Tom Ovenden successfully wrapped up the 2025 Vertu MINI CHALLENGE on the final weekend of racing this season at Brands Hatch, although it was a high profile guest driver who led the way on track.
Ovenden headed into the final three races of the season with a handy lead over Lewis Selby and Jamie Osborne in the standings, although Osborne dropped out of the title fight before the weekend had even got underway when he was ruled out of a second successive meeting on medical grounds.
After his EXCELR8 team-mate Nathan Edwards grabbed pole position in qualifying, Ovenden moved a step closer to the crown in the opening race of the weekend when he fought his way to a podium finish and Selby finished a lap down at the rear of the JCW field after a spin into the barriers.
The race itself would be won from the front by Edwards, but only after he held off the early challenge of Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nick Tandy; drafted into the NAPA Racing line-up for the weekend to aid the team in the fight for the Teams’ Championship.
Race two of the weekend would be red-flagged after a frightening incident involving Harry Hickton that saw the Mannpower Motorsport launched into a barrel-roll on the Grand Prix loop after being tipped into a spin.
Charlie Hand had led the race prior to the stoppage but on the restart, it was Tandy who fought his way to the front to score victory at the wheel of a car that couldn’t be more different to the Porsche Hypercar he normally drives in the US-based IMSA Sportscar series.
Hand and Edwards followed behind, with Ovenden doing what was required to take the title as he gave himself an unassailable lead over Selby in the standings.
As Tandy won again in the final race of the season, focus turned to the fight for the Teams’ title, with third and fourth for Edwards and Ovenden being enough to give EXCELR8 a second championship of the weekend.
Although Ovenden wrapped up the JCW title with relative ease, the battle for the JCW Sport crown would go down to the final race as Jamsport team-mates Archie Johson and Henry Howarth fought for the title.
Johnson scored pole to bag six bonus points but Howarth then emerged on top in the opening race of the weekend to bring the gap between the pair – which had been twelve points – down to single figures.
However, Johnson then took honours in race two and was able to cruise to the finish in the final race of the campaign to take the championship title.
The Cooper field will head to Brands Hatch in early November for their final rounds.
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