Nathan Edwards Does The Double At Oulton Park
Series rookie Nathan Edwards grabbed his first wins in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE with a double success in the final meeting before the summer break at Oulton Park.
Edwards moved up into the headline JCW class over the winter having secured more wins than anyone else in the Cooper category last year and arrived at Oulton Park chasing a maiden podium and things started well when he secured pole position in qualifying.
That only told part of the story however, with JamSport driver Marlo Cordell having initially gone quickest only to be removed from the results when his car failed the post-session ride-height checks and demoted to the back of the field.
Edwards had already set the fastest ‘second best time’ to earn pole for race one and led every lap to take his breakthrough victory – taking advantage of a slow start for Max Hall to build a slender lead that he would retain through to the finish.
It would prove to be a strong race for the EXCELR8 team as Tom Ovenden chased his home for a best finish of the season to date, with Nelson King rounding out the podium in third spot having overcome Hall mid-way through the race.
Defending champion Dan Zelos also overhauled the youngster as Hall finished fifth despite a time penalty for exceeding track limits, with the top six completed by Dominic Wheatley.
Race two would be a similar affair at the front as Edwards led from the front to take the win ahead of Ovenden, with King once again scoring third.
King had been forced to come through from fifth on the grid, battling ahead of Hall and then inheriting a podium spot when Josh Porter suffered a spin off into the barriers and was forced to retire.
Hall this time finished ahead of Zelos in fourth spot as the champion took fifth and Wheatley again in sixth.
Zelos leads the standings ahead of Hall and Edwards at that half way point of the season.
The JCW Sport class saw Albert Webster pick up a fifth successive win in the opening race of the weekend, but it was points leader Dylan Hotchin who then grabbed the win in race two to strengthen his advantage at the top going into the summer break.