Nicolas Hamilton won the Jack Sears Trophy across all three races at Snetterton on 24 May, capping a weekend in which Charles Rainford, Ash Sutton and Gordon Shedden shared the victories at the 2.97-mile circuit.
The result gave Hamilton a clean sweep of the class prize over Rounds 7, 8 and 9 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, while Rainford’s breakthrough in the Qualifying Race on Saturday and Sunday’s first contest underlined how much the order shifted across the weekend. Rainford then claimed his second career victory in the opening race of the day, finishing ahead of Tom Ingram in second and Daryl De Leon in third after De Leon passed Josh Cook late on.
Rainford’s win mattered beyond the trophy cabinet because BMW had arrived as the only marque yet to score a race victory this season, and he ended that run at a scorching Snetterton meeting watched by tens of thousands of fans. For the WSR BMW squad, it was a weekend that changed the tone of the season, with De Leon starting from the hard-charging second BMW and turning that platform into a podium.
Shedden’s success added another layer to the day. He moved to the head of the Independent Drivers’ order alongside Mikey Doble, while LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing held sway in the Indy Teams’ table. At the front of the overall championship picture, Sutton stayed top of the Drivers’ standings and widened his gap over Ingram, leaving the title fight with a little more daylight between the leading names.
The manufacturers’ battle also stayed tight, but Alliance Racing/Ford and NAPA Racing UK came out of the weekend on top of both the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ and Teams’ tables. That made Snetterton a significant one for several camps, not just because of the race winners, but because it sharpened the shape of the championship after nine rounds.
There was one more twist in the Jack Sears Trophy. James Dorlin remained in charge of the standings overall after the Snetterton weekend, even with Hamilton taking the honours across the three races. That leaves the class fight open heading into the next stop, and it is one of the few places in the table where the outcome is still less settled than the racing at the front might suggest.
The BTCC now heads to Oulton Park for the next event on 6/7 June, where Sutton will try to defend his advantage, Rainford will look to build on a first win that changed his season, and Hamilton will arrive as the latest weekend’s standout in the Jack Sears Trophy.
