Kent racing driver Alex Nevill experienced a bittersweet conclusion to the 2023 Britcar Trophy championship, with a technical infringement depriving him of a maiden win in the final race at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

The final round began with a 20 minute qualifying session at the former Grand Prix venue, with Alex and his teammate Travis Coyne qualifying unusually low in 7^th for race one.

Alex started the number 92 Dragon Sport Renault Clio Cup car in the first race and was able to rise to 3^rd in class before handing over to Travis who gained a further position to finish the race in 2^nd place, which was Alex’s first podium finish in the championship after starting his campaign halfway through the season.

As per Britcar regulations it was Alex’s turn to bring the car to the finish in race 2. A safety car shortly before the pit window opened led to the majority of the field making their mandatory pitstop on the same lap. Alex joined the action in 3^rd place and quickly overtook a car upon the restart of the race to take 2^nd.

A few laps later, Alex benefited from a stop-go penalty issued to the then class leader and took a lead he would never lose, eventually crossing the line just half a second ahead of the sister Dragon Sport car of Jack Meakin & team boss Rhys Lloyd who were crowned both class and overall champions at the end of the race.

Meanwhile Alex was elated to achieve his maiden win in the championship, which was also the first for the 92 car since the opening round of the season in March at Silverstone.

The high’s were to be short lived for the 92 entry however. Following reliability issues in previous rounds the Dragon Sport team entered an entirely new car for this round and while the car itself was fully legal and had no performance advantages, the relevant paperwork required for the new car had not been provided to the championship organisers. This resulted in a disqualification from the results of race 2.

While naturally gutted, Alex was still able to draw positives from the experience. “I respect the rules and the decision made by the scrutineers, but at the same time we know there was no advantage or cheating on our end and therefore I’m proud of the performance that Travis and I put in.

“Everybody knows what we achieved and I think it really shows the potential we have as we look forward to the 2024 season.”

Alex now turns his focus to the 2024 season, with plans to be announced at a later date.

Images courtesy of Andy Meakin