NATHAN EDWARDS OPENS SEASONAL ACCOUNT FOR A SECOND TIME

Having missed out on race one victory on Saturday, Nathan Edwards opened his account for the 2025 season with a strong victory in the second Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Croft.

Edwards thought he had won the opening race on Saturday before a penalty for Tom Ovenden was overturned, and went into the Sunday race keen to try and fight at the front having qualified on pole position.

As on Saturday however, Edwards was slow away off the line which allowed championship leader Jamie Osborne to grab the lead, with Ovenden slotting into third ahead of Lewis Selby.

Osborne led the opening lap before a spin for Ned Anthony – who was then collected by Alex Solley – saw the safety car called out, with the race running under caution until the eighth lap when the action was finally able to resume.

Edwards then started to put pressure on the leader and having tried to take a look at the hairpin, the EXCELR8 driver nipped ahead at turn one to hit the front on lap eleven.

Osborne tried to come back at the leader to add to his win tally, but Edwards had enough in reserve to keep him at bay to score the victory – with the pair split by just four-tenths of a second at the flag.

“It felt like redemption today after yesterday, and I left it all on the table,” he said. “I knew we had a good car and even though I lost the lead at the start, I knew we had the pace to get back ahead.

“This win is for the team for the effort they have put in and we can start believing again. We’re back!”

Osborne retains a handy lead in the standings as result of his second place, with Ovenden having a somewhat lonely run to third – failing to match the pace of the pair ahead but having enough in reserve to ease away from Selby in fourth.

Behind, Harry Hickton led a train of rookie drivers as the Mannpower Motorsport man emerged on top of a three-way fight with Race Car Consultants man Jacob Hodgkiss and team-mate Charlie Hand, who recovered from his unfortunate race one retirement with a top seven finish.

Max Edmundson also bounced back from retirement with eighth from Albert Webster, with the top ten completed by Josh Porter.