Cadwell Park

“I arrived at Cadwell Park with a nervous energy; I had never set a tyre on the circuit before in any form, so it was always a case of learning and getting better. We also debuted a new greener look to the car to change it up slightly – it certainly was more noticeable!

“Qualifying saw some beautiful track conditions and, as I heading out, I felt at home almost instantly. Getting quicker, I managed to sneak in the top 15 overall and 5th in my class, the car itself felt superb and the stopping power of the RP-X pads meant I had the confidence into the harder hairpin turns around the mountain. Game on!”

“Race 1: a good start on a tight grid meant the first few laps were a case of trying to find room to get into a flow and progress up the field. After the field had spread itself out more, the lap times quickly came tumbling down and I shaved a whopping two seconds off my qualifying time. The class podium was a realistic target and after dispatching the Mk1 Escort of Gary Johnson, I got my head down and worked on holding 3rd in class and a bank of points involved… My only problem was the turbo Puma catching me that wanted the same podium spot! Lap after lap of defensive driving in my most vulnerable areas and utilising my superior braking performance meant when the flag came it was a podium for me once again! 3rd in Class and 11th overall on my first race EVER at Cadwell Park. 

“Race 2: after a driveshaft change overnight (a weak point on this setup this year) I started race 2 with even more confidence and quickly moved inside the top 10 and 2nd in class, Hot on the heels of Chris Baker, I got past on lap 3 and got my head down aiming for a class win into the 1:40.1 lap time. Then, it all came tumbling down: as I rode the kerb over Chris Curve, it ripped the boost pipe off and that was the race done. Gutted! We go again…”

Brands Hatch

“Brands Hatch is always the highlight meeting for the year in the Modified Fords series, with crowds of 15,000 celebrating all things ‘blue oval’ as part of the Ford Power Live show. A grid walk allowed people to get close to the race cars and I had a lot of interest in my car in particular. Testing went okay but by the time we went out for qualifying, I knew the car was getting tired from a hard season’s racing: a failed connector pin had made sure I didn’t get a lap in qualifying which was really frustrating. Starting from the back of the grid, I made up a lot of spaces and was quickly battling my class competitors for the podium once again. Iain Blackley’s Puma was in 3rd and as he made a mistake coming out of McLaren, I looked to capitalise… Just as cylinder 4 dropped. Coil failure. Once again, a great result slipped through due to mechanical issue.”

“Then came race 2. Once again starting from the rear of the grid, I made my way through the field and onto the rear of Ian Blackley’s Puma once more. The handling characteristics of the cars are the same, but I found once again that under brakes, I had a significant advantage. The only problem with all of this was that Ian was driving a consummate defensive race. My final chance came on the last lap of the race. Using the superior braking advantage, I hung around the outside of the Puma at Druids and got the inside line for Graham Hill Bend… Podium once again! And retribution for a difficult start to the weekend.”

“2025 has started off rather tough for the ‘EcobooST170’. During the opening round at Snetterton, I really fancied getting among my Class leaders after some changes to the car over the winter, including a full respray and chassis strengthening, as well as installing new versions of the superb RP-X and Bluestuff brake pads. 

“Qualifying was promising as I sat within reach of the podium. As Race 1 got underway, I battled with cars in classes well above mine and came off second best, damaging my car around Corum with a high-speed off. Eventually, I limped home to finish P5 in class and aimed to make up for lost places in Race 2. However, this was an early retirement due to hidden damage sustained during my off in Race 1 and my gearbox snapped a mount on Lap 1: gutting all round, but I never give up a good fight with the car under me.”

“Oulton Park was a very quick three weeks later, with a tight turnaround to repair the car from Snetterton. On a gloomy morning, I qualified the car P15 Overall and P4 in class.

“Staring as the class podium once again, the race started off with some close racing and positions gained. I sat P2 as the car headed towards the checkered flag. Then, as I headed to Deer Leap, it came… BANG! A driveline failure had ruined a chance of a P2 as I crawled over the timing line in the pitlane in P4 on the last lap.

“I genuinely thought that was game over for the weekend, but with a new driveshaft and associated parts sourced from other competitors and being willed on by the paddock, we got the car together and took the start for Race 2 at the rear of the grid. I drove from the back to P6 overall and P3 in class. FINALLY! A result worthy of the hard work. The best part about that result? It was the great brakes provided by ������Ƶ that allowed me to perform some of the overtaking on my competitors; the confidence in knowing that the braking performance is there when I need it the most. 

“Now we look forward to Mallory with four races on the very fast circuit; this should suit the car perfectly as it’s a perfect equaliser to the higher-powered cars in my class. Let’s give it a go!”

Donington Park

“Following on from promising pace at Castle Combe, I headed to Donington Park with three races to do in one day and a lot of high hopes! After a reasonable Qualifying, the car made sure I got knocked down to earth in Race 1 with a bump: a two-race-old genuine ford Turbo solenoid hose failed, putting me to the back of a 40-car grid once again!

“In Races 2 and 3, I battled my way back through the pack to respectable finishes in Class (4th and 5th) and more lessons learned with the new turbo engine.”

Snetterton

“We then headed to Snetterton with some confidence; it’s a circuit I always test at and one of my favourites to drive. Qualifying was awesome – I qualified 3rd in Class and 10th overall on a 41-car grid… and fastest FWD on the grid! 

“Race 1 then produced some hard racing including a very bum-twitchy moment heading into Murrays – Neil Argrave lost his Escort on the gearbox oil dropped on the outside and made for some superb photos! Needless to say, I was rather happy to come out unscathed! 4th in class and 17^th overall after some of the big power cars made it past, I was happy with that! Race 2 resulted in an early retirement after a driveshaft failed.”

The British Motor Show

“I am both lucky and privileged enough to represent and be an ambassador for a brilliant mental health charity called Driven Minds, the car was on display at the British Motor. Show in the Motorsport area right next to Petrolheadonism! I had a great time over the show talking about the racing and spreading the word about Driven Minds and the superb ������Ƶ.”

Brands Hatch Ford Power Live

“This was the highlight event of the Modified Fords calendar, including a very busy grid walk! Both races were in front of a 20,000-strong crowd as part of the Ford Power Live show. After a reasonable qualifying putting me 14th overall and 7th in class, before working my way through in Race 1 and 2 to 10th/7th overall (and 5th/4th in class finishes). These results then earned me the overall Driver of the Day award presented by the series sponsor Scalextric. Really proud to earn that at the series highlight event. 

“That rounds up my 2024 racing exploits. As for 2025… the plan is a full rebuild of the car with some fresh chassis work, some potential gearbox tweaks and of course… ������Ƶ stopping me!”

“This year has seen me only compete in the National Championships with the Bridgestone British Masters and the Nora British Cup – my main focus after the Nora Pro Championship was cancelled after one round.

“The third round of the Bridgestone British Masters took place at Hawkstone Park. As always, the track proved to be one of the toughest in the UK, and attracted full gates across all the groups which is great to see.

“I qualified 22nd, but the 10 places in front of me were covered by less than five seconds and I felt that I could improve in the race. My focus was on trying to minimise mistakes as this track can really catch you out but my main problem over the weekend was trying to get out of the gate well on the concrete start.

“Race 1 saw probably the best start of the weekend, but then a rider went down in front of me which cost me few places, I worked my way through eventually finishing 20th.

“Race 2 – didn’t get a great start which gave me some work to do, not as easy in this group as so many riders are running lap times similar to one another. I kept making time up but then made mistakes undoing the good work which was frustrating, finishing 23rd.

“In Race 3, I got a start in the top 15, but lost the front end on the first lap tangling with another rider who ended up on top of me, leaving me dead last. I felt I then rode pretty well, making up 11 places to finish 25th.

“Race 4 – worst start of the weekend, lighting up the rear tyre on the concrete start. My riding got stronger as the race went on, finishing 20th, but closing quickly on the four in front of me. I just needed another two or three laps as my fitness was really good and felt strong at the end of the race.

“Overall, finished 22nd. Although fairly happy with this in a strong field, I felt that if I could have got a bit of better start in each race I could have finished a few places higher. That leaves me currently 15th in championship.

“June also saw the second round of the Nora British Cup, held at Culham MX following the first round at Landrake in Cornwall. I am competing in the adult Expert Class against a strong line-up, most of who are on 450s. All four races across the weekend produced a number of battles within each race, making for some close racing, apart from race 3 where I lost the front end coming out of a corner and had no chance of making the time back. I finished 11th, 11th, 11th and 10th over the weekend, for 9th overall and took home £15!! This has left me 6th in the championship overall and now looking forward to the final round at Marshfield in August.

“Massive thanks to ������Ƶ for providing the stopping power for my FC250.”

“It’s been full-on since my season started! The new Ecoboost engine setup is working wonders in the Modified Ford Series so far.”

Round 1 – Silverstone

“This was an unknown and a chance to see where my car now stood compared to the rest of the grid. I took home 8th and 7th in class positions out of 17 (16th & 12th Overall). I knew what was needed going to round 2 but overall felt the car had processed really well since 2023. 

“The most important thing was how the brakes kept the fantastic performance with an extra 100hp and 200ft Ibs going to the wheels! Love the RP-X �貹���.”

Round 2 – Oulton Park

“Once again going into this round, I was wondering if setup improvements and map tweaks since Silverstone would push me further up the grid! Well… race 1 certainly proved that! CLASS PODIUM for 3rd in class and 7th overall – really chuffed and a testament to the car! The brakes were a huge part of this success.

“Race 2 gave me 5th in Class and 10th Overall after some scraps! Coming away with a podium really boosted my confidence heading to my ‘home’ round.”

Round 3 – Castle Combe

“This round took place on May Bank Holiday, and was planned to be a hectic 3-race day! It was certainly hectic! After a gearbox mount sheared in qualifying, I didn’t set a time so was 41st and stone dead last. 

“In race 1, I was passing cars to get to 21st overall and 8th in class before a safety car ended my charge. I geared up for a wet and shortened race 2 and went further through the grid to 19th Overall and 7th in Class. I needed more time!  

“Race 3 fell foul of curfew so only two races for the day!

“Overall I’m 4th in the class standings out of over 20 cars – consistency and finishes are paying off! 

“The next round for me is Donington Park GP on June 22-23… once again I’m looking forward to more progress and hopefully some more podiums!”

“The bank holidays in May brought around the annual Nora British Cup at Marshfield, followed by the UK Master Kids at Cusses Gorse where I defended my title won in 2022.

“The Nora Cup saw some tightly contested racing over two days, and I finished in a respectable 5th overall in a strong field.

“Moving on to Master Kids, I started well, finishing 2nd and 3rd in first two races, but then leading race three, my rear hub failed resulting in finishing last having to push it over the line! I then went on to win the next three races which gave me a second overall which I was happy with given the bike’s failure.

“In the Bridgestone British Masters, Round 3 was held at Monster Mountain in Wales where I rode well all weekend – I just needed a couple of better starts and hit the start gate in one race so had to come from dead last, finishing 9th overall for the championship across the weekend.

“This was followed by Round 4 at Culham MX Park, a wet Culham! Again, my pace was really good but crashed in three out of the four races eventually finishing 10th overall for the championship. I currently sit 10th but with two rounds to go, can hopefully pick up a couple more places.

“In the Cotswold Youth MX Championship, I have completed 9 rounds so far, winning 8 of them and taking a third in the other. I am currently leading the championship with next round scheduled at Monster Mountain in August where I will hope to cement my lead.

“My next update will be in September after the final two rounds of the Bridgestone British Masters.”

“The British motorsport season has arrived! I recently undertook the opening round of the BRSCC Modified Ford Series on Silverstone’s GP Circuit.

“Saturday’s racing saw two completely different races unfold, with the first race seeing me take 5th thanks to my power shortcoming biting hard on the straights.

“Race 2 had the rain come as a great leveller. I drove to 13th overall and 2nd in Class, on wets supplied by Graves Motorsport.

“Braking as per usual with ������Ƶ Racing’s pads was absolutely perfect – huge confidence on the brakes!

“Sunday then saw me take to the mic and camera for the Silverlake Automotive Recycling C1 Racing Club opener on the live stream. Fantastic race throughout and deserving winners in Mac Tools Racing car.” 

Thanks to Rafal Binisewski and Scott Woodwiss for the photos.

“My goal coming into MX Master Kids was to better my seventh-position overall result last year, and I really wanted to get onto the podium,” Bethell explains. “Some issues early on meant I qualified in 18^th, meaning I really had my work cut out.”

Thanks to some seriously impressive riding, Bethell was able to battle the likes of Tom Butler and Benny Bradley across the weekend, eventually pipping the competition to the post.

“To be a champion at MX Master Kids is a pretty big achievement for me, and I’m quite proud to be a champion at a big event like this and it definitely feels good, Bethell continues. “As long as the dates work for me, I will 100% be back in 2023.”