Organisers of the booming 116 Trophy are delighted to confirm the addition of two new sprint series for 2023 – a Sprint Trophy for the same 116i model and an all new Coupe Cup for the more powerful BMW E82 120i.
The two sprint series will run alongside the 116 Trophy at 750 Motor Club events in 2023 and are designed to offer competitors with cost-effective alternatives, as the cost of racing continues to rise elsewhere.
Both will be title-sponsored by Gaz Shocks with support from Laser Tools. Each will offer entrants around 50-minutes to track time per weekend with a qualifying and two 15-20 minute races. Initially, they will run on track together, until the grid numbers dictate their own stand-alone series.
Promoter Mark Bate commented: “With the donor cars for the Coupe Cup (E82 120i) costing just £5,000, we believe this will be a really cost-effective way for people to go sprint racing in a later model of car with more power (190bhp compared to the 130bhp of the 116i).
“Furthermore common components such as wheels, tyres and suspension will be the same as those used in the 116 Competition meaning they are transferable.”
“And with all three categories running on the same weekend, it means the same organising team and infrastructure is available.”
“We believe our thinking, based on feedback from teams and drivers – the people paying the entry fees – is quite unique. They want to keep costs down whilst continuing to enjoy good amounts of track time and they also enjoy seeing the same people on a race weekend.”
Mark continued: “The 116 Trophy is at capacity pretty much everywhere we go so, for those competing in that with just the one driver in a car, the Sprint Trophy could be a more viable option.”
“The cars will be identical, so easily transferable from one category to another and it could even be some wish to make the car work for them in both categories over a weekend.”
“People might also choose to run the 2008-12 Coupe Cup cars as well as cars in the enduro Trophy and Sprint Trophy and use the same set of tyres (Nankang). This is all designed to give people options and keep costs down.”
