BRSCC racing starts the season at Oulton Park - March 28

First weekend of car racing for 2005 season

23/03/2005 - This weekend Oulton Park will host its first race of the season, with the BRSCC Easter Championship Car races featuring a hugely impressive entry for all races over the weekend.

First of the championships to blast into life will be the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge. There will be four separate races: two for the Roadsport B class and two for the Roadsport Inters.

Approaching 30 drivers - all of whom began their track careers in the 2004 evo Caterham Academy - have signed up to contest Roadsport B. Leading the way are Williams F1 engineer Paul Jepson and his fellow Academy event winners from last year Luke Dimsdale, Pat Gormley, Kevin Dodd and Jeremy Ellis.

The new Roadsport Inter class provides a convenient stepping stone for last year's Roadsport B drivers, who can transfer with their cars only slightly modified. The Inters are propelled by the same Powertrain-made MG XPOWER 1.6-litre, 120bhp engines but are allowed racing suspension systems and data-logging equipment.

The 2004 Roadsport B Champion, Mike Blackadder, starts the season as Inter-class favourite but faces many strong rivals, not least the man he defeated by a single point last year, Neil Fletcher. He also faces former Academy champions Nick Potter, Mike Richards and Guy Harrington. There are 25 registered Roadsport Inter runners.

The North West Formula Ford Championship is also looking very strong, with a 50-car entry ready to line up on the grid and blast off on what promises to be a super race with scintillating action all through the field.

Formula Ford has a rich heritage of providing excellent racing, with ultra-close, dicing action and with so many of these 1600cc machines in such close proximity, there's bound to be plenty of thrills and spills.

Expect former regional FFord 1600 champion Alan Pike to be among the strongest competitors in his Van Diemen RF00. Watch out for regular racers Chris Hodgen (Van Diemen RF90), John Swift (Swift SC94) and team boss John Loebell (Reynard FF88) who are also bound to be among the frontrunners.

Also on the programme for this weekend is the Alfa Romeo Championship, which also has a strong entry of well over 20 cars, and the VSR/Super Silhouette Championship.

Tickets cost £12 for adults and children aged 12 and under are free.Children aged 12 and under go free on all days.

Alfa Romeo Championship The Championship is open to any production based Alfa Romeo and is run in six classes. Competitors can race a fully modified car on slicks or a more standard version on control tyres.		VSR V6 VSR V6 Cars feature ultra strong NASCAR type spaceframe chassis clothed in current production saloon bodies with a Ford 2.9 Cologne V6 engine. Limited modifications and controlled tyres make this one of the most competitive one make series.		NW Formula Ford Formula Ford racing helped launch the careers of drivers like Ayrton Senna and Eddie Irvine and still provides some of the most exciting and popular race action in UK club motorsport.

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