Airtec Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship 2025

The first round of the 2025 championship and my first round in the ST240, a strong qualifying for my first weekend put us 13th on the grid for race 1.

I battled in race 2 to make up some ground, finishing 11th in race 1. This put me 11th on the grid for race 2, an even stronger race seeing me finish 4th place.

As the weekend progressed so did I, becoming more confident with the faster car after moving up from juniors.

Race 3 saw me start 2nd on the grid for race 3’s reverse grid. I held on to 2nd place until the race was ended prematurely due to a safety car.

Overall, a very successful first weekend in the ST240 with a podium finish in my debut weekend.

After a strong qualifying result of 6th a turbulent start to race 1 saw me drop to 7th place in the first few corners but an early red flag allowed me a second attempt at the race start. Back in 6th for the restart and a much better launch into turn 1, making up some ground and getting myself into 3rd by the shell oils hairpin. The leaders and I broke away from the rest of the grid in the early stages of the race, pulling a 3 second gap over the rest of the pack. Contact between the two leaders resulted in another red flag in race 1. With the race being ended early I took the 2nd step on the podium, putting me on the front row for race 2.

I had a chaotic start in race 2 from the outside of the grid, a challenge round the outside for the lead into turn one didn’t go quite to plan, resulting in a trip over the grass dropping me down to 7th on the first lap. A safety car at the half way point bunched the grid back up, making up for any lost ground from the initial stages of the race. The safety car dived to the pits with 5 minutes to go and I broke away with the top 6 for the final stages of the race. After a chaotic races and a valiant fight we finished race 2 in 5th.

After qualifying 11th in the wet, race 1 had us back on slicks. A valiant effort from towards the back of the grid saw me fight my way back into the top 5. After I made it to 5th position and pulled away from the rest of the grid the top 4 were already up the road.

Race 1 put me back up at the pointy end for the start of race 2. After dropping back slightly at the start of race 2 I fought my way back up to 6th. I spent the race fighting for 5th position, applying pressure on the 5th place driver for majority of the race. I tried sending it down the inside multiple times but it wasn’t working so I had to get creative, trying the outside round turn 2 and it paid off, securing me a 5th place finish.

A top 5 finish in race 2 put me in the draw for the reverse grid. I was put on pole for race 3 and their was only one mission, bring home the win. A strong start meant I was first into turn 1, after a large slide on cold tyres at turn 2 I still held top spot. I got my head down and focused on the task at hand, building the gap out front. Excluding the first lap the race was relatively uneventful as I lead the race from lights to flag, taking my maiden win in the ST240 championship by 2.6 seconds.

We carried on the momentum from our first visit to Snetterton for the opening round, consolidating me as a championship contented. This weekend I showed my pace, qualifying the best I have all year, 3rd position.

Race 1 saw me lose a position, finishing 4th, but I still remained at the sharp end of the grid.

I raced hard in race 2, coming from 4th to finish on the podium with a 2nd place.

This meant that in race 3 I had to start 9th for the reverse grid, but I didn’t let that stop me from fighting my way forward to finish on the 2ndstep of the podium once again. Another successful weekend with a large point haul for the championship.

After qualifying 8th, a mid pack start in race 1 set us up with a challenge to get to the front of the pack. An early red flag on lap one meant we were sent round for a second race start. A strong second start saw me join the top 5 after lap one, allowing me to charge through the front pack to challenge for a podium position. Two laps was all I needed to get up to 3rd position, but the leaders had already pulled a 2 second gap, head down, the charge to the top 2 was on. As the race developed I broke away from the drivers behind but with a lack of slip stream catching the top two alone was challenging. However, a 3rd place finish from 8th on the grid set me up for a second row start for race 2.

A turbulent first corner as a driver in front struggled to get going meant I had to take avoiding action at the start of race 2. Before even completing the first lap we suffered a left front puncher after some contact in the front pack, resulting in a trip to the pits. The team worked hard to change the wheel in the pits to get me back out to collect the all important championship points. Finishing 20th and 2 laps down meant I had to start from the back for race 3.

An incredible start from the back in race 3 saw me making up 5 places on the initial lap and by lap 2 I was knocking on the door of the top 10. After a third of the race was complete I consistently held fastest lap, the charge for a podium was on. I made my way to 3rd place with half the race left to go. I quickly made the move for 2nd place and the hunt for the top spot was on. With 7 minutes to go I had a 2 second gap to close to the leader, but as I set fastest laps lap after lap the gap quickly came down. 3 minutes to go an I got with in a second of the leader and by Brooklands I was on his bumper, the fight for the lead is on.  As we start the last lap the win is in sight, a late lunge for the lead gave me the win on the circuit but a post race judicial put me back to 2nd place. Never the less, coming from 20th on the grid to 2nd place is still an unbelievable result.

Summer is definitely over, on and off showers all day Friday meant that track conditions were constantly changing. Saturday morning was no different with tyre choice for qualifying being a gamble. We decided that full wets was the way to go and that choice paid off putting us on the second row of the grid in 3rd for race 1.

The sun came out for race 1 and we were back on slicks for a dry race. A clean start meant that I could break away with the front row drivers. A mistake from the driver ahead gifted me 2nd place early on, giving me the chance to battle for top spot. The race developed into a pretty controlled race as we broke away from the pack and pulled a huge 8 second gap. Unfortunately the race was cut short after a red flag in the final few minutes of the race. Never the less, 2nd place is a strong finish, putting us on the front row for the start of race 2.

As we waited in the assembly area for race 2 the heavens opened, soaking the circuit and gearing us up for a very wet race. A strong start gave me an early lead, allowing me to break away early doors, pulling a 1.6 second gap after the first lap. An early safety car on lap 2 bunched the pack back up behind me but being out front meant that I had a clear road ahead for the restart. I quickly built my gap again out front, 2 seconds over 2nd place. Then just like that with 6 minutes on the clock disaster strikes as the engine overheated, leaving me heading for the pits to DNF the race.

Engine issues in race 2 meant it was all hands on deck to get the engine changed for race 3 on Sunday morning. Coming from the back of the grid in the final race of the weekend was short lived as the second engine over heated mid race leading to another DNF. Despite mechanical issues in the latter stages of the race weekend we still had strong pace when everything was working.