Words by: Andy Lloyd – Head of Media
Images by: India Knowlson, Aimeè-Grace Stevens and Alex Jackson-Beale
Rounds Three and Four of the 2026 Student Motorsport Competition – part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship – took place on the Snetterton 200 circuit over a weekend of changeable weather. Team Northbrook Racing (TNR) and driver Richard Jepp left the Norfolk circuit with two wins to lead the standings on 81 points. Meanwhile, Boston College Racing’s (BCR) Alex Foden and Andrew Dyer secured podiums across both their contests, with Foden taking a class win in Race Three.
Qualifying: Foden Claims Last-Gasp Pole
In only his second weekend of Competition, BCR’s Alex Foden secured the overall CityCar and Competition class pole position. The 18-car grid met near-perfect track conditions on Saturday for the 15-minute session.
Early benchmarks were set by Carter Steel (East Surrey College Racing) and NESCOT Racing’s Elliot Lettis, but triple title-holders TNR were the first to break the 1:41 barrier with Richard Jepp clocking a 1:40.832. As the session wound down, the leaderboard shifted rapidly. With less than 30 seconds remaining. Foden was briefly knocked off the front row by Alistair May in the #392 Citroen C1 but the BCR pilot delivered a final flyer to snatch pole from Jepp by less than 0.03 seconds.
QE Motorsport’s Alex Turner unfortunately suffered an off-track excursion at Turn One, returning to the paddock with front-end damage. Foden’s teammate Andrew Dyer qualified third in class, closely followed by the #57 TNR2 Peugeot 107 driven by Jack Wheeler. Jenson Jackson (JAS/HW Motorsports) qualified fifth in class, leading a tight pack including Luke Bate (ESC), George Antoniou (Brooklands Technical College Racing / BTCR 1) and Elliot Lettis (NESCOT College Racing 1).
Brooklands Technical College Racing’s Luke Power was unable to set a qualifying time due to a technical issue which the team worked hard throughout the rest of the day to resolve, allowing Power to join the grid, albeit at the back, for Sunday’s racing.
Alex Foden was delighted with his pole position.
“This is my first pole position with Boston so I’m happy with that,” said Foden. “I got quite lucky as there was a double waved yellow at Turn One. Richard Jepp and I got a four-car tow down the back straight – he gave me a little nudge so I’m pleased with that and we got a bit lucky with the two so looking forward to tomorrow now.”
Race One: Jepp Triumphs in Strategic Opener
As Groups A and B lined up for Sunday’s first race, Foden led from the start but Jepp made a decisive pass on the opening lap. A trio of SMo cars held the top three overall positions early on, even as drama unfolded behind them when the #131 car struck the barriers at Riches.
As light rain began to fall, Jepp and Foden pulled away from Andrew Dyer. The battle intensified in the final minutes; Foden passed Jepp on lap seven, only for Jepp to retake the lead almost immediately. At the chequered flag, Jepp in the #65 TNR Peugeot 108 took his third win of the season, finishing just a quarter-second ahead of Foden, with Dyer completing an all-SMo overall podium.
East Surrey College’s Luke Bate finished fourth in class followed by ESC’s Jack Wheeler, NESCOT Racing’s Elliot Lettis and BTCR1’s George Antoniou. ESC2’s Carter Steel finished eighth in class with Pitlane Development’s Reuben Lowe, Paddock Speedshop’s Aby Bennett, NSCG Racing 2’s Jake Gittus and City College Norwich 2’s Sean Feehan completing the Competition finishers.
Richard Jepp was delighted with his first victory on the Snetterton 200 circuit.
“I got an unreal start and the plan was to get in front of Alex Foden straight away,” he said in the post-race press conference. “I knew he’d been quick all day in testing and in qualifying so I had to get in front and try and hold them off but they were coming at me pretty quick so I had to be quite tactical in the way I held them up.
“The race was much tougher than I think maybe it looked and I had to really plan what I was doing.”
Race Two: Jackson and JAS/HW Shine
Richard Jepp started Race Two from the overall pole. While he maintained a slim lead at the front, a fierce battle for second in class emerged between Jenson Jackson (JAS/HW) and NESCOT’s Elliot Lettis.
The rhythm of the race was interrupted when Aby Bennett’s Paddock Speedshop Citroen lost a wheel, triggering a safety car with six minutes remaining. On the restart, Jepp held his nerve to take another overall win. Jackson secured a brilliant second in class, fending off Lettis.
BTCR1’s George Antoniou finished fourth in class followed by Waltham Forest College Racing’s Harry Sutton, Pitlane Development’s Reuben Lowe, QE Motorsport 1’s Emilia Vincent and BTCR2’s Luke Power. QE Motorsport 2’s Alex Turner completed the Competition finishers with CCN’s Sean Feehan joining Aby Bennett as a non-finisher.
Jenson Jackson praised his team’s evolution in the post-race press conference.
“The team has done an absolutely fantastic job and everybody is really pulling their weight now,” he said. “I think moving forward we’ve got a really strong chance to continue getting on the podium for the rest of the season. The Heriot-Watt students have done phenomenally well and it’s great to see the team gelling as one whole unit and working together.”
Race Three: Foden Returns to the Top
The weekend concluded with Race Three, where Alex Foden again started from pole. Although Alistair May grabbed the early lead, the BCR duo of Foden and Dyer remained in close contention.
The BCR pair traded fastest laps throughout the sprint but, at the finish line, Foden secured the overall and class win. Teammate Dyer finished third on the road and second in class. Jenson Jackson continued his “stellar weekend” with a second podium of the day, while Jack Wheeler (TNR2) and Carter Steel (ESC2) rounded out the top five. WFC Racing’s Harry Sutton, BTCR2’s Luke Power, QE Motorsport 1’s Emilia Vincent, ESC1’s Luke Bate, NSCG2’s Jake Gittus and QE2’s Alex Turner completed the Competition finishers.
Competition Standings and Looking Ahead
Following the action in Norfolk, Team Northbrook Racing 1 currently leads the standings on 81 points followed by Boston College Racing 1 on 69 points, JAS/HW Motorsports on 62 points and TNR2 on 59 points. BCR2 completes the top five on 58 points.
For Emma Norton, Team Principal of Team Northbrook Racing, the weekend had been a resounding success.
“It’s been a fantastic start to the season for us and we’re really proud of our two drivers and, as ever, really proud of the hard work that our students put in, “ she said at the post-race press conference. “The students are doing an amazing job, as are our support staff – really brilliant!
“We have quite a few students (involved in our programme) so the most important thing is that they all feel part of the team, that they all work together and that they all learn from each other and that’s really important to us.”
In addition to the on-track action, the Student Motorsport Competition introduced post-race press conferences in its new-for-2026 larger awning. The press conference concept will be developed as the season progresses. The Media Team was also joined by India Knowlson, a renowned sports photographer who currently mentors within the Click Diversity initiative and has worked within FIM racing. Additional photographic support was kindly provided by Aimeè-Grace Stevens and Alex Jackson-Beale.
Now in its fifth season, the Student Motorsport Competition is kindly supported by Acorn Printing, MHR Teamwear, Tuff-Tile, Nankang Tyres UK, Raceparts (UK) Ltd, the BRSCC, Motorsport UK and Racecar Engineering, to whom the sincere gratitude of the organisers is extended.
The Student Motorsport Competition resumes on the Silverstone National circuit on June 13th and 14th for rounds five and six, contested over three races.
