West Suffolk College, who finished third in the 2023 Student Motorsport Challenge, will be expanding its team to campaign two cars for the forthcoming season with the announcement that WSC student Brady Pollock and Andrew Payne, father of 2023 driver Haydn Payne, will be the East Anglian squad’s drivers.
West Suffolk College (WSC) is entering its third year in the UK’s premier student-focused race series. The team, launched by Leon Wilde, was the first to sign up for the then-new series in 2022 and finished its debut year 5th in the standings in a season that saw Wilde take the team’s first podium finish at Silverstone in the final race.
For 2023, Motorsport Engineering Course Director Alan Barrett took over the duties of Team Principal after Leon Wilde’s mid-season move to a new position at City College Norwich. Novice racer Haydn Payne became the team’s driver from the Anglesey round onwards and earned his first podium finish at an emotional Brands Hatch weekend in August. Following a pair of top-five finishes at the BRSCC’s Silverstone season finale, WSC secured its first top-three title finish in the Challenge standings.
With Haydn Payne now moving elsewhere within the Student Motorsport Challenge paddock (more news of which soon), WSC is welcoming Brady Pollock and Andrew Payne as its two new drivers for the 2024 season.
West Suffolk College student Brady Pollock is currently in his final year studying for a Motorsport Diploma Level Three with the objective of working full-time in professional motorsport. The 18-year-old began his driving career in karts in 2020, competing at Red Lodge Karting where he won the East Anglian circuit’s Young Starz championship in 2021 and 2022.
After a busy season in 2023 during which he was a member of the West Suffolk College SMo Challenge race team, Brady competed in karts in Club 100 and Club 2000 and drove for JLCD Racing, Pollock had the opportunity to test the WSC Toyota Aygo at the ‘Driven By Racing’ event at Silverstone in November. Discussions between the driver and college following the successful test led to Brady Pollock being offered the race seat for the 2024 season earlier this year.
“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to drive for West Suffolk College!” said Brady Pollock. “The step up from karts to cars is significant and I know I will have a lot to learn. However, I know the team really well from having worked with them in 2023 and we are all good friends so I know it’s going to be a lot of fun. Hopefully the results will show how well we can work together as a team.
“I’m delighted that I will be driving alongside Andrew Payne. As a driver coach with a lot of experience in the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship I will be learning as much as I can from him and listening carefully to his feedback.
“I can’t wait for the start of the 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge season!”
Andrew Payne joins West Suffolk College after having driven in the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup for the past two seasons, finishing 23rd in the standings in 2022 and 16th in 2023. In addition to his full-time job, Andrew is an ARDS Grade B instructor and works with The Motorsport School signing off students for their race licences. He also works as an instructor with Car Chase Hero’s.
As father to WSC’s 2023 driver Haydn Payne, Andrew had got to know the team well and discussions at the end of last season led to WSC inviting Andrew to join them for 2024.
““I am very much looking forward to working with West Suffolk College this year,” said Andrew Payne. “They are a great team who are now well-established and they have a wealth of knowledge with a willingness to make changes and push forward.
“I am also looking forward to supporting Brady as he moves up from karts to cars. He’s a great racer and I hope I can guide him to as he develops his race craft.”
For Team Principal Alan Barret, the chance to place a student from the college in the car to work alongside an experienced driver, was an opportunity too good to miss.
“I am delighted to see Brady move from up from team member to now be our driver,” said Alan Barrett. “He has solid experience in karting and we were very pleased with how he tested both at Silverstone in November and at Snetterton in March. It is what the Student Motorsport Challenge is all about, isn’t it? We have a student driving the car with his colleagues as team members. You can’t get more student-focused than that.
“I am also delighted to welcome Andrew Payne to the team. With his considerable experience as a racer and instructor, Andrew will be the perfect teammate for Brady and I am sure Brady will benefit hugely from Andrew’s guidance. Andrew is very competitive so we will have an excellent yardstick from which we can judge our pace.
“The students are very excited now that the start of the season is approaching and we are very much looking forward to the opening weekend at our home circuit; Snetterton.”
The 2024 Student Motorsport Challenge, an inter-series within the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Challenge, gets underway at Snetterton on April the 6th and 7th.