SUDBURY racing driver Celia Stevens won her class in both races she competed in at Brands Hatch on Saturday.

SUDBURY racing driver Celia Stevens won her class in both races she competed in at Brands Hatch on Saturday.

The races were the Victor Meldrew Trophy event held for saloon cars. Celia was competing in her BMW Seven Series that is one of only a handful of this car racing in the country. The car races in class B. The tight twisty circuit, which measures 1.19 miles in length, features the famous paddock hill bend where there is a huge expanse of gravel lurking if you go off line.

There was one qualifying session held early on Saturday morning and the circuit was dry but it was gloomy and looked like rain. Unfortunately Celia didn't have a good qualifying session and was well down the field and with over 30 cars entered the race would be fun with plenty of cars to overtake if a good finish was to be had. The car was doing an average speed of over 65 mph.

The first race for Celia was to be over a duration of 20 minutes. A good start was made by Celia and she made it safely through Paddock Hill bend and was in the huge pack of cars. Within a couple of laps some of the very fast cars at the front of the race started pulling away but Celia was more than holding her own.

As the race ended and Celia took the chequered flag she was safely home in 18th position. The good news was that Celia had also won her class. A delighted Celia took the car back to the paddock to prepare her car for the second race later in the day.

The second race of the day was a handicap race and things like distance travelled to the circuit and age as well as the weight of the car were taken into account. This race was over 16 laps of the circuit and another good start meant Celia was in the thick of the action.

Another 18th place finish and another class win as well finished off a good day's racing for Celia.

This may well also have been the last time Celia was competing in this car as she also races a classic peerless machine and wants to race that more not only in this country but abroad including the classic

Le Mans in 2008. It gets hard to prepare and race two cars around the country.