Charlotte Birch returns to action with top-15 finish at Snetterton

Vinna Sport driver Charlotte Birch added to her points tally in the Milltek Civic Cup by securing a 15th place finish at the penultimate round of the season at Snetterton, displaying her racecraft by coming out on top in a close fight for the final point and extending her run of events with a top-15 result to three.

Photo credits: Richard Styles

Vinna Sport driver Charlotte Birch added to her points tally in the Milltek Civic Cup by securing a top-15 result at Snetterton. After qualifying in 16^th position, Birch finished race one in 17^th before she enjoyed a fantastic battle with William Butt in race two. Following a last lap pass on her rival, Birch took the chequered flag in 15^th position to extend her run of events with a top-15 result to three.

Following a lengthy summer break, the Milltek Civic Cup returned at Snetterton for the penultimate round of the season. Birch was looking to build upon a strong middle portion of the season which saw her edge closer to top-10 finishes, while consistently scoring championship points. At the previous round at Oulton Park, Charlotte achieved a best result of 11^th and the Vinna Sport driver was now looking to take another step forward.

Although Birch had not previously competed at Snetterton in the Milltek Civic Cup, she was instead looking to lean upon her experience in other categories. After securing two top-10 finishes in the Junior Saloon Car Championship back in 2018, Birch has since raced in more powerful machinery at the circuit. In 2022, Charlotte was a class winner in the GT Cup Championship while driving a Ginetta G55 and these positive experiences were set to serve her well.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with dry conditions at Snetterton for the fifteen-minute session. Birch did a nice job to improve over her seven laps, while displaying particularly strong speed through the middle sector. At the end of qualifying, the Vinna Sport driver had set a fastest lap time of a 2:12.472 which placed her in 16^th position.

The first race of the weekend was set to take place on Saturday afternoon, however due to delays in the timetable it was rescheduled for Sunday morning. Conditions were cool, but dry, therefore generating tyre temperature was a challenge throughout the warm up lap. As the lights went out, it was a clean start through the field with Birch just losing a couple of positions through the opening turns.

At the end of lap one, the Vinna Sport driver was in 19^th position as she got up to speed in a competitive field of cars. After holding position through lap two, she began to close in on William Butt and ensured the gap between the pair remained at less than a second. Birch’s pace through the middle sector remained strong as she was often among the fastest ten cars through this technical part of the circuit.

On lap four, she moved into 18^th position after Daniel Petters slowed on the back straight before pulling his car into the pits. A personal best time followed and with Birch lapping faster than the two cars directly ahead, she was looking to make her advantage count. Jake Hewlett then stopped with a technical issue and this promoted Birch into 17^th position as the drivers began the final lap.

Charlotte had cut the margin to Butt to just half a second, with the pair also catching the machine of Adam Parker. Despite setting a personal best time on the final lap of the race, Birch just ran out of time to make a move as she took the chequered flag in 17^th position, narrowly missing out on a points scoring finish.

Photo credits: Richard Styles

The second and final race at Snetterton took place on Sunday afternoon with Birch starting from 17^th on the grid following her race one result. As the race got underway, Birch did a nice job to negotiate an incident ahead of her at the high-speed Riches corner. She then ran side-by-side with Charlie Constable through the Wilson hairpin before her rival pulled clear. Birch ended lap one in 17^th position while keep touch with the leading group of drivers.

Birch remained in 17^th spot during lap two, before she began to mount a challenge on the machine of William Butt ahead. By the conclusion of lap three, Birch was less than two tenths of a second behind Butt as she looked for a way ahead. Butt was defending his position well and therefore Charlotte looked to force her rival into a mistake.

Birch remained just a quarter of a second behind Butt during the middle portion of the race as she hunted down a championship point. On lap six, Jake Hewlett retired and therefore the battle between Birch and Butt was over the final points paying spot. As the drivers began the last lap, the two drivers ran side-by-side with Butt claiming the inside line into the Wilson hairpin. Nonetheless, Birch remained determined and following a superb manoeuvre, Charlotte overtook Butt and took the chequered flag in 15^th position.

It was a positive end to the weekend for Birch who maximised her performance at Snetterton with a top-15 result. She displayed her racecraft by coming out on top in a close fight for the final point, while enjoying two clean races. The season finale for the Milltek Civic Cup will take place at Brands Hatch Indy on the weekend of November 1^st/2^nd.