As we enter 2024 with the promise of a new season of high-quality domestic motorsport,
the Student Motorsport Challenge, part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup
Championship, is delighted to announce the first six confirmed entries of the year.
In 2023, the second season for the Challenge, the grid peaked at 10 cars. For 2024,
currently six entries are confirmed, with a seventh entry declared, and the expectation is
that, by the time the Challenge arrives at the opening weekend at Snetterton, total
entries could exceed double that number.
Emma Norton’s Team Northbrook Racing will return to defend the title that the South coast-based team has now won twice. Richard Jepp will return with the team, making 2024 his third consecutive season behind the wheel of the orange Peugeot 107.
Although TNR got off to a flying start in 2023, with class victories in the opening eight rounds, they did not have it all their own way after East Surrey College and Boston College Racing had found their form.
As it was, barring disasters, TNR and Richard Jepp had the title sewn up by the time the Challenge arrived at Silverstone for the season finale. A brace of podium finishes at the home of British motorsport was enough to secure the 2023 Challenge crown with a 50-point advantage over East Surrey College.
TNR Driver Richard Jepp: “I am very happy to announce that I will be driving for Team Northbrook Racing for the 2024 season. We have had a lot of success together over the last couple of years and I hope to be able to continue on that path.
“Our aim is to go for the Student Motorsport Challenge title, making it the triple, but we know that other teams and colleges will be very strong this season. I’m looking forward to building as a team and giving the students the best possible learning environment to help them with their careers.”
East Surrey College has confirmed that they will return for the 2024 season but with some changes in their team structure. George Keith, who led the Redhill-based squad for the first two seasons of the Student Motorsport Challenge, has moved on to new career challenges and the team is now led by Motor Vehicle lecturer Carl Bundy. Carl will have some big shoes to fill as his predecessor saw the team take eight victories in class in the 2022 season and narrowly miss out on the title that year. 2023 saw Jack Wheeler behind the wheel of the #57 Citroen C1 and the team took the chequered flag in class on five occasions on the way to their second runners-up finish in the title standings.
“Jack was improving with each race last season and we hope to continue this on into 2024,” said Carl Bundy. “It’s going to be close but we’re looking to be up there with the leaders and challenge for the title this season!”
A new team on the Student Motorsport Challenge grid for 2024 will be City College Norwich. Their Team Principal Leon Wilde, however, is no stranger to the Challenge paddock. Wilde led the West Suffolk College in 2022 and for the early part of the 2023 season and the college made history as the first institution to sign up for the Challenge at its inception in late 2021.
In addition to leading the team, Wilde also drove the #26 WSC Toyota Aygo in 2022, his first full season as a driver, and took his maiden podium finish at Silverstone in October of that year.
Boston College Racing has announced that it will return in 2024. Lee Crisp’s squad made their debut in 2023 and quickly found their form with driver Liam Browning finishing the season 6th in the standings and taking two class victories on the final weekend of the Challenge at Silverstone.
Building on the BCR’s successes in 2023, Team Principal Lee Crisp is expanding the squad to a two-car entry for the new season.
“BCR (Boston College Racing) are busy building a brand-new race car in preparation for the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge which will again be driven by Liam Browning who will provide all his knowledge and expertise to pilot the #91 for all seven weekends,” said Lee Crisp.
“We hope that Liam will bring even more success to the team which will campaign the full 2024 series with the addition of a second car. Details of the driver of our second entry will be released in due course.”
QE Motorsports, entered by Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate and the only squad team that has members of school age, will return for its second season in 2024. Arthur Simondet piloted the team’s distinctive Citroen C1 in 2023 and despite not beginning their campaign until the second round of the year at Croft, finished 4th in the Challenge standings. Texas-raised but London-based Simondet had no experience on UK circuits before 2023 but finished on the podium on his debut at Croft in May.
Team Principal Helen Snuggs is delighted to be able to announce the team’s return for 2024.
“Queen Ethelburga’s motorsport team is very excited to be entering the Student Motorsport Challenge again,” said Helen Snuggs. “The 2024 season will be our second season in the Challenge and we have started to plan the year ahead already. The rebuilding of our car starts in earnest in the next few weeks with a new cohort of students who will be supported by last year’s students and, of course, our race engineer Will Snuggs.
“We hope to build on what we have learnt last year and very much look forward to meeting up with last year’s teams again, as well as meeting any new teams.”
Joining City College Norwich as the second new entry for the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge will be Waltham Forest College. Led by Deputy Director for Automotive, Construction and Engineering Vito Martino, the North-East London-based college will be releasing details of their car build and driver plans as we approach the start of the season in April.
Vito Martino said: “We have joined the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge as we believe that this project will provide our students with opportunities to enrich their skills and provide them with experiences that they may never had had before.
“Our students will be able to experience the whole motorsport environment, work with different suppliers and employers and enjoy networking opportunities. We’re looking to get as many students as possible involved in building the car and we’re really excited to see the progress of our Challenge campaign, getting on to the race track and competing with more experienced teams.”
Expressions of intentions to enter the SMo Challenge in 2024 have been received from a further seven teams so the series is projected to see as many as 13 cars on the grid, an increase of over 50% on the average Challenge grids in 2023.
For series organiser and Student Motorsport founder John Paul ‘JP’ Latham, the growth in the grid size is testament to the quality of the real-life motorsport experience that learners can gain from their participation.
“I am delighted to see interest and involvement in the Student Motorsport Challenge continue to grow in 2024,” said JP Latham. “I am very grateful to the BRSCC for their continued support and encouragement and allowing us to be part of the hugely successful BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship.
“In the competitive world of professional motorsport, gaining sufficient track-side experience to be considered for roles within teams can be a struggle for many learners. Over the past two seasons, the Student Motorsport Challenge has proved time-after-time that it can provide the challenges and real-life experiences that cannot be replicated in the classroom. I have no doubt that 2024 will continue to provide those learning opportunities and successes that we have seen since the Challenge’s inception in 2022.
“I am very much looking forward to welcoming our two new teams; City College Norwich and Waltham Forest College who will be worthy additions to our paddock as well as the many teams who have supported the series since we launched.
“2024 promises to be a fantastic year for the Challenge and although there is a lot of work to do before we go racing at Snetterton in April, I can’t wait for the new season to get underway in Norfolk in just three months’ time.”
Announcements about further entries will be made in due course.
The 2024 BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship gets underway at Snetterton on April the 6th and 7th.