Miata Trophy 2024 is GO!

Silverstone was the venue for the opening two rounds of Miata Trophy’s 2024 season. Anticipation for the new year was high, with both drivers and teams keen to hit the ground running.

The morning’s qualifying session roared into life with Miller Motorsport’s Alex Miller and Paul Sheard Motorsport’s David Chapman exchanging the fastest, representative times. However, it was Miller’s teammate John Langridge who spent the majority of the session at the head of the timing sheet. A time of 1:09:569 looked set to see Langridge lead the field into SuperPole, however in the dying seconds of the session Hills Motorsport’s Daniel Parrans-Smith stole the honour of fastest qualifier with a tremendous 1:09:454 – just 0.011secs ahead of Langridge! Early pacesetters David Chapman and Alex Miller would join the afore-mentioned two into SuperPole, along with Hills Motorsport’s Khali Atkins on Miata Trophy debut.

SuperPole delivered real excitement throughout the course of the 2023 season and, as a result, high anticipation surrounded the first session of 2024. Under the pressure of a one-lap shootout, John Langridge rose to the occasion to edge rival Parrans-Smith to secure the first Miata Trophy pole position of the new year! David Chapman would line up in third, ahead of Khali Atkins in fourth.

A lightening getaway from the line in Race One ensured Langridge continued to lead the field through the opening lap, while reigning Champion Declan Lee utilised a quick start to rise up the order. Parrans-Smith maintained second, but with Hills Motorsport teammate Lee in hot pursuit. Also enjoying a fantastic opening lap was another Hills Motorsport driver, Drew Fletcher. After qualifying in eighth, Fletcher launched up the order to fourth and expertly defended his position in the laps that followed. The competitiveness throughout the grid was abundantly clear, with fantastic overtakes and staunch defending on display. Five laps in, less than four seconds separated the top five! An epic duel between Parrans-Smith and Langridge dominated the front of field and the lead continued to swap hands. All the while the pair contested the lead, Hills Motorsport’s Nicholas Stott ate into the gap to those in front. On lap 13, Parrans-Smith decisively overtook Langridge to lead until the checkered flag. Stott’s pace in the second half of the race was hugely impressive and with just a few laps left the #4 driver managed to also surpass Langridge. A time penalty for Parrans-Smith for track limit infringements ultimately dropped the #73 driver to sixth, simultaneously promoting Hills Motorsport’s Nicholas Stott to first place and his first Miata Trophy win! Stott displayed great race craft to work his way through the field, having started in sixth, and will be rightly elated with the victory. John Langridge’s consistently strong pace was rewarded with second place and a good haul of championship points. The final step on the podium went the way of another Miata Trophy debutant – Dillon Stepney. Stepney put in a tremendous display enroute the podium, expertly carving his way through the field. Declan Lee began his title defence with a fourth-placed finish, ahead of: Khali Atkins, Daniel Parrans-Smith, Alex Miller and Edward McDermott.

Lightening struck twice in Race Two as again John Langridge flew out of the starting blocks to seize the lead into the first corner. Declan Lee also enjoyed another quick start, even managing to secure an overtake on Langridge to lead over the line after lap one. Both Alex Miller and Daniel Parrans-Smith rose through the ranks, leapfrogging race one winner Nicholas Stott and Dillon Stepney in the process. The competitiveness of the field was potentially even more obvious in race two, as after five laps less than ten seconds separated leader Declan Lee and David Chapman in fourteenth. In fact, it was so competitive that after eight laps, less than 2.5ses covered the top seven!

Nothing could separate Lee, Miller and Parrans-Smith out front and the trio exchanged places all through the mid-to-end stages of the race. Meanwhile, in pursuit of a second win, Stott hunted down the top three. The battle for the lead proved an enthralling watch, with only 0.893secs separating the front-running quartet on the penultimate lap. After a stellar final lap, Miata Trophy welcomed another new race winner; Daniel Parrans-Smith. The Hills Motorsport #73 driver had looked exceptionally quick over the course of the entire day and will be delighted to have secured the top step. Declan Lee showed why he is the reigning champion with a really solid display, resulting in second place and the Hills Motorsport driver’s first podium of the season. Both Alex Miller’s pace and determination saw the Miller Motorsport driver finish in third – having started the day’s earlier race from the back of the grid. Stott would have to settle for fourth, but still earning vital championship points in the process. Stepney, Clifford, Langridge, Lundy, McDermott and Atkins rounded out the top ten.

A huge congratulations to all of our podium finishers!