Every year, dozens of drivers enjoy championship success across a wealth of different national racing categories.
But some of these title winners stand out more than most. Whether it is because of the quality of the opposition they've had to defeat or because of their sheer number of wins across the season, there are always extra special performances worthy of particular praise.
Here, Autosport's team of club racing reporters have picked out 10 of the most impressive drivers from this year.
Insight: How club racing faced a tricky 2024
Entries by Paul Lawrence, Mark Libbeter, Mark Paulson, Marcus Pye and Steve Whitfield
10. Stephen Primett
CTCRC Pre-’83 Touring Cars (1st)
Another year, another title for Ford Escort Mk1 pilot Stephen Primett, who secured his 12th Classic Touring Car crown – his ninth in the past 11 years. The Bedfordshire electrician saw off the challenge of Will Davison’s more modern BMW E30 as well as Jonathan Corker’s nippy Datsun 510.
Always immaculate, the Pinto-powered RS2000 wasn’t faultless but, when trouble struck, Primett nursed it home for a 100% finishing record and 10 class wins (including seven overall), compared with Corker’s four.
9. Ben Short
750MC MX-5 Cup (1st)
Returning for a full-time campaign after only contesting three rounds in 2023, Ben Short took his fifth MX-5 Cup title this year in typically dominant style, sealing the crown with three races to spare despite the dropped scores format.
He just missed out on matching his victory record from 2022 but still took a crushing 16 wins from 18 starts, with only a qualifying mishap at Cadwell Park and final-corner contact at Silverstone denying him a chance to remain unbeaten all season.
8. Samuel Harrison
HSCC Historic FF2000 (1st)
Samuel Harrison’s charge through the Historic Formula Ford 2000 field at Donington Park following engine failure in qualifying – with Benn Simms’s spare bought, collected and fitted, he made the grid with seconds to spare – rattled rival Graham Fennymore.
Harrison’s lightning speed and imperious overtaking forced the double champion to dig deeper, taking the fight to Silverstone’s finale. However, Harrison’s steely focus in a chassis loaned by Adrian Reynard completed the Riponian’s title treble over three different categories in three years.
7. Aidan Hills
BRSCC Mazda MX-5 Supercup (1st)
Reigning Mazda MX-5 Supercup champion Aidan Hills hadn’t intended to defend his title, instead focusing on running customer cars alongside occasional outings and a proposed part-time TCR UK campaign.
But, while Patrick Fletcher led the way in the first half of the season, taking seven wins from the opening 14 races, Hills kept himself in contention. When his deserved touring car graduation fell through, Hills refocused on MX-5s and stormed to seven consecutive wins and a successful repeat of his crown.
6. Ben Timmons
BARC Caterham Seven 270R (1st)
After triumphing in the Caterham Roadsport category last season, Timmons followed up his success by cantering to championship glory in the 270Rs in 2024. He won an impressive 11 races during the year, including eight on the trot in the middle part of the season, which also comprised hat-tricks at Silverstone and Cadwell Park.
He drove sensibly at Brands Hatch to secure the three podium finishes he needed to make certain of the title with a meeting still to spare against a packed field.
5. Joe Thompson
M7RC Mini Se7ens (1st)
After finishing second or third in the championship four times, Joe Thompson finally emulated his father Paul’s Mini Se7en success by taking the crown in his family-run car. Thompson hit his stride in the second half of the season, having cracked last year’s regulations tweak to carburettors, adding six wins in nine races to a solitary earlier triumph.
Perhaps more remarkable in such a closely contested category, aside from one non-finish, Thompson only finished outside the top two on three occasions.
4. Bradley Burns
BRSCC Audi TT Cup Racing (1st)
As a TCR Germany podium finisher, it should be no surprise to see Bradley Burns at the front of a club category. But Burns now races only for fun and did not compete in last year’s inaugural non-championship season of the Audi TT Cup.
That put him on the back foot as Area Motorsport team-mate Carl Swift won the opening four bouts. A ragged Oulton Park outing left Burns with work to do, but a run of eight wins in nine races against quality opposition clinched the title.
3. Chris Lulham
MSVR Radical Cup UK (1st)
Having conquered many virtual races as a sim racing partner to a certain Max Verstappen, 21-year-old Lulham made the transition back to real circuit racing look effortless in 2024 as he dominated the SR3 Championship in the Radical Cup UK.
Insight: How Verstappen's sim team-mate has found real-life racing success
Not only did he record 16 wins from 18 races during his debut season in the category, but it was also the manner of his victories, most notably those achieved in front of the TOCA audience at Snetterton and Oulton Park, that demonstrated his talent.
2. Max Edmundson
BRSCC Civic Cup (1st)
Determined to dispel any notion that others’ misfortune helped him to the 2023 Civic Cup title, Max Edmundson returned to try for another. He faced a stacked field of drivers with glittering CVs, but only multiple TCR champion and Area team-mate Josh Files could challenge Edmundson, who won nine of 17 races, topped five qualifying sessions and never qualified lower than third.
Insight: The teen talent excelling on his Civic duty
And he didn’t just win from the front – he twice claimed reversed-grid victories from row five, executing perfectly judged overtaking moves.
1. Andrew Hibberd
HSCC Historic Formula Junior & F3 (1st)
Though it took 20 years to finally win a championship, Andrew Hibberd did it in style by bagging three titles using three cars. Hibberd has always been a pacesetter, notably in Formula Junior, but commitment to customer cars meant a full season was usually impossible.
This year, with father Mike doing less racing, Hibberd sealed the Junior crown with his two Lotuses and added the UK and European One-Litre Historic F3 titles in the ex-Chris Irwin Brabham BT18. It was a fabulous year for the popular racer/preparer.
