Flawless weekend for Hannah Chapman at Donington Park
- LIAM REDFORD
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Hannah Chapman made a sensational debut in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain season opener at Donington Park. Competing in the CS Am class for Xentek Motorsport, the Scottish driver won all three races within class and was regularly on pace with those fighting for CS Pro honours.
Hannah Chapman made a sensational debut in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain season opener at Donington Park. Competing in the CS Am class for Xentek Motorsport, the Scottish driver won all three races within class and was regularly on pace with those fighting for CS Pro honours.
After qualifying in second position within class, Chapman won all three races in the CS Am class by a combined margin of over 45 seconds.
Chapman stepped up to Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain for her first full-season of racing since 2022. The Scottish driver had previously specialised in Mini racing, both in the SMRC Scottish Mini Cooper Championship and the Vertu Mini Challenge. Last season, Chapman successfully competed in a partial-season in the Vertu Mini Challenge as she drove a development fuels car and was a consistent front-runner in the JCW Sport class.
Switching to rear-wheel-drive machinery in the CS Am class of Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain, Chapman was aiming to challenge for podium finishes from the outset. Joining up with Xentek Motorsport, she was looking to use their knowledge of the car to ensure a smooth transition into the championship.
The calendar for Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain sees the drivers visit six iconic circuits as part of the TOCA Package. Three races per weekend provide drivers with extensive track time in a competitive multi-class format, while drivers are required to manage a limited number of tyres across each event.
As is customary for Donington Park, the race weekend began on Thursday with two free practice sessions for the drivers to get up speed. Chapman completed 43 laps during the course of the day, the most of anyone in the CS Am class, with her fastest time of a 1:12.267 placing her second in class.
The single qualifying session for the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain drivers was held on Saturday morning with Chapman targeting a strong starting position. It was a good session for the Xentek Motorsport driver who set the second fastest time in the CS Am class with her fastest time of a 1:11.608 over half a second faster than her quickest lap from testing.
Chapman lined up from second position within the CS Am class for the opening race of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Xentek Motorsport driver made a fantastic start and immediately jumped into the lead through the opening turns. As the drivers behind battled for position, Chapman’s class lead was approaching five seconds before the race was red flagged following an incident for Aimee Watts.
After barrier repairs were made, the race resumed for a revised duration of 15-minutes. Despite her lead being erased, Chapman got another excellent start and once again took the lead of the CS Am class. On lap three, Karim Sekkat moved ahead in his more powerful RS Am machine after the Moroccan driver had started the restarted race from the pit lane.
As she continued to hold the lead, Chapman’s confidence grew and on lap five, she set a new personal best time which was one tenth of a second quicker than she had managed in qualifying. As a result, she opened up her lead to Paul Porter to three seconds. Chapman continued to control the race superbly and by lap 10, her margin had opened up to almost six seconds.
Into the closing stages of the race, the Xentek Motorsport driver began catching the CS Pro machine of Jason Baker to underline her strong pace. A composed drive from Chapman saw her claim the CS Am class victory in the season opener by a margin of almost ten seconds, a brilliant debut race where Hannah displayed all her skills at Donington Park.
Looking to replicate her superb performance from race one, Chapman lined up second on the CS Am grid for race two of the weekend. It was another superb start from the Xentek Motorsport driver as she claimed the lead from polesitter Paul Porter. Chapman did not have chance to build an advantage over her rivals as the safety car was deployed to recover the car of Jacob Tofts.
Chapman made a great restart and quickly built a considerable gap to Porter behind. By lap six, Hannah’s lead was three seconds and she was consistently gaining one second per lap over Porter. This speed enabled her to bridge the deficit to CS Pro driver Jason Baker and by lap nine, she was just one second behind the Tuthill UK racer.
Chapman was regularly the second fastest CS driver on track and as the race entered the final stages, she was applying pressure to Baker. At the end of the twenty-minute race, Chapman claimed her second victory of the weekend by a margin of over 20 seconds with a dominant performance.
Looking to complete the weekend sweep, Chapman lined up on pole position within the CS Am class for race three courtesy of her victory earlier in the day. Chapman made a great start as she held the lead on the opening lap before the safety car was deployed as the car of Tom Bradshaw required recovery.
When the racing resumed, Hannah was instead looking ahead to challenging the CS Pro class machine of Jason Baker rather than defending from CS Am rival Paul Porter. This showed her ever-growing confidence as the Xentek Motorsport driver quickly built up a lead at the head of the class.
On lap eight, Chapman was the fastest CS class car on track as her lap times were quicker than CS Pro race leader Jonathan Moore. She replicated this feat twice more over the next four laps as she continued to apply pressure to Baker. On lap 14, Chapman ran just one tenth of a second behind Baker as she looked to force the Tuthill UK driver into a mistake. Chapman continued to run with the CS Pro leaders to the chequered flag as she sealed a third victory of the weekend by a margin of 16 seconds.
Chapman enjoyed a phenomenal debut at Donington Park where she made the perfect return to full-time racing. Despite the switch to high-powered, rear-wheel-drive machinery, Chapman adapted superbly and took a commanding championship lead in the CS Am class.
She will be looking to continue this momentum when Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain returns at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 10th/11th May.
