The 2017 Lotus Cup Championship and Elise Trophy Championship fired into life on Saturday 25th March in the county of Lotus, Norfolk.  Snetterton hosted the opening round of the season and saw Rob Boston Racing's Jason Baker and Will Stacey make unrivaled starts to the season. 

 

In the first race, the front row for the rolling start of the Lotus Cup saw championship favourites Jason Baker and Ryan Savage alongside one another, after both lapped below the 2:01 mark, separated by 0.510s. When the lights went out, it was Baker who got the better start, leaving Savage to defend off the Exige V6 Cup R of Simon Atkinson behind. As Baker showed how quick he was ending the first lap with a time of 2:06.009, his lap was 1.865 seconds faster than Savage 2-Eleven and nothing looked to faze him.

As the field started to lap the slower cars from the Elise Trophy, gaps decreased between the field, potential overtaking chances appeared but nothing seemed to concern Baker still out-front. Continuing to lap quicker than anyone else, Jason’s gap did fall down to five seconds, but Ryan Savage couldn’t get close enough to mount a challenge for the lead. 

In the closing stages of the race, Baker’s gap to Savage increased from five seconds to seven, as Savage found his way past the leading Elise Trophy contenders. Baker crossed the line to record the first win of the new season and the fastest lap of the race.

The second and final race for the Lotus Cup Championship saw a reverse grid, standing start. With David Alexander taking pole position in his 2-Eleven alongside Ian Fenwick, Baker and Savage would be on row three in fifth and sixth. 

When the lights went out, Jason Baker got a lightening getaway from row three to lead the field into Wilson and already gap his rivals. With the field unfortunately down to five within two laps, Baker looked untouchable out front, breaking clear of Ian Fenwick by six seconds

From here, nothing fazed Jason Baker and he drove superbly in the Honda Exige S2 to take win number two of the season by over forty seconds, with Simon Atkinson and David McInulty completing the podium in second and third.

Lotus Cup Championship Standings – After Round 1 Snetterton:

1. Jason Baker (No.29 – Honda Exige S2) = 66 Pts.
2. Simon Atkinson (No.88 – Exige V6 Cup R) = 47 Pts.
3. David McInulty (No.7 – Exige V6 Cup R) = 41 Pts.
4. Ian Fenwick (No.24 – Exige S1) = 34 Pts.
5. Ryan Savage (No.69 – 2-Eleven) = 25 Pts.
6. Bob Drummond (No.23 – Exige V6 Cup R) = 19 Pts.
7. David Alexander (No.10 – 2-Eleven) = 15 Pts.

It was a much closer affair in the Elise Trophy field, with Craig Denman and Will Stacey taking their fight for top spot into the final seconds of the race. It was finally resolved when they battled side by side towards the finish, the balance tipping in Denman's favour when Stacey spun at Coram and had to settle for second.

In race two Will Stacey made up for his earlier spin by beating David McInulty and Craig Denman to class honours and became the youngest ever winner in Elise Trophy with this dominant performance.

Credit to Chris Collier and Autocar for race reports