Student Motorsport Challenge Powered by Motorsport Jobs and Pitlane Development returns to Snetterton for Rounds 8 & 9

After the opening rounds of the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge produced thrilling racing on the Snetterton 300 circuit, the premier global racing series for schools, colleges and universities returns to Norfolk for Rounds 8 & 9. For the latest Snetterton rounds, the Student Motorsport Challenge will be supported by Motorsport Jobs, the largest and most responsive job site for the motorsport industry. With over 1,000 vacancies at any one time and 100,000 monthly users of the site, Motorsport Jobs is used by Formula 1 teams and throughout the industry to locate and recruit the very best qualified candidates. “Motorsport Jobs is pleased to be working in partnership with Student Motorsport to help Challenge participants with their motorsport job search,” said James Robinson, Head of Motorsport Jobs. “Motorsportjobs.com is the best job search platform in the industry and features more than 1,000 open vacancies in motorsport. Job seekers can upload their CV for recruiters to view, set personalised job alerts and apply for jobs directly.” Motorsport Jobs will be working in association with Pitlane Development, whose mission is to bridge the gap between education and starting a career within the motorsport industry. Pitlane Development makes something that seems an unachievable goal a reality. Their services include 1-2-1 online career development sessions, work experience, guest talks and free career advice. Challenge team members will have the opportunity to view a presentation by founder Ollie Walsh on Saturday July the 20th. Ollie Walsh will also be available for questions and consultations on Sunday. In addition to the usual paddock and on-track activities at Snetterton, learners will also be able to benefit from a presentation given by Charlotte and Jordan Robertson of Zed8 Motorsport. Charlotte has been a Team Manager within motorsport for a number of years while Jordan, formerly a student of series organiser JP Latham at the College of West Anglia, has worked as a mechanic, both within teams and as a freelancer, in racing series throughout the UK and Europe. Charlotte and Jordan will be presenting on race car preparation, inspection and set-up, three very distinct disciplines, in the Student Motorsport Challenge awning on Saturday afternoon (time TBC). This session will allow students the opportunity to reinforce classroom teaching with guidance from motorsport professionals. The session will end with a Q & A session. 12 cars will be on the Student Motorsport Challenge Powered by Motorsport Jobs and Pitlane Development at Snetterton after Donington Park’s double-header in sweltering conditions saw Team Northbrook Racing extend their lead at the top of the Challenge standings. West Suffolk College ME’s Brady Pollock was pushing hard to take a brace of 2nd place finishes to keep the pressure on TNR’s Richard Jepp. As evidence of the maturity of the Student Motorsport Challenge, four of the overall top six places in the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship drivers’ standings are occupied by Challenge drivers. TNR’s Richard Jepp is 2nd overall on 335 points followed by WSC’s Brady Pollock on 295 points and QE Motorsports’ Haydn Payne on 289 points. QE Motorsports 2 pilot Joshua Jackson sits in 6th overall, just four points behind Toby Owen.

Team Northbrook Racing: With a 13-point advantage at the top of the standings, Team Northbrook Racing 1 have taken a strong lead in the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge. Driver of the #65 TNR Peugeot 107 Richard Jepp has won the Challenge class in six out of the seven contests so far this season and was only narrowly beaten by QE Motorsports’ Joshua Jackson the last time the series visited Snetterton. With two full seasons’ experience behind them, Emma Norton’s Sussex-based squad is now well disciplined to deal with the challenges that race weekends offer and TNR is currently the team to beat in 2024. Ari Barker, driver of the TNR 2 #87 Peugeot returned to the Challenge for rounds 6 & 7 at Donington after an incident at Oulton Park required the acquisition of new car and rapid race preparation. The team turned the car round in two weeks, despite the work falling in the middle of exam time, and Barker rewarded the squad with a top ten finish in class in Race One. The Oulton Park incident does not appear to have strengthened the ex-karter’s confidence and Barker will no doubt be pushing hard to move up the standings over the second half of the season.

West Suffolk College: Alan Barrett’s West Suffolk College ME team will be using the Snetterton rounds of the Student Motorsport Challenge to invite representatives from schools local to the college to observe how the series benefits learners and tutors alike, further evidence that the reach of the Challenge extends beyond just mechanical trackside experience. Brady Pollock, making his Challenge debut this season, has proved a rising star in the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge, taking four 2nd-place finishes in class in as many races over the last two race weekends. As a result, the West Suffolk College ME #12 Toyota Aygo moved into 2nd place in the class standings over rounds 6 & 7 last time out at Donington. Pollock’s confidence as a driver is increasing with every race and after finishing less than five seconds behind TNR’s Richard Jepp in Race Two at Donington, Pollock will be fighting for his first victory in class when the series moves to Snetterton. Teammate Andrew Payne, pilot of the #73 West Suffolk College ME2 Peugeot and ambassador for Car Chase Heroes and Rocked-!T motorsport luggage, currently sits 9th in the Challenge standings after recording his best finish in class with a 6th place in Race Two at Donington. Payne is a highly experienced driver of performance machinery and has finished every race so far this season. We can expect to see the #73 WSC ME2 Peugeot looking for top eight finishes in class when the series visits Norfolk.

QE Motorsport: For a squad that made its Challenge debut just over a year ahead with driver Athur Simondet, QE Motorsport, led by Helen Snuggs, has seen a remarkable rise in its fortunes in 2024. The team expanded to a two-car line-up with the arrival of pilots Joshua Jackson and Haydn Payne, the latter moving from West Suffolk College in the off-season. A spectacular debut by Jackson at Snetterton in April saw the #27 Citroen C1 take two 2nd-place finishes and one victory in class. Joshua Jackson has been so far unable to replicate that early season form but still sits 3rd in the class standings and has yet to finish outside the top eight in class this year. Can Jackson repeat his Snetterton performance in July? We would not bet against it! Haydn Payne has quietly and confidently gone about his business in 2024 with a series of top four finishes in class before taking his first podium finish of the season at Donington. Payne, son of WSC’s Andrew Payne, is growing in experience with every outing and will certainly be hunting for more silverware when the series returns to Snetterton.

East Surrey College: Currently sitting 4th in the class standings after seven rounds, Jason Chapman’s Redhill-based team has finished on the podium three times so far in 2024. Snetterton is a happy hunting ground for driver Jack Wheeler who took two Challenge victories when the series visited Snetterton in July 2023. A master of mixed conditions, Wheeler briefly took the overall lead on a soaking track last year so the South-coast driver will be confident whatever the weather throws at the Challenge grid at Snetterton in 2024. The East Surrey College #57 Citroen C1 currently sits 4th in the Challenge standings allowing for dropped scores.

City College Norwich: After Team Principal Leon Wilde took the selfless decision to step down from driving duties earlier in the season, 2023 CityCar Cup Champion Elliot Lettis has provided proven race winners feedback to the Norfolk-base squad. Lettis’s commitment and teamwork has been rewarded with two podium finishes since his return and the CCN 1 Peugeot 107 now sits 6th in the class standings after seven rounds. The sister #19 CCN 2 Citroen, in the capable hands of novice racer Glenn Bee, has finished every round so far in 2024 with Bee’s best finish coming at Donington with a 9th in class in Race Two. With his confidence and experience growing with every race, we could see #19 Citroen moving up the Challenge grid as the team competes at its local circuit.

Boston College Racing: Lee Crisp’s Lincolnshire-based team has fought hard in 2024 and is making the very best of all the opportunities that competing in the Student Motorsport Challenge can offer, not just to the Engineering and Automotive learners but also to the wider college. Students studying photography joined the Challenge Media Team at Donington and made an immediate impact, adding to the breadth of imagery that the team could capture. Katie and Andrew are set to rejoin the Challenge at Snetterton, supplemented by further student support in a demonstration of the wider work experience opportunities that Challenge involvement offers.

Young Rory Pickles, driver of the #52 BCR 2 Citroen, appears to have unshakeable confidence, despite only making his debut in cars this season. Excluding a DNF in Race Two at Donington, Pickles has not finished outside the top seven finishers in class in the previous six rounds. The #52 BCR entry currently sits 8th in the Challenge standings. Due to sickness, Nick Abbott will unfortunately not be competing at Snetterton and the newly-built #34 car will sit out rounds 8 & 9.

Sussex Motorsports: Sussex Motorsports visits Snetterton for its third weekend in the Student Motorsport Challenge after driver Colin Dunn took the team’s best series finish last time out at Donington with a 5th place in Race Two. Shive Bhagnari’s and Nathan Lee’s squad are working hard to build their social media engagement and commercial support. The Brighton-based team announced backing from Backstreet Clothing, the company built by students who reinvest part of all their orders back into the team to help with club costs. Bhagnari and Lee have ambitious plans for Sussex Motorsport and a solid result in Norfolk will set the team up nicely for the second half of the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge.

Barracksport: The #11 Barracksport Citroen, driven by James Reilly, currently sits 7th in the Challenge standings with a best finish of 4th at Snetterton on the opening weekend. Reilly will be looking to repeat that form on his return to Norfolk for Rounds 8 & 9. Due to commitments away from the race track this weekend, James Smith and the #49 Barracksport GSR Citroen will not be on the grid at Snetterton, The team looks forward to welcoming the #49 car back for rounds 10, 11 and 12.

“I am delighted that despite the educational summer break, and subsequently some absences, we will still have 12 entries on track for the Snetterton weekend,” said JP Latham. “I want to thank Motorsport Jobs and Pitlane Development for their support at Snetterton. Career development, and the critical choices that our learners and students will be making, is uppermost in the minds of many of our team members as they prepare to enter the world of professional motorsport. I am delighted that our teams will have the opportunity to benefit from Motorsport Jobs and Pitlane Development’s experience and knowledge over the weekend.

“On-track SMo Challenge action is getting more competitive with every weekend this season. Can WSC’s Brady Pollock get his first Challenge win at Snetterton? Can QE Motorsport’s Haydn Payne finish on the podium again? Will we see QE’s Joshua Jackson competing for Challenge honours? We are certainly in for a treat at Snetterton and I can’t wait to see the Challenge paddock filling up again and cars out on track on Saturday July the 20th.” Track action for rounds 8 & 9 of the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge, part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship gets underway with qualifying at 9.50 on Saturday July the 20th. The lights go out for Race One at 12.15. The race weekend will be lived-streamed on the BRSCC YouTube channel at @TheBRSCC.