Dan Zelos Clinches Third Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Title
Despite having one round still to run at Brands Hatch in October, Dan Zelos wrapped up a third Vertu MINI CHALLENGE title after securing an unassailable lead in the championship standings at Knockhill.
Zelos headed into the weekend with an outside chance of defending the title if results went his way, but the recent form of rookie Max Hall meant it was widely expected that the battle between the pair would go on to the final weekend.
Qualifying threw up a surprise as Nathan Edwards topped the times despite never previously visiting the circuit, with Dominic Wheatley setting the best of the second quickest times to snare pole for race one.
Wheatley duly converted pole into victory in that opening race, with Zelos chasing him home to finish second on the road. However, a penalty for exceeding track limits would drop him down to fourth place behind Hall and Jamie Osborne – meaning the gap at the top was reduced going into race two.
Starting from row two for the reverse grid encounter, Zelos battled his way to the front to grab victory ahead of Hall, who had to spend most of the race trying to avoid being overhauled by NAPA Racing driver Osborne behind.
It allowed Zelos to take the flag more than seven seconds clear for his biggest win in the series, with Hall taking second and Lewis Selby third – inheriting his spot on the podium due to a penalty for Osborne.
The decisive moment would come within 30 seconds of the start of race three, when Hall suddenly slowed on the exit of turn three with driveshaft failure, putting him into retirement on the spot.
It meant Zelos only needed to maintain his position near the front to take the title, and whilst he would end up back in fourth following a failed bid for the lead that saw him run across the gravel, the EXCELR8 man put himself out of reach in the standings with three races remaining.
That final race was won by Edwards, who led from start-to-finish to take the flag ahead of Wheatley and Osborne.
“I didn’t even know I could win it at the start of the race, so it was a real surprise to be told,” he said.
“It’s not how I wanted to win the title with Max retiring through no fault of his own, but I’ll certainly take it. To win the title for a third time, and twice in a row, is an amazing feeling and huge credit to everyone who has helped to make it possible.”
In the JCW Sport class, Albert Webster took two wins and was only prevented from scoring a hat-trick by a race three penalty that handed the victory to points leader Dylan Hotchin.
Hannah Webster was actually first across the line in race three, but was running as a guest entrant in the Sustainable Fuel Development car and therefore not eligible for points or podiums.
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