Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy Hits Half Way

21/08/2024 13:30 Share

Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy Hits Half Way

The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season resumes this weekend at Donington Park as the Cooper grid heads for the East Midlands circuit for what will be the fourth meeting of the season.

Although the JCW and JCW Sport classes have just one round left to run at Brands Hatch in October, the Donington Park meeting will mark the half-way stage of season for the Cooper drivers – who haven’t been in action since the Thruxton meeting back in early June.

Nine races into the season it’s tight at the top between Westbourne Motorsport team-mates Harry Hickton and Sam Gornall, with a just a handful of points separating the duo at the top once you take into account the fact that every driver drops their two worst scores of the campaign.

With four rounds, and twelve races, still to come before the season draws to a close in November it’s still all to play for in the title race with the likes of Alex Solley and James Black both hoping to close in on the front two in their own bid for championship silverware.

PODIUM FINISHES

Whilst Hickton has scored the most wins for far in 2024, with a double at Snetterton being followed by a victory at Pembrey, it is Gornall who has the most podium finishes to his name having been in the top three in six races to date.

Only one of those six is a victory, with Solley and Rhys Hurd having both made it onto the top step on two occasion and Jamie Keates winning once. In Keates’ case, he didn’t cross the line first but was promoted into top spot as a result of penalties elsewhere during the Pembrey weekend.

Black has the most podiums without making it onto the top step, whilst a total of ten drivers have made it into the top three.

QUALIFYING

Gornall has the best qualifying average so far this season, having scored pole for the opening meeting of the campaign at Snetterton and following it up with fourth and third in the two rounds that have followed.

That gives him an impressive qualifying average of 2.67 for the three rounds run to date, just ahead of Solley, who put his Graves Motorsport-run car on pole at Thruxton last time out.

Hickton has the third best qualifying average despite not yet making it onto the front row with the other pole position this season having gone the way of Alex Keens – who qualified at the head of the field at Pembrey.

FASTEST LAPS

The fastest laps across the nine races run so far in 2024 have been shared between five drivers, with Hickton having picked up more than anyone else – setting the fastest lap in one race at each of the three events.

Unsurprisingly, the fastest lap of the season to date came at Thruxton, which is the quickest circuit that features on the calendar.

A lap from Gornall at an average speed of 93.43mph at that event was one of two new lap records set so far, with Black breaking the lap record at Snetterton on the opening weekend of the year.

Solley and Keates are the other drivers who have set a fastest lap this season.

LAPS LED

Despite having the most wins so far in 2024, Hickton hasn’t let the most laps across the nine races, being out front for 26 laps spread across four races.

That is down in part to the fact that his double success at Snetterton came at the longest circuit on schedule, with races running to seven laps compared to the 13 at Pembrey and in two of the three Thruxton races.

Solley’s lights-to-flag wins at the latter two circuits means he has led three more laps than Hickton, with a total of six drivers having spent time at the front of the field.

PLACES GAINED

When it comes to places gained on track, Team Avago rookie Joshua Wilby lead the way having gained a total of 40 spots from his starting position over the nine races run so far.

That leaves him clear of another rookie in the shape of Leo Purches as well as his Graves Motorsport team-mate Frankie Taylor – although he is not set to contest any further races this season.

Taylor has the biggest gain a single race, going from 20^th on the grid to finish ninth in race two at Snetterton, whilst the 20 places gained by both Wilby and Purches at Pembrey is the largest across a weekend.