SuperChamps Season 3 2023 Winners Crowned
The final round of the Daytona Tamworth Season 3 Superchamps in 2023 was set in dry conditions, and most of the championships were set to go down to the final day. This particular round was using the Grand Prix format, meaning that drivers were tasked with having to qualify for their grid slots, unlike the other heat format.
N-35ST
Heading into the first sprint, Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray took the win by eleven seconds, with the fastest lap as well. Olivier Pikula finished in second, four seconds ahead of Neil Hampson. As for the heavyweights, James Browning took victory ahead of Hamish Easener. Brandon Lewis finished in third, a few spots overall behind in third.
Into the second race of the day, Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray took another lights-to-flag victory, this time by eleven seconds to Olivier Pikula. Olivier knew that he had the championship wrapped up with this result, but spent most the race battling with Neil Hampson. Neil ended up finishing in third, quite comfortable ahead of Jack Thompson. The heavyweights saw James Browning take a victory that would also see him climb to third in the championship, with eventual championship victor Hamish Easener finishing in second. Brandon Lewis made up the rest of the podium.
DMAX-GT
The first race started with Ben Sanders on pole position, and ended with Ben Sanders taking victory with the fastest lap of the race, by just over eight seconds. He was ahead of Abi Sanders, who was caught in a battle with Max Housley and Josh Gora for much of the race but was able to finish comfortably ahead of both of them, in second. Max finished ahead of Josh, but their battle went down to the line, being only separated by eight hundredths of a second. As for the heavyweights, Justin Elliott put one hand on to the championship trophy by taking victory, finishing just a few seconds ahead of second-placed Greg Chapman, who himself was just tenths ahead of third-placed Matt Ellis.
Into the ‘Grand Prix’ (a 25 minute final race), Ben Sanders knew that he was in a good position to take the championship, though a win would secure it. To help his chances, he took another victory with the fastest lap, finishing six seconds ahead of Abi Sanders. Thomas James was able to hold onto third, despite challenges from behind throughout most of the race. In the heavyweights, Greg Chapman took victory but it was not enough to win the championship, this went to Justin Elliott who was also able to finish in second. Matt Ellis was able to hold onto the final podium spot.
After the final race, we could confirm our championship standings:
DMAX Lightweights:
- Ben Sanders - 295 points.
- Max Housley - 265 points.
- Abi Sanders - 263 points.
At his best, Ben Sanders was unbeatable in the third season of 2023 and so his championship victory is no coincidence. Winning the first round of the season in fantastic style, Ben would go on to complete two other sweeps throughout the season, and consistently finish on the podium when this was not possible. It’s unlikely that Max Housley will therefore be too disappointed with second place, he showed very good consistency throughout the season to be always within the 50’s points-scoring wise. Max will undoubtedly consider himself a competitor heading into next year as well. In third, Abi Sanders won’t have the bragging rights within the family but was able to complete a few Sanders-family one-two finishes throughout the course of the season, the top three owing itself to that.
DMAX Heavyweights:
- Justin Elliott - 297 points
- Greg Chapman - 279 points
- Steven Humpage - 256 points
Competing for the second season in a row, Justin Elliott won the heavyweight crown in season 3, making it his best season yet. Two sweeps and countless podium finishes meant that it was pretty much dominance from Justin, and he will probably be looking to keep the streak going into 2024. His main competition in the championship was Greg Chapman, who did find himself winning at some point this season. Greg’s race craft was exceptional all season, and found himself battling with lightweights for much of the season. The story was similar for Steven Humpage, who had both a strong start and finish to the year. His only real downfall was a poor couple of rounds in the middle of the season, but his strong finish was enough to see off challenges from Chris Swannel and Richard Lavender.
N35-ST Lightweights:
- Olivier Pikula - 295 points
- Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray - 261 points
- Jacob Holley - 255 points
From the very first round of the season it appeared that Olivier Pikula was going to be a contender for the championship, but not many people would have predicted two sweeps, with him being denied a third by virtue only of a fastest lap point in Round 3, and otherwise consistent podium finishes across the board. It was this relative dominance that gave Olivier the breathing room he needed into the final round of the season, allowing him to secure a well-deserved championship trophy. It was a more peculiar story in second and third. Benjamin Tomkinson-Gray was frustrated in Season 2, but finally got to show his class in select rounds of Season 3. His Grand Slam in the ‘Grand Prix’ of Round 2 and sweep of Round 6 showed his preference for our ‘Grand Prix’ format, and it were these rounds where he was able to make up the points for second. As for Jacob Holley, he proved that putting in consistent upper-midfield performances is enough to go very far inside of Superchamps.
N35-ST Heavyweights:
- Hamish Easener - 296 points
- Xiaofeng Yang - 106 points
- James Browning - 61 points
Hamish Easener often compared herself to the lightweights throughout the course of the third season, and this was because she did not find much competition in her own class. The season for Hamish included three sweeps and a championship that was wrapped up mathematically by the end of Round 5. Despite only doing two rounds, Xiaofeng Yang proved himself to be a very strong contender in the championship, and secured some silverware to show for it. Speaking of class, James Browning was able to simply sweep a single round in order to finish third in the overall standings, it will be interesting to see what James can do in a full season of racing.
Next Season of SuperChamps at Tamworth starts on Saturday 13th January, but for now, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
