The battle to be crowned 2018 Sunoco Whelen and 240 Challenge champions intensified further last weekend when a number of potential winners from the Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup and Mini Challenge Cooper classes fell out of contention.

Attention now turns to this weekend’s crucial meeting at Donington Park where British GT and Mini Challenge JCW – two championships with drivers very much in the running to win both Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drives – stage their final rounds of the season.

Whelen: Noble Jnr and Bell come up just short at wet Donington

LMP3 Cup rivals Colin Noble Jnr and Matt Bell no longer have a chance of winning this January’s senior Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive after both failed to score enough points during their Donington Park season finale.

With the title already decided in Noble Jnr’s favour, both Pro drivers – neither of whom are eligible to take part in qualifying – were desperate to improve their Sunoco Whelen Challenge chances by winning the championship’s final two races and scoring double points for fastest laps.

Bell managed just that in the opener, while contact between himself and Noble Jnr put paid to the Ecurie Ecosse driver’s chances initially. The newly-crowned champion then looked on target to make amends in the wet second race by setting fastest Pro lap before aquaplaning off into the barriers and out of a comfortable lead.

Bell came home second to further boost his weekend’s good work. Indeed, such was his haul that the United Autosports driver jumped three places in the standings from seventh to fourth and 0.13 points ahead of Noble Jnr, who slipped from third to fifth.

However, Bell’s final total of 68.21 will not be enough to beat current leader Stuart Middleton regardless of where the British GT4 Pro finishes this weekend. His lowest theoretical average score of 68.75 will still be a shade more than Bell’s.

Nevertheless, Middleton cannot afford to back off, and certainly not when four other drivers are still in contention to win the coveted fully-paid-for DPi seat at Daytona. He and HHC Motorsport co-driver Will Tregurtha are both chasing the British GT4 title this weekend but will also be keeping one eye on each other’s performances as they battle for Whelen top-spot. Middleton currently holds a 2.45-point advantage, which would be negated if Tregurtha were to set fastest qualifying time or race lap.

In the event of a tie Sunoco Challenge organisers will look back through ‘second-best’ personal results to determine a winner.

The pair’s only GT4 title rivals also remain in Whelen contention. Alex Reed and David Pittard are currently tied sixth but will need a very good weekend to both steal the British GT title and potentially jump all five drivers ahead of them. The Lanan Racing duo are 8.56 points behind Middleton at present.

Meanwhile, Stuart Moseley is now the only driver able to prevent a British GT ace from claiming the Sunoco Whelen Challenge title for the fourth year running. His recent exploits at Silverstone boosted the Radical European Masters SR3 racer’s season average by 3.69 points to leave him 6.45 shy of Middleton. Crucially, though, his potential maximum with six races remaining is far higher than the current leader’s theoretical best – 84.15 vs 97.97 – ensuring that this year’s winner could be decided at the very last Sunoco Challenge-eligible event of the season!

There’s no change in the rest of the top-10: Sam Tordoff is best placed of British GT’s eligible GT3 contingent in eighth, Joe Osborne (GT4) is ninth and Jon Barnes (GT3) 10th.

240: Mixed weekend for Mini Challenge Cooper front-runners

Jessica Hawkins missed her chance to maintain the pressure on Rick Parfitt Jnr at the top of the Sunoco 240 Challenge table last weekend, while Mini Challenge Cooper rival Matt Hammond continued his late charge at Donington.

Following a strong start to the season Hawkins’ performances have tailed off a little in recent weeks to the point that she has now slipped to third in the standings behind Jon Minshaw, who will be battling fellow GT3 Am Parfitt Jnr for the British GT title and 240 points lead this weekend. Second and fourth places at Donington saw her average score drop to 91.33, 7.67 points off the current lead and just 0.26 ahead of Hammond who again scored strongly thanks to a pair of victories and pole positions.

Even a disaster for Parfitt Jnr this weekend would see him end the season on 89.1 points, a very respectable total that will be tough to beat. Minshaw, Hawkins and Hammond all have one final opportunity to do just that, along with Mini Challenge JCW leader Brett Smith who also competes for the final time in 2017 at Donington this weekend. He lies fifth at present, 0.44 points behind Hammond who won’t be back in Cooper action until October 28/29.

That same weekend will see the 240 Challenge’s only other potential winner, Jacopo Sebastiani, conclude his F3 Cup campaign at Oulton Park. His maximum average of 91.94 is just enough to beat Parfitt Jnr’s worst-case scenario score.

GT Cup GTA driver Dominic Paul is seventh and first of the drivers unable to win this year’s title. LMP3 Cup champion Alasdair McCaig slips to eighth having seen his Sunoco chances go the same way as Ecurie Ecosse co-driver Noble Jnr last weekend, while Shane Kelly and Jack Lang complete the top-10.

Remaining Sunoco Challenge-eligible events:

Sep 22-24      Donington Park – British GT & Mini Challenge JCW

Sep 30-1 Oct  Monza – Radical European Masters

Oct 14-15      Snetterton – GT Cup, Radical Challenge & Mini Challenge Cooper

Oct 20-21      Oulton Park – Britcar Endurance Championship

Oct 27-28      Oulton Park – F3 Cup

Oct 28-29      Barcelona – Radical European Masters SR3

What are the Sunoco Challenges?

The Sunoco Challenges provide an accurate assessment and comparison of performances across multiple championships during any given season. Points are awarded for qualifying and race results, including fastest lap, which are then converted into an individual average score for each competing driver over the course of a full campaign.

That means each race weekend offers drivers an equal chance to climb and drop down their respective Sunoco Challenge table. It also ensures that performances are taken into consideration across an entire season while placing less emphasis on one-off or unfair results.

As in previous years this season’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge champion will win a fully funded drive aboard a Whelen-sponsored prototype in the 2018 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Meanwhile, Sunoco’s 240 Challenge champion will contest the 240-minute Daytona support race held over the same January weekend at the wheel of a Sunoco-liveried GT4 car.

The multitude of Sunoco Challenge-eligible series taking place across Britain last weekend resulted in a new name topping Whelen’s standings for the first time since April and several fresh faces emerging as potential 240 winners as the 2017 season edged towards its conclusion.

Whelen: Advantage Middleton as low numbers hamper Noble Jnr’s bid

Colin Noble Jnr had topped the Sunoco Whelen Challenge standings since late April, but that all changed at Snetterton last weekend when a low turnout contributed towards the Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup ace – who sealed the inaugural crown along with Ecurie Ecosse co-driver Alasdair McCaig – losing his grip on January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive.

A victory and third place finish would ordinarily have resulted in a solid points haul. Instead, the LMP3 Cup Pro’s overall average score dropped by 7.03 marks to 71.85, 4.54 fewer than new Whelen leader and British GT4 champion-elect Stuart Middleton who contested his season’s penultimate round seven days earlier.

Such was Noble Jnr’s drop that Middleton’s HHC Motorsport co-driver Will Tregurtha also rose one place to second overall. He remains in contention, despite the 2.45-point deficit, by virtue of the additional points on offer individually for pole position and fastest race lap.

The HHC crew’s only British GT4 title rivals are also Whelen contenders, although Lanan Racing’s Alex Reed and David Pittard – currently tied fourth on 67.83 points – will need a perfect final weekend at Donington Park if either are to overturn both their Drivers’ Championship and Challenge arrears.

Stuart Moseley has also suffered from low grid numbers this season, but the Radical SR3 European Masters front-runner remains just 10.14 points behind Middleton with three events remaining in which to drastically improve his score.

Matt Bell, like LMP3 Cup championship rival Noble Jnr, dropped seven points and a position due to the lack of competition last weekend, while the rest of the top-10 remains as it was with Sam Tordoff best of British GT3’s Pro contingent in eighth ahead of Joe Osborne and Jon Barnes.

This year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge therefore boils down to six drivers fighting for one fully-funded Cadillac DPi seat in January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. Noble Jnr will be first to set a benchmark score, which – with more entries expected at LMP3 Cup’s Donington finale on September 15-17 – could well be a very competitive one. Middleton, Tregurtha, Reed and Pittard all then gather at the same venue one week later for their British GT4 decider knowing exactly what they’ll need to claim both the title and provisional Whelen lead. However, any of those five drivers might be left waiting until October 29 and Radical SR3 Euro Masters’ final outing before discovering whether Moseley has done enough to steal the prize drive.

240: Don’t discount Sebastiani

While the top-five positions remained unchanged, Jacopo Sebastiani’s fantastic performance at Snetterton helped the F3 Cup championship leader also announce himself as a serious Sunoco 240 Challenge contender.

A clean sweep of three victories and fastest laps, as well as a pole position, helped increase his season’s average score by 9.71. That might have only resulted in two places gained, but – at this stage of the year – it represented a significant step that helped move the Italian to within 7.93 points of Rick Parfitt Jnr whose 99-point average remains the score to beat for now.

It’s still a sizeable deficit but, with F3 Cup’s six races spread across two weekends to come versus British GT’s single round, Sebastiani will have ample time to overturn Parfitt Jnr and the rest of the top-five’s advantage.

Sebastiani’s gain came at the expense of F3 Cup title rival Shane Kelly who slipped to seventh overall and 16.5 points shy of the 240 lead. He now requires two near-perfect weekends at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park to have any chance of catching Parfitt Jnr, Sebastiani and the rest.

Meanwhile, Alasdair McCaig will be the first of this year’s 240 protagonists to register a final score when his LMP3 Cup campaign concludes at Donington. Like Ecurie Ecosse co-driver Noble Jnr, the Scot’s chances were compromised by a lack of entries at Snetterton last weekend, which resulted in his average dropping to 82.25.

Elsewhere, Dominic Paul’s late-season charge continued despite only scoring 90% of the total points usually available due to GT Cup’s nine-car GTA class. The Spy Motorsport driver is now ninth after increasing his 2017 average by more than three points to 78.33 following victory and pole position at Snetterton. That’s one place and 2.22 points clear of Radical Challenge driver Bradley Smith, who completes the 240’s top-10.

The 240 Challenge continues this weekend when three of the top-five go head-to-head at Oulton Park’s Mini Festival. Mini Challenge Cooper championship rivals Jessica Hawkins and Matt Hammond are just 3.55 and 6.27 points behind Parfitt Jnr, while JCW title hopeful Brett Smith is another 1.3 further back.

Upcoming Sunoco Challenge-eligible events:

Aug 18-19     Oulton Park – Mini Challenge JCW, Cooper

Sep 01-03      Silverstone – Radical European Masters

                   Donington Park – Britcar Endurance Championship

Sep 08-10      Silverstone – Radical Challenge & F3 Cup

Sep 15-17      Donington Park – Mini Challenge Cooper, GT Cup, LMP3 Cup

Sep 22-24      Donington Park – British GT & Mini Challenge JCW

Colin Noble Jnr’s lead at the top of this year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge standings narrowed to less than a point at Silverstone last weekend, while both Shane Kelly and Alasdair McCaig also lost ground in their pursuit of the 240 Challenge crown.

Whelen: low numbers negate Noble’s strong showing

A low turn-out, and therefore fewer Sunoco Challenge points on offer, for the latest Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup round at Silverstone left Colin Noble Jnr facing an upward battle to maintain his near-10-point advantage.

Indeed, his victory and second place would ordinarily have generated a decent average score, but – with only 60% of the total points on offer – the Ecurie Ecosse driver instead saw his advantage slashed to just 0.96 over British GT4 championship leaders Alex Reed and David Pittard, whose campaign continues at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.

A perfect end to the season at Snetterton and Donington would help Noble Jnr accrue a final average score of 99.25 points, although that’s dependent on a minimum of 10 cars competing in each of the final four races. By comparison, Reed and Pittard’s theoretical maximum from their remaining four races is 104.10. However, it is impossible for both to finish on that score as only one can record the fastest lap in qualifying and each race.

Less than 10 points covers the next 10 drivers, but it’s British GT3 Pro Matt Griffin and his GT4 Pro counterpart Stuart Middleton who remain closest to the leaders at this stage. Both are now just 7.38 points behind Noble Jnr.

Elsewhere, Adam Mackay, Mike Robinson and Matt Bell are all separated by less than a point, the latter having dropped from fourth to eighth – despite finishing first and second – as a result of LMP3 Cup’s smaller grid last weekend.

It was a similar story for Stuart Moseley whose two poles and fastest laps at the Hungaroring still weren’t enough to overcome a second, fourth and DNF against what was a comparatively low Radical European Masters entry.

240: Hawkins holds firm as rivals falter

Drivers competing in the LMP3 Cup, F3 Cup and GT Cup at Silverstone last weekend all missed the chance to put pressure on long-time Sunoco 240 Challenge leader Jessica Hawkins, whose Mini Challenge R50 Cooper campaign resumes at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Shane Kelly required a strong F3 Cup outing in order to reduce his 16.19-point deficit, but actually lost a little ground after adding only a second and sixth to his two fastest laps. He remains fourth, behind British GT3 Ams Rick Parfitt Jnr and Jon Minshaw, but just ahead of Alasdair McCaig.

While the Scot’s co-driver, Noble Jnr, suffered as a result of the reduced LMP3 Cup entry, McCaig’s two fastest Am laps combined with a victory and second place helped restrict the damage to an overall 2.45-point loss.

The rest of the top-10 remains as it did before the weekend, with Graham Johnson best of the British GT4 Ams in sixth ahead of Mini Challenge JCW front-runner Brett Smith, and Hawkins’ R50 Cooper rival Matt Hammond.

His advantage has increased by 0.31 points over Jacopo Sebastini who, like F3 Cup rival Kelly, was compromised by race-by-race competitor and non-240-registered Wade Eastwood claiming both victories and pole positions at Silverstone.

Several of the weekend’s few improvements came in GT Cup’s GTA class ranks. Dominic Paul moved up one place and 1.48 points to 12th overall, while co-drivers Nick Mercer and Gary Smith jumped eight spots to 16th and 17th.

This weekend sees Sunoco 240 Challenge’s top-three go head-to-head, albeit on different sides of the English Channel. Mini Challenge R50 Cooper ace Hawkins is at Brands Hatch where she will be keen to extend her current 2.96-point lead over Parfitt Jnr who, like Minshaw, is racing with British GT at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Upcoming Sunoco Challenge-eligible events:

Jul 7-9          Spa-Francorchamps – British GT

                    Brands Hatch – Mini Challenge JCW and R50 Cooper

Jul 28-29       Oulton Park – GT Cup

                    Brands Hatch – Britcar Endurance Championship

Noble Jnr’s Whelen lead cut as Parfitt Jnr moves into 240 contention

The race to crown this year’s Sunoco Whelen and 240 Challenge winners intensified last weekend when four eligible championships staged events on both sides of the English Channel.

Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup championship leader Colin Noble Jnr continues to top the senior standings despite a low scoring outing at Spa-Francorchamps. However, his advantage was trimmed by co-drivers Alex Reed and David Pittard who were in British GT4 action at Silverstone.

Meanwhile, Rick Parfitt Jnr’s Silverstone 500 victory helped the British GT3 Am move into Sunoco 240 Challenge contention, although Mini Challenge Cooper class ace Jessica Hawkins remains top of the pile for now.

Whelen: Reed and Pittard cut Noble Jnr’s lead

British GT and LMP3 Cup drivers might not meet on track this season but their squabble at the summit of Sunoco’s Whelen Challenge table continued last weekend. The latter’s championship front-runner, Colin Noble Jnr, enjoyed a 16-point lead heading to Belgium where a victory and further podium would ordinarily have generated a strong points haul. However, as per Challenge rules a low car count reduces the number of marks on offer, which in Noble Jnr’s case resulted in a 15.21-point net loss.

That he continues to lead the standings owes much to disappointing outings for many of British GT4’s championship-chasing crews, all of whom went into their Silverstone 500 event eager to reduce their Sunoco Whelen Challenge arrears.

New GT4 championship leaders Alex Reed and David Pittard now also find themselves joint-second in the Whelen table despite only finishing fifth at Silverstone. Their new total of 77.92 is 8.75 less than Noble Jnr but 6.09 more than Matt Bell whose LMP3 Cup victory helped propel him 10 places to fourth.

Another GT4 Pro, Stuart Middleton, headed to Silverstone as Noble Jnr’s nearest challenger but didn’t score a single point after he and co-driver Will Tregurtha failed to place on Sunday. The HHC Motorsport duo therefore slip to fifth and 12th, respectively, in what’s become an incredibly tight scrap for the top-10. Indeed, just 10 points now cover fourth to 15th.

As former winners Seb Morris and Phil Keen are ineligible for 2018’s Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive, leaving Matt Griffin as British GT3’s highest placed Pro in joint-fifth with Middleton. Their 71.5-point total keeps them two clear of Radical SR3 European Masters ace Stuart Moseley, while Adam Mackay completes the top-eight after sealing GT4 victory at Silverstone.

240: Perfect Parfitt Jnr applies the pressure

Rick Parfitt Jnr’s perfect British GT weekend at Silverstone helped move the Bentley driver up to second in the Sunoco 240 Challenge table, although current leader Jessica Hawkins actually increased her advantage over the chasing pack without turning a wheel.

Fastest Am lap in qualifying and the race, as well as outright victory in British GT’s blue riband event, earned Parfitt Jnr the 140-point maximum. His total average has therefore leapt to 102.67 points, 5.66 fewer than Hawkins’ current benchmark but 0.92 more than GT3 title rival Jon Minshaw who dropped from second to third.

Like Hawkins, F3 Cup racer Shane Kelly benefitted from those around him dropping points to move up to fourth ahead of LMP3 Cup’s Alasdair McCaig, who suffered from the same low car count as his Pro co-driver Noble Jnr, and British GT4 Am Graham Johnson.

Brett Smith improved his points total courtesy of a Mini Challenge JCW victory and pole position at Silverstone but remains seventh. It’s also ‘as you were’ for Matt Hammond and Jacopo Sebastini – neither of whose respective Mini Challenge Cooper and F3 Cup series were in action – while Jack Lang benefitted from a tough weekend for British GT3 champion Derek Johnston to climb into the top-10.

Upcoming Sunoco Challenge-eligible events:

June 16-18    Silverstone – Radical Challenge

June 23-25    Rockingham – Mini Challenge R50 Cooper, Radical Challenge

                   Silverstone – Britcar Endurance

Jun 30-Jul 2   Silverstone – GT Cup, LMP3 Cup, F3 Cup

                   Hungaroring – Radical SR3 European Masters

With a number of domestic championships out and about over the past fortnight there was ample opportunity for numerous Sunoco Whelen and 240 Challenge drivers to consolidate their strong start to the season or significantly increase their average score with a standout weekend.

In the end Colin Noble Jnr maintained his place at the head of the Whelen standings, while Shane Kelly moved into the 240 lead after early pace-setter Bradley Smith failed to compete at Spa-Francorchamps.

Whelen: Middleton misses chance to leapfrog Noble Jnr

Colin Noble Jnr remains comfortably clear of his rivals in the race to land 2018’s Rolex 24 At Daytona prize drive after other leading contenders faltered during their latest outings.

The Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup front-runner retained his championship lead at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago but initially saw his Sunoco Whelen Challenge advantage slashed – due to the low grid count – despite finishing first and second in the event’s two races. A loss of 18 points resulted in his average score dropping to 101.88, enough to keep him just ahead of British GT4 Pro Stuart Middleton.

British GT’s latest outing at Snetterton last weekend therefore offered Middleton, HHC Motorsport co-driver Will Tregurtha and a host of others the chance to apply real pressure to Noble Jnr. Victory and fastest lap in Sunday’s first race put Middleton in the driving seat, only for a DNF in Race 2 to dent his weekend’s average. He therefore remains second and 16.08 points shy of the lead, while Tregurtha slips to fifth with 77 points.

The HHC duo’s misfortune played into the hands of their British GT4 title rivals Alex Reed and David Pittard who also boosted their Whelen chances with two second place finishes at Snetterton. The Lanan Racing duo move up to joint-third, 4.4 points behind Middleton and the same number ahead of Tregurtha.

LMP3 Cup’s Thomas Randle is now sixth but only 0.18 points ahead of Sandy Mitchell whose victory and third place at Snetterton helped the Scot continue his ascent of the British GT4 and Sunoco Whelen Challenge tables after suffering a disastrous first weekend two months ago. GT4 class rival Mike Robinson completes the top-eight 2.2 points further back.

Elsewhere, the fight for the top-10’s outer reaches is incredibly tight between four drivers. Radical European Masters SR3 racer Stuart Moseley holds a 0.2-point advantage over British GT3 Pros Matt Griffin and Sam Tordoff, as well as Mitchell’s co-driver Ciaran Haggerty. All four are little more than 30 points behind current leader Noble Jnr.

240: Smith’s Radical no-show hands Kelly a slender lead

Bradley Smith went into the latest Sunoco 240 Challenge round with a commanding lead in the standings. However, failing to attend last weekend’s Radical Challenge round at Spa-Francorchamps saw him record zero points, which dropped him to 29th and – realistically – out of contention for the 240-minute Daytona support race prize drive.

That has promoted Shane Kelly to the top of the pile following his impressive start to F3 Cup’s 2017 campaign. And with the season continuing this weekend at Silverstone, there’s another chance to increase his 112.5 total.

However, in the same paddock will be nearest rival Jessica Hawkins whose Mini Challenge R50 Cooper programme also resumes this weekend. The pair are currently separated by just 0.83 points, a difference that’s bound to change throughout the event.

British GT3 Am Jon Minshaw heads a group of drivers keeping a close eye on events at Silverstone this weekend. The championship leader came within a drive-through penalty of winning Race 2 at Snetterton on Sunday but maintained his chase of the Sunoco 240 Challenge front-runners with fastest Am time in qualifying and victory in the opener. His 107.8 points therefore leave the Barwell driver third, 4.7 behind Kelly but 7.92 ahead of LMP3 Cup championship leader Alasdair McCaig who finished first and second at Brands Hatch seven days earlier.

Reigning British GT4 champion Graham Johnson remains a fixture in the top-six, albeit only 1.5 points ahead of Rick Parfitt Jnr whose solid British GT3 results were boosted by fastest Am laps in both of Snetterton’s races.

Brett Smith went into his weekend 16th but is now the only Mini Challenge JCW driver inside the top-20 after climbing nine places to seventh as a result of two wins and fastest laps. His average score of 83.57 is almost 10 shy of Johnson but 3.57 more than Jacopo Sebastini who, like F3 Cup rival Kelly, can see his total increase – and decrease – this weekend.

Silverstone’s Mini Challenge R50 Cooper event also offers Richard Newman a chance to move up the table, while reigning British GT3 champion Derek Johnston is back in the top-10 after winning Race 2 at Snetterton.

Upcoming Sunoco Challenge-eligible events:

June 02/03    Silverstone – Mini Challenge Cooper, F3 Cup

June 09-11    Silverstone – British GT, Mini Challenge JCW

                   Spa-Francorchamps – LMP3 Cup, GT Cup

June 16-18    Silverstone – Radical Challenge

June 23-25    Rockingham – Mini Challenge R50 Cooper, Radical SR1 Cup/Challenge

                   Silverstone – Britcar Endurance