As we approach round 13-15 of the 2024 season, the West Suffolk College ME Team have high hopes for a championship win as Brady Pollock trails Richard Jepp of Team Northbrook Racing by a mere 15 points. For Pollock, Cadwell Park (Race one) was deemed the highlight of his season so far. After a tough qualifying session, due to different circumstances, the driver did not find himself having a great advantage over his rivals for the race ahead. However, the team's monumental strategy meant that Pollock found himself in P1 and ultimately took victory at Cadwell Park. Team Principal, Alan Barrett, reflected on some difficult moments that the team faced within the season so far and how such moments have made the team stronger and even more resilient than before. After a big sweep at Snetterton, the team found themselves dealing with some on-track issues that were difficult to stomach after such success in the races prior. Barrett found himself trying to pick up the team's spirits after going from such a high in the season to a low; this deemed itself a ‘learning curve’ for the team as they learned to deal with the unexpected results. Despite a harsh race for the team, Barrett looks to close the gap between the West Suffolk College Team and the championship leaders, Northbrook Racing. Pollock also expressed his positivity towards the upcoming races and how impressed he is with the improvement the team has made from round one in Snetterton compared to how they are predicted to perform in Silverstone. Going into the final rounds of the racing season, Pollock said that the team are looking to ‘try their best’ and are planning to bring their all to the last five races as they find themselves determined to fight against Team Northbrook Racing to become notorious and win the Championship.

I never imagined lorries racing around a track would actually be something I see in person. Well...I did! I attended the British Truck Racing Championship on Sunday at Snetterton and it was definitely an experience. BTRC attended Snetterton alongside the British Endurance Championship, Classic Touring Car Racing Club and the Britcar Trophy which if you ask me, are very funny series to be racing alongside the massive powerful trucks in the main series. Now I've turned 16 I pay adults prices for all events but this year I've had a season pass so getting into the track was longer. Lots of people book in advance to save the extra charge on the gate so the line of cars to get in was fairly long, even if we did arrive later than usual in an attempt to skip it. I would definitely advise arriving at the track early if you want a good spot, especially for headline events. The trucks entered the track through a separate cornered off place next to their paddock as they did not use the pit lane. This meant if you got caught out walking somewhere towards the end of the session, often you would have to wait as the trucks navigated to and from their garages or the marshals gated off areas to allow the support series to get to Parc Ferme without going around the whole track. Lots of people got caught off guard with this, including me as I've never attended an event where this has happened! The truck racing was a 6/10 event for me. Their lap times are around 3-4 minutes so they only do a few laps per race! The surge into Turn One is always eventful on the opening lap and often ended in a long red flag when the safety team had to get two trucks out of the gravel but that's just racing! These drivers in the big vehicles are much less afraid of contact, and for a good reason. At Snetterton I always find myself on the hill at Palmer. You can watch the start/finish straight and Turn 1, then turn around for the cars to disappear briefly but then you can witness most of Palmer, Oggies, Hamilton and Williams, it's a great spot! I tend to move around to different locations to get photos but if you are attending for viewing purposes, it's definitely the spot. The toilets are only a few minutes walk along with Parc Ferme just around the corner as well as the podium. We didn't get to watch the endurance racing due to them not racing on a Sunday but the classic cars and britcars were fun to watch. It's definitely something different and entertaining for anyone who loves motorsport! Maybe not if you're not into it though, there's definitely things earlier in the year which provide more speed and entertainment! The atmosphere at Snetterton is always something I can enjoy. Often I bump into family or friends of drivers there to support, photographers or unexpected people I know like this weekend my friend and I got to meet Ian Waterhouse from the BARC. You never quite know who you might see. For any motorsport lovers thinking of attending a BTRC event, I would say go for it if you're into a variety of racing! It's always a good day out with lots of racing, food, atmosphere and champagne spraying if you head down to the podiums in time. I had a great weekend, coming back with over 450 photos! Get down to a track to watch next year, and don't worry about safety, the marshals and tracks add extra measures to ensure the racing can ensue smoothly.