The Audi Cup bursts into life at Thruxton as 2026 begins

The Audi Cup – Rounds 1, 2 & 3
Thruxton – 16th & 17th May 2026

History was made with the Audi Cup’s inaugural race meeting taking place in front of a large crowd at Thruxton last weekend (16-17 May).

All the drivers on the grid played their part in getting the exciting new category off the ground as part of a professional package, putting on a show for those on the busy spectator banks and simultaneously streamed live around the world.

While the Audi Cup cars faced the worst of the weekend’s wet weather, it only served to highlight the close, entertaining racing they provide, particularly with a fantastic lead battle in the second contest.

Qualifying

Andrew Rogerson set the pace in Saturday’s qualifying session, which turned out to be the Audi Cup’s only dry running all weekend.

Rogerson’s First Choice Maintenance with AS Metal Recycling and Skip Hire Audi TT topped the times with a 98.40mph lap around the fearsome sweeping curves that comprise the country’s fastest race circuit.

He was 0.4 seconds faster than Ross Makar (4G Racing), with Makar’s stablemate Sam Meagher another half-second adrift.

The third 4G car of Patrick Booth was next, just ahead of short oval regular Ruby Smith (Globe Motorsport Ltd). In a tightly packed midfield, Smith’s best was less than 0.1s quicker than James Blake (i-tech Racing/M4 Tyres) who himself bettered Iain Dowler (NRH Motors) by the tiny margin of 0.02s.

Rallycross convert Harrison Folley (Folley Motorsport) made a very encouraging debut on the circuits, steadily improving his times to get well within 2s of Dowler, despite running the older-style differential on his car.

Qualifying times set the grid for races one and three of the weekend, meaning that drivers needed to complete two quick laps – something that Rogerson overlooked. The Berkshire driver paid the price, slipping to fourth in the classification of second-best laps, behind Makar, Meagher and Booth.

THRUXTON QUALIFYING RESULT

Round 1 – Race Report

The heavens had opened before Saturday afternoon’s race, leaving track conditions very different from earlier in the day.

Rogerson’s experience in his Audi TT suggested that it required minimal adjustment in set-up to deal with the wet track. It was a decision he regretted but made for some spectacular action at the head of the field.

Rogerson converted pole position into the race lead but was finding his car a bit of a handful through the crucial high-speed sections of the track.

Makar, on the other hand, was running a wet set-up and put Rogerson under immense pressure. Having probed for a few laps, the Scotsman forced an error from his rival at half-distance. Rogerson ran slightly deep into the Club chicane, which let Makar get a better run on the exit and successfully make his move into Allard.

Rogerson performed some entertaining slides through the high-speed Village and Club corners as he gamely tried to hang on to the new leader. But he was fighting a losing battle and it was Makar who made history by becoming the first-ever Audi Cup race winner.

Behind the lead pair, Meagher kept a watching brief in third. Unable to quite match their ultimate pace, he brought the car home safely to open his account with a podium.

Booth lost ground at the start before picking his way back through the order, passing Dowler for fourth just past the midway point. But Dowler wasn’t done and fought back, falling just 0.08s short at the chequered flag.

In the wet conditions, Ruby Smith’s challenge was halted by a spin at Goodwood, and so it was Folley who came through to finish sixth on debut, fractionally ahead of Blake who started from the pits after suffering a misfire.

THRUXTON RACE ONE RESULT

 

Round 2 – Race Report

The second race of a weekend is the reversed-grid contest, formed by reversing the top six from the previous day’s result. That put Folley on pole with Dowler alongside on a track that started out wet and got wetter as rain continued to fall.

On his Thruxton debut, Dowler got the jump to lead away, while a good start from Rogerson propelled him into third. That became second when a big twitch for Folley at Noble in the tricky conditions let the pack surge past.

As Rogerson sought to chase down Dowler, Makar was on the move. The Falkirk man rounded Meagher at Allard on lap three of 10 then pounced to take second immediately as Rogerson had a big slide through the fearsome Church corner.

A lap later, Makar got a good run through Church to pass Dowler for the lead up Woodham Hill, with Rogerson following through.

Benefiting from an improved set-up, Rogerson wasn’t letting Makar escape. In fact, he was doing everything he knew to get back past the 4G car. For lap after lap he probed, challenging by trying various lines at the Complex and the chicane.

But Makar stood firm, and when Rogerson suffered a slide at Noble on the penultimate, it gave Makar the breathing space he need to bring the car home for a second win.

Catching the wayward slide, Rogerson bounced across the grass before resuming his pursuit, but he fell 1.5s short.

Behind them, an emotional Dowler was absolutely delighted to hold off the pack and clinch a maiden podium in the series, admitting he just wasn’t able to carry the same pace through the fast corners as Makar and Rogerson.

Meagher might have fancied his chances of making a move stick on Dowler, but was forced to pull up on the penultimate lap with an electrical issue.

So Booth took another fourth place ahead of Blake and Folley as Smith again had a tough time in the wet conditions.

THRUXTON RACE TWO RESULT

 

Round 3 – Race Report

More heavy rain left the track even wetter for the weekend finale as Ross Makar stormed to victory from pole position to complete his hat-trick.

Out front from the start, Makar kept a cool head as Rogerson again tried in vain to get the better of him. Such were the conditions that even Makar had a couple of moments of his own.

Rogerson found he could only carry the same sort of speed as Makar through the quick corners by letting the car slide on all four wheels. But such an approach is fraught with risk and it was no surprise when he lost touch mid-race when the car briefly got away from him.

So, despite nursing a gear-linkage problem in the closing stages, Makar rounded off the weekend with another fine victory, and Rogerson had to settle for second once more. Meagher bounced back from his earlier retirement to complete the podium finishers.

Dowler ran wide at the Complex early on which gave Booth the upper hand in the battle for fourth. But Dowler fought back strongly and stole the position on the final lap.

Not fond of the wet conditions, Smith spun out of sixth, so it was Blake who took the position, just ahead of Folley.

THRUXTON RACE THREE RESULT

 

Driver Quotes

Round 1, 2 & 3 winner, Ross Makar

“Truthfully I just think I had a lot of grip in the fast corners which helped me a lot, and I tried to limit my mistakes. Had the track remained dry, I think it would have been much, much tighter.

“The cars are great. They’re probably one of the cheapest cars on the grid here today, and they’re fast for the money, really exciting. When we get a few more cars it’s going to be fantastic.”

Andrew Rogerson, three-time podium finisher

“Ultimately, Ross drove better than me so fair play to him. He drove well, we kept it clean, and I hope we put on a bit of a show for everyone with the sideways action.”

After race two: “That was the most entertaining race I’ve had for a long time! It was mega, everyone was involved. It was great – there was room, there was respect.”

Next time – Pembrey awaits as the second weekend of the 2026 series