Another thrilling season of Thursday Night League has come to a close. With eight new champions crowned across two venues, we look back at the highs of yet another season of rivalries and battles in our casual midweek championship.
Daytona Sandown Park
SODI Lights
P1: Rufus Sessions | P2: Dylan Hourican | P3: Sid Stubbings
This class has seen the lion’s share of victories condensed to the podium trio, particularly in the latter half of the season where the Hourican, Sessions rivalry began to truly take shape following Hourican’s back to back perfect victories in Round’s Eight and Nine. Stubbings mounted a strong attack thought the championship, taking victory in Round Four, his grasp of the title only slipping as a result of one too many less favourable results. The same can be said for the class’ P4 and P5, Samuel Barnaville and Vivek Bhalla, who both fielded incredible performances throughout the season, coming into their own in Round Two. Again, their respective title shots marred by some inconsistency round by round. Honourable mentions go to Harry Banks, Leo Dudley and Jesskia McIntosh, all taking strong podium results in individual rounds and keeping the title challengers on their toes.
SODI Heavies
P1: Louie Paterson | P2: Tim Love | P3: Jay Peters
In a sixteen strong class which has seen many new and returning names, there were three who appeared to be head and shoulders above the rest in the fight for title supremacy. Twelve rounds later, former Driver of the Month, Paterson claimed his first Daytona championship title. Well known racers Love and Peters were hot on his heels throughout, seizing a slew of round victories in the process. By the end of the season however, 20-points stood between Paterson and Love, a strong margin by racing standards. We saw the likes of Paul Simard, Jake Pearson and Elliott Gregory making concerted attacks at the front end of the field, but in reflection the leading trio were on a field of their own after consolidating their positions by the Round Four.
DMAX Lights
P1: Jack Redfern | P2: Adam Palmer | P3: Callum Bendelow
The quickest class of the championship took time to get up to speed this season, we saw huge shifts in the standings over the last twelve rounds, with a dramatic rise from Redfern himself to take victory. Entering the season in Round Three in style with a P1, Redfern looked as if he was starting as he meant to continue, putting pressure on previous leaders, Freddie Burden and Luka Nik. Yet it would be another five rounds until Redfern would see the top spot of the podium again. Despite this, fairly consistent results between victories and an incredible Round Eleven and Twelve hail mary which saw back-to-back wins, brought him just five-points in front of Palmer to take the title. Palmer joined in similar fashion, winning rounds arguably more assuredly and securing a host of podium results, unlucky to miss out on the seasons title we are sure it is well within touching distance for him in the future. Callum Bendelow, Burden and Ayan Roy deserve mention, all driving to a high standard with impeccable consistency, again unlucky to not have placed higher. Perhaps the most captivating element of this class was the uncertainty; we have rarely seen so many rounds won by differing drivers across the standings, from Nik (P14) in Round Two, Thomas Williams (P7) in Round Four and Seven, Jonathan Fuchsel (P6) in Round Six and Ellis McKenzie (P15) in Round Ten. The talent on the field was incredible and a round win, let alone a season podium is an incredible feat.
DMAX Heavies
P1: Alfie Shrubb | P2: Mikhail Sitnikov | P3: Thanos Tzevelekakis
Again, we have seen a heavy split of victories between those at the front end of the field, with round wins virtually exclusively condensed to the leading five of the championship. Only one driver was able to take back-to-back victories in the class, with a total of four round wins under his belt, securing his first Thursday Night League title after two podium placements in previous seasons since 2024; Shrubb takes a very well deserved victory. The battle in this class truly went down to the wire, with P2 placed Sitnikov concluding the season just three points behind Shrubb after securing a perfect 26-point victory in the Final Round. Sitnikov’s title dreams shattered by the hard-charging Shrubb coming across the line just behind him in P2, securing enough points to finish ahead in the seasons standings. We also saw great wins coming from P3 placed Tzevelekakis as well as Tom Brown and William Tidnam. While a measured, consistent season long performance from class veteran Warren Gomm saw him unlucky to fall just short of the podium.
Daytona Tamworth
N35-ST Lights
P1: Charlie Walmsley-Ryde | P2: Joseph Smith | P3: Tom Webster
With just one round out of twelve off the podium, we’re pleased to announce Walmsley-Ryde has successfully defended his title for the first time, making him back-to-back N35-ST Lightweight Thursday Night League champion. The opening rounds made this defence look all but assured, with consecutive wins for the defending champion. However, as we entered the mid-stages of the season and drivers settled into the pace of championship driving at Daytona, we saw significant challenge to the title. Championship P2 driver, Smith mounted attack after attack on Walmsley-Ryde, securing two round wins and a further six combined podiums over the course of the season. While Webster and Tyler Sharp proved dangerous foes, taking seven round wins between them. The vast majority of round honours went to these top four placed drivers, with podiums interspersed round by round by strong contenders such as Rory Oldfield-Kelly, Harvey Preen, Kyle Turner and Rudra Patel. By Round Six it appeared our leading four were locked in and on a mission for a title, Sharp particularly unlucky to finish outside the podium after incredible back-to-back victories in the two closing rounds of the championship.
N35-ST Heavies
P1: Dylan Morrall | P2: Tim Avery | P3: Adrian Watkins
An incredibly competitive Heavies class saw victories strewn through the standings. The most prolific victor, naturally, was Morrall with five round wins and a further six podiums under his belt. A near perfect run save a mishap in Round Eleven which saw him DNF. Challenging him from the word go was James Estrop, with mid-season pressure applied by Mckenzie Senior and Daniel Santos Piedrabuena; Chris Morrall entered the conversation in the penultimate round with his own perfect victory. One of the most captivating stories of the class came from Avery, joining in Round Five, he left no margin for error having used all his drop rounds He would have to be bulletproof to mount any serious title challenge. What ensued was a podium in every single round competed in, against stiff competition from the likes of Watkins and James Ashton, battling him right down to the Final Round.
DMAX Lights
P1: Lucas Gathercole | P2: Fin Imber | P3: Cordell Hayles
Gathercole soars at the lead of the standings with a 83-point gap ahead of his closet competitor. This is some feat in a championship where the highest score a driver can achieve per round is 26. This results from an immense effort which saw him secure no score lower than P2 when accounting for drop rounds. Six round victories, five of them including the coveted fastest lap bonus point adorns Gathercole’s title, however, this is not to discredit the concerted efforts of all the talented drivers below him in the standings. We saw bursts of greatness which could well have unseated this seasons title holder if consistency was improved. Drivers such as Imber and Toby Clark outdid themselves, securing individual round victories from the well established season lead. While many drivers took podiums throughout the course of the season: Hayles, Ben Foden, Oliver Malinowski, Joe Lorenz and Nihal Joye to name just a few.
DMAX Heavies
P1: Rhys Collier | P2: Joe Collier | P3: Chris Drane
The Collier brothers just about led this class from Round One first lights to Round Twelve final flag. However, their victory was far from assured at points, with immense pressure applied to the leading pair throughout the season from a range of skilled operators. Contrary to our opening line, Mckenzie Senior struck the first blow, securing P1 in the Round One of this tumultuous class’ championship. He followed this up, mirroring his early success in Round Four, shortly after both Colliers took back to back wins and podiums in the adjoining rounds. Other title challenges came from Dan Knowles and Finlay Stewart, dampening the Collier’s title runs with their own perfect victories amidst the fog of wheel-to-wheel battles.
