EXCELR8 Pair Share Wins As Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Resumes
EXCELR8 drivers Tom Ovenden and Nathan Edwards bagged a win each as the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season resumed after the summer break at Croft.
Going into the weekend, NAPA Racing’s Jamie Osborne had been the man to beat in the title race but it was Edwards who led the way in qualifying in North Yorkshire to bag pole position for the two races.
Edwards dropped down as low as fourth when race one kicked off after a poor start as Ovenden instead grabbed the lead from Osborne, with Edwards forced to fight his way back through into second spot behind his team-mate.
More than once, Edwards looked to find a way ahead until Ovenden was handed a penalty for exceeding track limits, which looked set to hand the win to Edwards.
Post race however, the decision was taken to overturn the penalty which promoted Ovenden back into P1 and left Edwards with second, whilst Osborne would be classified in third after he too had a penalty overturned.
Further down the pecking order, fifth place for Harry Hickton saw him take top honours in the Rookie Cup – taking the flag comfortably clear of fellow JCW newcomer Albert Webster.
At the start of race two, Edwards once again lost ground off the line as Osborne this time grabbed the lead before a safety car period caused by an incident involving Ned Anthony and Alex Solley on the exit of the chicane.
After the restart, Edwards battled his way back ahead of the championship leader and then kept his rival at bay to take an impressive first win of what had been a difficult campaign to date.
Second for Osborne allowed him to retain his lead in the championship standings, with Ovenden ensuring that the same three drivers who had finished on the race one podium were once again on the rostrum.
Hickton was once again the leading Rookie Cup entrant, this time fending off Jacob Hodgkiss amongst the newcomers.
In the JCW Sport class, honours in the opening race of the weekend went the way of Chris Mackenzie, with the Bitcoin Racing driver able to take full advantage of a huge battle between Jamsport team-mates Henry Howarth and Archie Johnson to score the win.
Johnson however then came out on top in race two and closed the gap on Howarth in the standings when he was forced out late on with driveshaft failure.
Instead, Maltese racer Nicky Gauci came through to take second spot with a last lap move on Mackenzie; who was left to settle for third.
Next up is Knockhill in Scotland on the weekend of 16/17 August.