The 2026 Swift Sport Challenge signed off last weekend at Mallory Park, with the Leicestershire circuit staging a single-day finale. After a triple-header at Croft last time out, the series was back to its usual two-race format.
Race One: Saggers Wins an Eventful Opener
Championship leader James Saggers (#25) launched Race One from overall pole, while Josh Bolsover (#26) claimed novice-class pole in the 2 Guys 1 Cup machine.
The lights went out on the penultimate race of the season, and the midfield erupted straight away. Michael Sanford’s #66 Mr Transit-backed Suzuki Swift Sport made contact with Jake Lucas’s #71 (Power Drive Racing) before the pair had even crossed the start line, sending Lucas into the pit wall and out of the race. Out came the red flag, and the race was restarted in full.
Second time around, Lewis Stannard (#91) made the cleaner getaway. Further back, a handful of cars ran onto the grass at Gerard’s Bend, but the real fight was at the front. The leading duo charged into the Esses side by side, with Saggers and Aaron Mullen (#821) leaning hard on each other. Then Saggers lost control for a moment, squeezing Mullen onto the grass. Mullen gathered it up and rejoined in third.
At the hairpin, Stannard threw a move down the inside on Saggers for the lead, but it didn’t stick and he stayed second.
A few laps later, the same corner claimed another victim. Novice leader Bolsover went for third but missed his braking point and tangled with Mullen. That left Bolsover and Jake Boydell’s #88 running two wide for almost the entire lap, which let second-placed novice Mikey Brisenden (#52) and Graham Coomes (#43) close right up to the squabbling pair.
The Boydell-Bolsover scrap rolled into the next lap and ended there. Coomes dived down the inside at Shaw’s Hairpin, Bolsover ran wide, and Boydell’s #88 was squeezed into the wall and out of the race.
The safety car came out with just over five minutes left on the clock, but the neutralisation didn’t last. It turned into a second red flag after Issabelle Woolley’s #72 Valais Motorsport entry made contact with Paul Harris’s #79 on the Stebbe Straight. The #72 was pitched sideways onto the grass and barrel-rolled eight times before coming to rest. Thankfully, Woolley climbed out of the wreckage unharmed, and the race was called.
This meant Saggers took the win in the opening race of the day, with Stannard and Mullen completing the podium. Coomes and Novice class winner Brisenden rounded out the overall top five.
In the Novice class, Dale Bamford (#54) and Bolsover completed the podium behind Brisenden, with Samuel Relf (#85) and Gary Hudson (#179) taking fourth and fifth.
In between the races, it was confirmed that Boydell, Sanford and Woolley would withdraw from the meeting.
Race Two: Saggers Completes the Double and Clinches the Title
The lights went out for the final time in the 2026 Swift Sport Challenge, and Stannard got another good launch. This time Saggers was ready, diving down the inside at Gerard’s to lead by Turn 2. Further back, Tom Symons’ #77 spun and dropped to the tail of the field.
Down the straight, Colm Flanagan (#33), Bamford and Archie Carter (#89) went three wide into the Esses.
Novice leader Brisenden came under pressure from Mullen, who then turned his attention to second-placed Stannard and made a move into the hairpin. Stannard hit back, diving down the inside at Devil’s Elbow to take the place back.
With ten minutes left, Mullen was glued to the back of leader Saggers, while a queue of cars lined up behind Stannard, who had slipped to third.
In the novice class, Bolsover went side by side with Race One class winner Brisenden, and Nick Peters’ #191 piled into the fight at the hairpin. Bolsover ran into trouble and tumbled down the order.
The scrap reached its climax when Stannard got caught up in it. Lewis Noon (#99) made contact, sending the pair off the track and Stannard into the wall at the hairpin with 30 seconds to go. Both cars limped on to the flag, Stannard crossing the line tenth. Noon took the flag fifth on the road, but a six-place penalty for the contact dropped him to eleventh in the amended results.
Saggers took the chequered flag to complete two wins from two in the Mr Transit Swift Sport Challenge, enough to wrap up the championship title. Mullen was second, 0.843s behind, with Coomes completing the overall podium. Brisenden took the Race Two novice win in fourth, and Flanagan was promoted to fifth after Noon’s penalty.
The novice podium was completed by class champion Relf and Bamford, with Bolsover and Darren Lucas (#70) fourth and fifth in class.
