.png "MSVT")
Miata Trophy returned on Saturday 15 March, with Snetterton’s technical 300 circuit playing host to a 30-strong grid for the opening two rounds of the 2025 season.
It proved to be a day to remember for Hills Motorsport’s Aidan Hills, as the #8 driver recorded an impressive double victory. Championship debutant James Blake-Baldwin (Universal Security) and 2023 Miata Trophy Champion Declan Lee (Hills Motorsport) also both enjoyed strong starts to their campaigns with double podium finishes.
Qualifying
Hills demonstrated his quality in qualifying with a stellar lap of 2m14.749s topping the session. Multiple race-winner, and teammate of Hills, Will Morris was another to look sharp, securing second on the grid after a brief stint as the session’s pacesetter.
Blake-Baldwin and Lee were the other two drivers who spent stints at the top of the timing sheet, eventually qualifying third and fourth respectively.
Reigning Champion John Langridge would start the day’s first race in P5, with: Simon Baldwin, Tyler McAlpin, James Cossins, Oliver Allwood and Jack Brewer rounding out the top ten. Paul Sheard Autosport’s Benjamin Taylor was the fastest qualifier in Class ND Maxi.
Race One
An assured display from Hills earned victory in the season’s opening race. Despite strong pressure from the ensuing pack throughout, Hills didn’t crack and led over the start/finish line every lap, from the first till last.
When the checkered flag fell, just 2.356s covered the top five finishers – an early indicator of the competitiveness of Miata Trophy in 2025.
Blake-Baldwin, who had managed to get the jump on Morris in the first half of the race, finished 1.175s behind Hills to take second - a mere 0.394s ahead of Lee in third. Morris would have to settle for fourth, while Langridge’s title defence would begin with a fifth-placed finish.
Baldwin, Cossins, Allwood, Brewer and Drew Fletcher completed the top ten, with the latter rising an impressive eight places from where he qualified. Aimee Watts and Nicholas Stott also enjoyed productive opening races by gaining five places each.
Blake-Baldwin recorded the race’s fastest lap, with a time of 2m15.612s.
Race Two
Miata Trophy’s new qualifying format for the 2025 season sees the grid for the day’s second race determined by the result from the original qualifying session, but with the top ten reversed.
The new format caused some great entertainment for both driver and spectator, with overtaking aplenty through the race’s early stages. On debut, Cossins led his first-ever Miata Trophy laps, before he was reeled in and passed by his surging teammate Hills.
Blake-Baldwin and Lee both displayed some excellent overtakes as they made their way through the field, while Watts, Fletcher and Stott were both on the rise once more.
After passing Cossins, Hills did not relinquish the lead and secured his second race win of the day. Blake-Baldwin and Lee’s efforts were rewarded with second and third, with early race leader Cossins finishing fourth.
Brewer ended his debut Miata Trophy meeting with a strong fifth-place, finishing just 0.322s ahead of Watts. McAlpin, John Robinson, Allwood and Stott completed the top ten finishers.
Taylor finished first in Class ND Maxi, while Roan Lundy, Jay Coombs and Will Powell will all be pleased with their results, having finished five places higher than where they started.
Hills completed a great day with the fastest lap in Round 2, courtesy of a 2m15.665s.
Congratulations to all of our podium finishers!
Further congratulations goes to Patrick Watts Racing’s Aimee Watts for being the recipient of the first-ever Miata Trophy Driver of the Day trophy, chosen and awarded by the Mazda MX-5 Owners Club.
Attention now turns to Rounds 3 & 4 of the Miata Trophy season, on Sunday 6 April, at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.
Photo: Gary Hawkins Photography