Donington Park Event Report

Two Hills Motorsport drivers shared the spoils when Miata Trophy made its debut on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit, with Aidan Hills and James Cossins winning one race apiece on Saturday 19 July.

Qualifying

Hills was quick out of the blocks in qualifying, but the championship leader’s time was swiftly bettered by AB Motorsport’s Oliver Allwood and Mcalpin Motorsport’s Tyler Mcalpin.

Allwood’s impressive lap of 2m1.896s was a benchmark too strong for others to best, sealing the front of the grid for the #63 car. Mcalpin narrowly missed out on pole position by 0.111s, but was rewarded with the second spot on the front row.

Cossins, Hills, Declan Lee, Alex Miller, Chris Dawkins (on Miata Trophy debut), Brian Chandler, Will Morris and Nicholas Stott rounded out the top ten fastest qualifiers.

Race One

A fantastic opening lap secured the race lead for Hills, with Mcalpin behind in second and polesitter Allwood dropping to fourth. Elsewhere, previous Miata Trophy Champions John Langridge and Lee had begun to charge through the field, with the latter recovering excellently from a poor start.

Allwood utilised his qualifying pace to get in front of Mcalpin and take third place, while Cossins and Hills fought for the lead. In tricky conditions, there was plenty of action to be found throughout the grid.  Jack Brewer and Brian Chandler enjoyed an exciting battle, narrowly ahead of the likes of Lee, Morris, Colin Bysouth and Langridge.

Nothing could separate Hills and Cossins at the front as the race progressed, with less than half a second between the two over the timing line on most laps. Despite Cossins’ best efforts, when the checkered flag fell it was Hills who would be claiming a well-fought victory and become the first Miata Trophy driver to have won twice at Donington Park.

The difference between the first two finishers after an exhilarating race - just 0.473s!

The final step of the podium went to Allwood after a solid outing in the #63 car. Lee’s tremendous recovery resulted in a fourth-placed finish, slightly ahead of Morris in fifth. Langridge had gained an impressive ten places to end the race in P6, ahead of: Mcalpin, Brewer, Chandler, Bysouth and Miller.

Race Two

Given the excitement of the day’s earlier race, and the top-ten reversed grid, anticipation was high for a cracking Round 8.

Morris made the most of starting the race second, by seizing the race lead by the end of the first lap. Both Hills and Cossins stormed their way through the field to finish the first lap second and third respectively. Allwood again looked sharp, while Langridge picked his way through the field once more.

A sideways moment into the Melbourne Hairpin on the second lap dropped Hills down the order, opening the door for likes of Allwood and Lee to get past. Allwood was then onto the back of Morris and Cossins, which resulted in an entertaining three-way battle for the lead. Cossins held the advantage, but the other two were pressing hard.

Again, there were plenty of fantastic battles on track throughout the field, including a tremendous one between: Drew Fletcher, Jack Hodges, Alex Miller and Will Powell.

Out front, Cossins excellently maintained a small buffer to Morris and Allwood behind. Any mistake would have proved costly, but Cossins made no such error to take the checkered flag and record his first-ever Miata Trophy victory!

Morris finished just 1.517s behind Cossins in second, but the #17 driver will be delighted to be back on the podium once more. Allwood completed a solid day with a second podium, finishing third.

Lee recorded his second fourth-placed finish of the day, with: Hills, Langridge, Brewer, Stott, Hodges and Miller completing the top ten finishers.

To add to Cossins’ delight, the Hills Motorsport driver recorded the fastest lap in both Round 7 and Round 8.

Miata Trophy returns on Saturday 9 August for two rounds of the picturesque Oulton Park International circuit.

Photo: Gary Hawkins