Charlotte Birch makes promising return to Milltek Sport Civic Cup

Charlotte Birch made an encouraging return to the Milltek Sport Civic Cup at Thruxton, finishing 16th and 17th in two races despite challenging conditions, using her prior experience at the circuit to battle in the competitive midfield.

Photo credits: Vinna Sport

Vinna Sport driver Charlotte Birch made an encouraging return to the Milltek Sport Civic Cup with two good results at Thruxton. After qualifying in 21st position in dry conditions, Birch battled through to finish in 16th during race one, before taking the checkered flag in 17th position during a damp race two. Utilising her previous experience at the high-speed circuit, Birch fought hard in the competitive midfield as she enjoyed one of her best showings in the series to date.

Returning to the Milltek Sport Civic Cup for the first time since the season opener at Brands Hatch, Birch was aiming for a strong weekend in one of the most competitive single-make championships in the country.

Unlike many of her rivals, Birch came into the event with recent experience at Thruxton having competed at the high-speed circuit in the Track Action Series earlier in the year. Charlotte claimed an overall victory during that round, while developing her racecraft in the multi-class series.

Birch was looking to make use of this experience in order to get up to speed in the qualifying session which took place on Saturday morning. Conditions were predominantly dry after some morning rain and all drivers were eager to take full advantage of the track time fight for a good starting position. At the end of the session, Birch had set the 21st fastest time, with the closest four drivers ahead separated by just three tenths of a second.

Following some early afternoon rain, the track was dry once again for the opening race of the weekend. Birch lined up from 21st on the grid and held her position after the first lap was completed, beginning lap two side-by-side with Adam Durant.

Charlotte was able to clear Durant on lap two while also moving ahead of both Josh Bromley and Owen Hillman to take over 18th position. Birch then set a series of personal best times and this brought her in contention with the next group of drivers ahead.

During the middle portion of the race, the battles in the midfield were fierce as up to five drivers were battling for 14th position. On lap six, Birch was able to move ahead of Harry England and then ran side-by-side with two further competitors as the slipstream effect proved powerful at Thruxton.

Starting the final lap right on the tail of Garry Townsend, the Vinna Sport driver was able to claim the position to end race one of the weekend in a credible 16th position on her return to the Milltek Sport Civic Cup.

The second and final race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with different conditions to that of race one. Track conditions were damp and although rain was not falling as the drivers lined up on the grid, car setup was challenging and the surface was slippery.

Grid positions were set based on the results from race one with Birch starting from 16th on the grid. The Vinna Sport driver made a clean start and although fell to 20th, she was keen to bank valuable experience in tricky conditions.

On lap two she was able to move forward with a nice pass on Garry Townsend and after Owen Hillman pulled into the pits, Birch was up to 18th position. Although Charlotte was losing touch with those inside the top-15 during the early stages of the race, she was still enjoying some close battles and after Jamie Petters had an incident on lap four, the safety car was deployed.

Birch was now up to 17th position following Petters’ retirement and was targeting a good restart to push towards the top-15. Conditions became more treacherous when the race resumed and Birch lost out to Harry England on lap seven. A consistent end to the contest saw Charlotte take the checkered flag in 17th position to complete a productive meeting in the Milltek Sport Civic Cup.

Battling changeable conditions throughout the weekend, it was a positive weekend for Birch at Thruxton. Using her knowledge of the high-speed circuit, Charlotte was able to challenge for top-15 finishes in the competitive one-make series.

Birch was also able to develop her racecraft in close midfield battles and she will be searching for further opportunities to get back behind the wheel as the 2024 season draws to a close.