Tom Ovenden is the new leader of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE with just one round of the 2025 season left to run after an unexpected twist in the title fight at Silverstone.
Going into the penultimate weekend of the campaign, much of the focus was on whether NAPA Racing driver Jamie Osborne would be able to extend his advantage at the top, having led the standings since the first race of the year at Donington Park.
However, having felt unwell going into the weekend, Osborne was forced to withdraw after the first practice session on Friday in a move that blew the championship battle wide open.
Qualifying saw Nathan Edward top the times for a third weekend in a row, but it was Max Edmundson who would be the man to beat in the opening race of the weekend.
With the grid decided by second quickest times, Edmundson started from pole, with the Pro Alloys Racing driver holding off the challenge of Lewis Selby to score his third win of the year.
Edwards had started the first race back in 13th due to a grid penalty but showed his pace by coming through to third, whilst Ovenden could only manage sixth having run off track early on when he was caught up by Selby braking ahead of him.
That meant that Osborne still held on to the points lead despite being absent, but that changed in race two despite Ovenden being overhauled by Edmundson in the fight for victory.
Ovenden had started on the front row and got ahead of team-mate Josh Porter early on, but Edmundson charged through from seventh on the reverse grid to score a third successive victory – strengthening his hold on the Rookie Cup standings at the same time.
Ovenden was therefore forced to settle for second spot with Edwards once again in third, but there would be another twist in the title race on the final lap when Selby was forced to retire.
Selby had gone into the weekend 41 points down on Ovenden before outscoring him in race one, but his car ground to a halt when a wire connected to the kill switch became disconnected, cutting the engine on his car.
Edmundson’s winning run came to an end in the weekend finale as Edwards converted his pole position into victory, with Edmundson this time forced to settle for second place.
Harry Hickton overhauled Selby on to score his maiden podium finish in the series, with Selby forced to settle for fourth place.
It means Ovenden now holds a lead of 70 points over Osborne and Selby going into the Brands Hatch finale, with Edmundson twelve points further back in fourth place.
A maximum of 165 points is still up grabs when bonus points are taken into account.
Although Ovenden is now the hot favourite for the JCW title, things are much closer in JCW Sport where the championship lead also changed hands over the course of the Silverstone weekend.
Henry Howarth led the way for Jamsport going into the weekend and gained the advantage over team-mate Archie Johnson in qualifying where he led the way to secure the bonus points that were on offer for topping the times.
Johnson had the edge in the races however and scored a hat-trick of wins, even though Howarth had taken the flag first in race one but picked up a time penalty.
The triple win means Johnson now takes a lead of twelve points into the final weekend of the season in what is effectively a two-way shootout for the crown, with third-placed Ben Crossley being 123 points off the lead.
Crossley will instead look to try and hold on to third spot from Chris Mackenzie, Will Crooks and Nicky Gauci who are all close behind.
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