Armed Forces Race Challenge
Race 1 Report — Cadwell Park
This report reflects the amended Race 1 classification (reissued 18 July 2026, 16:07): car No. 72, Andrew Holmes (MGB V8), was reclassified from Class B to Class A. No other results, times or positions changed.
Race Summary
Jasmin Norman (No. 277, Audi TT) won Race 1 of the Armed Forces Race Challenge at Cadwell Park, converting a strong start from fourth on the grid into the race lead within the opening lap and holding it to the flag, bar a single lap surrendered to John Cobley. Norman crossed the line 1.412 seconds ahead of Cobley’s SEAT Ibiza Cupra, with Jack Ijewsky completing the podium in his Honda Civic. The race ran the full ten laps under green-flag conditions throughout, with no safety car, red flag or full-course-yellow interruptions, in front of a 25-car field.
Grid and the Start
Kieran Lambourne (No. 7, BMW E46 330ci) took pole position with a best qualifying lap of 1:44.743, sharing the front row with Mark Jones (No. 95, Renault Clio 200). Jack Ijewsky and Jasmin Norman lined up on row two, with John Cobley and Paul Waterhouse on row three. Two grid notes applied before the off: George Harvey (No. 15) was permitted to start only pending Clerk of Course permission, while Peter McNicol (No. 14) was sent to the back of the field after qualifying out of session. In the event, both Harvey and John Lyon (No. 40, Caterham Super 7 HPC Evo) failed to take the start, leaving 25 cars on the grid.
Norman made the standout start. By the end of lap one the Audi TT was already through to the lead from its fourth-place grid slot, with Cobley also jumping ahead of pole man Lambourne into second. Lambourne held third for the opening lap before the sister front-row cars of Ijewsky and Jones settled in behind.
The Race for the Lead
Norman led the first two laps before Cobley found a way past to take over at the front on lap three, leading his own lap of the race. Norman responded immediately: on lap four the Audi TT produced the fastest lap of the race, a 1:44.197, to reclaim the lead by 1.7 seconds, and from that point Norman was not troubled again, controlling the pace through Cadwell’s undulating layout to take the chequered flag seven laps later.
Pole-sitter Kieran Lambourne ran a strong middle stint, holding third place from lap two through lap six and leading Class C for the same period, only for the BMW to retire from the race after six laps — a disappointing end to a promising run from the front of the grid. Ijewsky, who had briefly led Class C on the opening lap before Lambourne’s charge, inherited third place outright once again and the class lead from lap seven, and held both to the flag. Jones ran a tidy, consistent race in the Clio to complete the top four, setting his own fastest lap of 1:46.387 along the way.
A notable pace-setter in the early laps was Thomas Sykes (No. 29, BMW 330ci), whose lap three of 1:44.981 was, at the time, the second-fastest of the race behind only Norman’s efforts, and briefly the outright benchmark before Norman’s lap four. Sykes was running inside the top ten when the BMW retired after eight laps, denying him a result his pace had deserved.
Class Battles
Norman’s win was also a lights-to-flag Class A victory. Andrew Holmes (No. 72, MGB V8) — reclassified into Class A in the amended results — was the class runner-up in tenth overall, with Sean Graham (No. 134, Sultan Locost) completing the class a lap down in nineteenth. That amendment left John Cobley’s Class B win unopposed, the SEAT Ibiza Cupra the only classified finisher in the class. In Class D, Alexander Martin (No. 11, Mazda MX5) led every lap to take the class win and ninth overall, while Matthew Welford (No. 231, Toyota MR2) did the same in the Invitation class, finishing fifth overall and just over ten seconds clear of fellow INV runner Richard Dales.
Class C produced the closest fight of the supporting classes: Ijewsky led the opening lap, lost the class lead to Lambourne from lap two, and reclaimed it once Lambourne retired on lap six, eventually taking the class from Gareth Moss (Mazda MX5) and a fast-recovering Ian Cooper. The BMW 116i one-make contest also swapped hands, with Jamie Brackley leading laps one to four before Charlie Honeywood took over from lap five and led the remaining four laps he completed to win the class, ahead of Joe Turrell, Brackley and David Inglis — Inglis nonetheless set the class’s outright fastest lap, a 1:55.646.
Progress Through the Field
The standout recovery drive belonged to Ian Cooper (No. 51, Daewoo Nexia), who climbed from twenty-third on the grid to seventh at the flag — a gain of sixteen places — with a best lap of 1:47.913. Peter McNicol matched that with a drive from the very back of the grid, twenty-seventh following his qualifying penalty, up to fourteenth by the finish, a gain of thirteen positions. Richard Dales, Andy Williams and Gareth Moss each also made solid progress from their grid slots to finish inside the top twelve.
Not every front-runner enjoyed a clean race. Paul Waterhouse (No. 230, Peugeot 306 GTi-6) and Phil England (No. 8, Subaru Impreza) both retired inside the opening lap, while Dean Fletcher’s Ford Fiesta went out after four laps. Combined with the later retirements of Lambourne and Sykes, five of the twenty-five starters failed to reach the finish.
Fastest Laps
Jasmin Norman set the outright fastest lap of the race, a 1:44.197 (75.56 mph) on lap four. John Cobley was next-quickest with a 1:44.772, ahead of Kieran Lambourne’s 1:44.909 set before his retirement, Jack Ijewsky’s 1:44.954 and Thomas Sykes’ 1:44.981. Across the 25-car field, the race covered a combined 213 laps and 465.8 miles.
Race 1 Classification
| Pos | No. | Class | Driver | Vehicle | Laps | Gap | Grid | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 277 | A | Jasmin Norman | Audi TT | 10 | Winner | 4 | +3 |
| 2 | 47 | B | John Cobley | SEAT Ibiza Cupra | 10 | +1.412 | 5 | +3 |
| 3 | 99 | C | Jack Ijewsky | Honda Civic | 10 | +1.914 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | 95 | C | Mark Jones | Renault Clio 200 | 10 | +10.281 | 2 | −2 |
| 5 | 231 | INV | Matthew Welford | Toyota MR2 | 10 | +38.168 | 10 | +5 |
| 6 | 26 | C | Gareth Moss | Mazda MX5 | 10 | +43.641 | 11 | +5 |
| 7 | 51 | C | Ian Cooper | Daewoo Nexia | 10 | +44.019 | 23 | +16 |
| 8 | 64 | C | Harry Townsend | Peugeot 306 GTi-6 | 10 | +44.906 | 12 | +4 |
| 9 | 11 | D | Alexander Martin | Mazda MX5 | 10 | +49.189 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | 72 | A | Andrew Holmes | MGB V8 | 10 | +1:05.606 | 13 | +3 |
| 11 | 147 | INV | Richard Dales | Toyota MR2 Roadster | 10 | +1:14.931 | 16 | +5 |
| 12 | 30 | C | Andy Williams | Toyota MR2 Roadster | 10 | +1:29.326 | 18 | +6 |
| 13 | 6 | C | Lee Kenealy | Citroen Saxo | 10 | +1:32.625 | 15 | +2 |
| 14 | 14 | D | Peter McNicol | Mazda MX5 | 9 | +1 lap | 27 | +13 |
| 15 | 305 | 116 | Charlie Honeywood | BMW 116i | 9 | +1 lap | 22 | +7 |
| 16 | 18 | 116 | Joe Turrell | BMW 116i | 9 | +1 lap | 21 | +5 |
| 17 | 69 | 116 | Jamie Brackley | BMW 116i | 9 | +1 lap | 17 | 0 |
| 18 | 39 | 116 | David Inglis | BMW 116i | 9 | +1 lap | 20 | +2 |
| 19 | 134 | A | Sean Graham | Sultan Locost | 9 | +1 lap | 24 | +5 |
| 20 | 34 | D | Sean Storey | Mazda MX5 | 9 | +1 lap | 25 | +5 |
Gap is time behind the winner (or laps down for cars not on the leader’s lap); Grid is starting position; +/− is places gained (+) or lost (−) from grid to finish.
Non-Finishers
| Result | No. | Class | Driver | Vehicle | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DNF | 29 | C | Thomas Sykes | BMW 330ci | 8 laps completed |
| DNF | 7 | C | Kieran Lambourne | BMW E46 330ci | 6 laps completed (pole starter) |
| DNF | 43 | D | Dean Fletcher | Ford Fiesta | 4 laps completed |
| DNF | 230 | C | Paul Waterhouse | Peugeot 306 GTi-6 | 1 lap completed |
| DNF | 8 | A | Phil England | Subaru Impreza | 1 lap completed |
Not started: John Lyon (No. 40, Caterham Super 7 HPC Evo) and George Harvey (No. 15, Mini Cooper S).