Race Report: CMMCS Production Saloons at Silverstone National

The final event of the season for both the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club Southern Production Saloons and Team HORNET took place around the Silverstone National circuit on October 11th 2026.

Qualifying

A bright, but chilly morning set the stage for Team HORNET's final qualifying session of the 2026 season. The early running would be disrupted by a yellow flag at Copse for Rod Birley's stationary #44 Ford Escort WRC, the Class A Super Saloon driver cutting a tyre on debris. Once the Ford had been removed from the firing line, the best lap time set by the #41 Renault Mégane would be a 1:06.611, good enough to be top of the Production Saloons runners, and second of the combined Production and Super Saloons, which would be starting 10 seconds after the Intermarque Silhouettes. This was despite encountering great difficulty in getting the right-rear tyre up to temperature, due to a combination of low ambient temperatures and the layout of the Silverstone National circuit not putting much load on that corner of the car.

Race One

There would be a great deal of confusion at the start of the first race, as the leading Super Saloon of Tony Skelton seemingly failed to remember the 10-second gap to the Intermarque Silhouettes. This caused a great deal of bunching at the start of the race, allowing Neal Gardiner to sweep into the lead of the Production/Super Saloons at Copse aboard his #188 Class T2 Honda Civic Production Saloon. Ahead, Philip Blackford was delayed in his #88 Vauxhall Tigra Intermarque Silhouette at the first corner, and would drop behind the #41 machine.

The race would briefly settle into a rhythm, before a spanner was thrown into the works: Phil Bennett had dropped oil at Brooklands and Luffield corners in his #96 Class A BMW E90, and this added another challenging dimension to the brewing battle between the #41 and the #188. For much of the lap, the Renault was able to gain on the Honda, but would then lose time through the final two corners as the Civic was able to manoeuvre through the slippery areas with much greater confidence than the Mégane. The battle was starting to close up once more when an unfortunate incident between the #222 Class TP Renault Clio of Jessica Whitehead and the invitational entry of Terry Waller in his #40 Ginetta G40 would bring the race to a premature close. The final result for Team HORNET would be 1st in Class T1, 2nd overall in the Production Saloons and 9th when combined with the Super Saloons and Intermarque Silhouettes.

Race Two

The low sun was set to add an additional challenge as the drivers took to the track for the final time in 2026. The start was considerably more orderly than the first race, with Gardiner holding the lead for the first half of the opening lap. On the Wellington Straight, a momentary hesitation from the Civic allowed the Mégane to take the inside, all the while Rod Birley's recovering Ford Escort blasted past on the outside. For a moment it looked as though the #41 would hold off the #188, but some late braking into Brooklands allowed Gardiner to maintain position.

For the next 8 laps, the pair would provide spectators with thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing, the pair spending considerable amount of time directly side-by #-side, the Honda hanging on out front, while Steven Rose was closing in his #234 Class A Audi TT Super Saloon. On lap 10, though, things would fall apart for the #41. Smoke could be seen entering the cockpit, which would eventually be traced to an electrical short-circuit. This would cause the Renault's pace to slow considerably, effectively ending the battle for the lead of the Production Saloons on the spot. While the smoke would clear, the short-circuit had confused the car's ECU, causing the ABS to malfunction and resulted in significant vibrations under braking. The damage, fortunately, would not be severe, and the car would make it to the finish line to see out the 2026 season 1st in Class T1, 2nd overall in the Production Saloons and 13th when combined with the Super Saloons and Intermarque Silhouettes.

With the results totted up across the season, Team HORNET were declared the overall series winners in the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club Southern Production Saloons for 2026.