Swatton Shines On Senior Racing Debut

Matthew Swatton secured a maiden class race win in his debut in the Roadsports Championship at Donington Park last weekend.

The teenager, who shared the drive with Jez Banks, brought their Hyper Motorsport BMW 120i home, some 16 seconds ahead of the second-placed car in the class. On the way, he secured the fastest lap and also a new lap record by two thousandths of a second. It is believed that Swatton is the youngest class race winner in the championship's history.

The Roadsports Championship is a multi-class, 45-minute mini-endurance race for production sports and saloon cars. It features a mandatory pit stop and optional driver change. The Banks/Swatton BMW competes in Class D, the category for cars with the lowest power-to-weight ratio. Grids are typically formed of in excess of 40 cars.

"Not a bad way to start your senior racing career!", beamed a delighted Swatton. "Jez got us the class pole in qualifying and started the race. He got us in a good place, then pitted super early in the window to give me as much time as possible on track. Being a Class D car, we're always going to have the more powerful cars lapping us. It's a bit odd at first but you soon get used to it and learn to focus on where your class competitors are. The team were on the radio giving me updates, so I knew what I had to do."

Reflecting on his record-breaking pace, he added: "I just got my head down and went for it. It was my first race in the BMW and I'd not done much testing prior to the race, so getting used to rear-wheel drive in race conditions was another challenge."

Swatton was also racing the following day in another endurance race, the two-hour Club Enduro, in a more powerful Class B Audi TT that he was sharing with Mike Oldknow. Sadly, the race was suspended just as Swatton jumped into the seat due to off-track medical emergencies, which left the circuit with no medical cover.

"I was gutted not to have raced the Audi as it's a proper weapon," he said. "However, safety has to come first and I hope everyone is okay."

Reflecting on the weekend overall, he said: "I can't thank Hyper Motorsport enough for the opportunity to drive both cars. We came with podium hopes in the BMW and a data-gathering exercise for the Audi. Despite the shortened race on Sunday, I think we got everything we needed for winter development and testing."

This now concludes Swatton's 2026 racing campaign. You can keep up to date with 2027 plans and his latest news at swattonracing.com.