.
For a team at the start of their first full season, Sussex Motorsport has the enthusiasm and ambition to be challenging for regular podium finishes in 2025 so expect to see Shiv Bhagnari’s squad in fighting form on the shores of Anglesey.
Emilia Vincent re-joined the Student Motorsport grid at Oulton Park for the first time 2025, having previously competed with Wiltshire College and University Centre. At the wheel of the smartly liveried #174 QE Motorsport Gen II Peugeot 108, Emilia finished 10th in class on her first outing. QE Motorsport, the race team of Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, is the only team on the grid with team members of school age, and Helen Snuggs’ squad will be looking forward to considerably more track time in Wales to give Emilia Vincent the chance to get comfortable with the #174 Peugeot.
City College Norwich returns to Anglesey with Elliot Lettis at the wheel of the #333 Peugeot 107. Rounds 6, 7 and 8 may well be the final opportunity to see the 2023 CityCar Cup champion in a CCN car before he moves within the Student Motorsport grid. Team Principal Leon Wilde is currently talking to prospective drivers, and we can expect more news on who will be in the driving seat for the remainder of the season in the coming weeks.
Brooklands Technical College joined the SMo Competition at Oulton Park, but novice driver Junior Gravina-Read was unable to finish Race One due to a technical issue. The team made an early exit from the Cheshire circuit but had thoroughly enjoyed their first Student Motorsport outing and gained much valuable experience. Team Principal Marios Katzis and his team are looking forward to building on that experience when the Competition gets underway again at Anglesey.
Jack Wheeler drove the #57 East Surrey College Citroen C1 to a best placed finish in class of 6th in the final race at the season opener at Snetterton. Team Principal Laurence Sait will be looking to get their car further up the Competition grid at Anglesey. Currently 7th in the Competition standings, Wheeler has finished 2nd and 3rd for the past two seasons and knows that, with the right car, he can fight for class and overall wins.
NESCOT College Racing (North East Surrey College of Technology) made their Student Motorsport debut at Snetterton in April, and the team’s #22 Peugeot 107 in the hands of Paul Mellor has had a best-placed finish of 7th in class in the final race in Norfolk. Team Principal George Keith is highly competitive, so he will be looking to see the team finish inside the class top ten at Anglesey.
LIVE Action
Track action for Rounds 6, 7 & 8 of the 2025 Student Motorsport Competition in LIVE via the BRSCC YouTube Channel, and gets underway with qualifying at 11.10am on Saturday June the 7th with the lights going out for Race One at 5.20pm.
Sunday June the 8th sees two 15-minute contests with Race Two starting at 12.35pm and the final race of the day at 4.30pm. The weekend will be live-streamed on YouTube at @TheBRSCC.