Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Steals The Show At Snetterton
The latest rounds of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE provided plenty of action when the series headed for Snetterton for the third meeting of the year.
The weekend would play host to four races, with the three scheduled races running alongside the one that was postponed due to poor weather at Donington Park.
That rescheduled race would be the first of the weekend and, ironically, would be held in the wet, with defending champion Dan Zelos able to overhaul Jamie Osborne in the early stages to secure the race win.
The battle for third between Nathan Edwards and Dominic Wheatley would go the way of Wheatley after a small error from his EXCELR8 team-mate opened the door for him to nip ahead.
Title contender Lewis Selby endured a tough start to the weekend with a trip into the barriers after running wide at Coram, leading to him needing an unscheduled visit to the pits.
Zelos doubled up with victory in the second race of the weekend ahead of the Laser Tools Racing car of Nelson King, but the big story was who took third place, after a last lap clash between the battling pair of Selby and Max Hall opened the door for a charging Lydia Walmsley to slip through.
Taking the flag in third, Walmsley secured a place in the record books as the first female racer to make it onto the MINI CHALLENGE JCW podium.
Race three on Sunday morning would prove to be the race of the weekend as Hall, Zelos and King embarked on a huge battle for the win.
Hall led going into the final lap but was dealing with a gearbox issue that allowed Zelos to draw alongside going into the Bombhole before moving into the lead going through Coram – where Hall was forced to save a wild sideways moment.
Coming out of the final corner, Zelos held top spot as he took victory in his 100th race in the series, with King drawing alongside Hall to grab second on a drag-race to the line – with the trio covered by less than a quarter of a second.
Hall overcame the disappointment of losing that victory late on with a fine drive in the final weekend enabling him to hold off a charging Zelos for the win, with Wheatley completing the podium for the second time after a mid-race move on King.
In the JCW Sport category, Albert Webster enjoyed a successful return to action after his accident at Donington Park during the opening meeting of the year, scoring victory in all four races despite the best efforts of Roan Lundy in the Sustainable Fuel Development car.
A solid weekend for Dylan Hotchin means he retains the points lead going into a short break prior to the next meeting at Oulton Park, with the MINI CHALLENGE Trophy joining the BTCC package at Thruxton for the next race weekend.
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