The 2025 British Digital GT Championship got off to a terrific start at North Staffs Scalextric Racing Club on Sunday 9th March. With a maximum rostrum accommodation of ten drivers, the bumper entry of thirteen cars saw the grid split into three groups who would each race in two of three 90 minute races, with each race combining two of the three groups.
Qualifying was split into two sessions, with the pole position being awarded to Sports Carazing with a lap time of 7.59 seconds in session two. Race 1 saw the Carazing McLaren 720S (NSR) lead Singha Racing’s Sideways 720s away from the grid, from which the driver pairing of Gary Skipp and Steve White would not look back. In the early stages second place was contested betwen Singha and Car Fun Mostly’s Wayne Lander, but by half distance Lander had dropped back. Sports Carazing would lead every lap to finish first with a margin of 17 laps over the Singha drivers Nick Johns and Michael Keown. Rounding off the podium were Martin Thorpe and Nick Wade, driving a brand new Scaleauto AMG GT3.
Both Sports Carazing and Singha were back on track for Race 2, while second place qualifiers Exiles would join the grid to start on the front row with their Sideways Huracan. A messy start to this race saw Skipp and Exiles driver John Underwood caught in the pack and Lone Gunmen (Kerswill / Strachan) would take the early lead. A few untidy laps saw Underwood drop back, and Singha emerge in second place behind Skipp who had resumed the lead of the race. By driver change it was White from Keown, as Race 1, with Strachan holding out the podium for the Gunmen. White extended the lead out front and took victory by 22 laps, posting a score of 625 laps which would go uncontested for the rest of the meeting. Two from two for Sports Carazing, and two runners-up for Singha!
Race 3 saw Exiles return and start from pole, with no Sports Carazing or Singha in this grouping. Starting driver Underwood drove away from the pack and settled into a rhythm, establishing a comfortable lead in the double digits. Battling for second and third in this race were the Anglo-Belgian duo of Matthew Tucker and Bert Van Elverdinghe, the Euroboys driving their Sideways/ProSpeed Lexus to the front of the field. Having suffered transmission trouble in Race 2 it was time for them to show their real pace, but following closely behind were TWR on the hunt for their second podium finish of the day. By half distance Jonathan White took over the Exiles Huracan, emerging from the pit ahead of Tucker and Thorpe. It wasn’t to be for TWR though, who lost a lead wire not long into Thorpe’s stint and dropped back to the minor placings following repair. They would recover to pass a struggling Car Fun Mostly, leaving Lone Gunmen to inherit third place and pick up a deserved podium behind Euroboys. It was close, though, ten laps covered the top three cars. Exiles would take the victory by only seven laps, posting 610, with the Gunmen only two laps further behind the Euroboys.
Final points positions saw Sports Carazing take the meeting with 50, Singha Racing in second place with 44, and Exiles in third place with 43. The next round is at Stanborough on May 25th.
