OLIVIER ALGIERI BAGS CROFT HAT-TRICK – PROVISIONALLY
Olivier Algieri completed a perfect weekend in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy with a double Sunday win at Croft – giving him three wins from three across the weekend.
The Westbourne Motorsport driver scored double pole in qualifying and also set the fastest lap in each of the three races – including a new lap record – to take a maximum haul of points from the weekend.
However, the triple success is subject to the results from the weekend being finalised with a number of outstanding judicial hearings to be held at the next event on the schedule at Donington Park.
RACE 2:
The reverse grid race kicked off with Leo Purches on pole after the top nine from Saturday’s opening race was flipped, with Kieran Roberts joining him on the front row after Ronnie Smith – who should have started from second spot – was handed a grid two place grid penalty for an incident the previous day.
Purches was able to maintain the lead at the start of the race with Ashley Gregory and Ronnie Smith after both cleared Roberts on the run down to turn one. The EXCELR8 driver was then forced to skip the chicane and as he looked to try and go around the outside of Smith into Tower, lost the rear end of his car and went off onto the grass – just as Gregory launched her car down the inside of Purches for the lead.
Smith then lost third to Alex Keens at Sunny In before getting the cutback to reclaim the place at Sunny Out, with Keens and Josh Wilby slotting in behind.
Both Keens and Wilby managed to get ahead of Smith on lap two, but Wilby then found himself on the outside line for turn one, where he was forced wide and dropped back down into the pack behind.
Having slipped to eighth, Wilby dived down the inside of Harry Smith at Sunny Out to take seventh but as the pair then headed into the complex, Wilby went off into the barriers on the outside of the first left-hander to bring out the red flag.
At that point, Gregory had held a slender advantage over Purches and Keens with the trio lining up at the head of the field for the restart once Wilby’s car had been recovered and damage to the barriers repaired.
Further down the order, race one winner Algieri had worked his way to seventh, with championship contender Gabe Fairbrother in ninth – with both hoping to maintain forward progress when the action got back underway with just under ten minutes left on the clock.
Gregory got away well when the lights went out for a second time to retain her lead but Purches would find himself run wide across the gravel behind her – putting him out of line and resulting in him dropping down the order as Keens and Ronnie Smith diced for second spot.
Smith briefly got ahead before Keens reclaimed the place on the exit of Tower, with Alfie Garford sitting in fourth and Algieri getting up into fifth. Coming into the hairpin at the end of the opening lap however, Algieri dived down the inside of the two cars ahead and emerged from the corner having moved up into third.
Within a lap, Algieri had grabbed second when he dived down the inside of Keens into Sunny In with drama in the pack behind going into the complex, which started when Alfie Garford and Ronnie Smith touched – delaying Garford enough to give Fairbrother a run on the outside going into the hairpin.
Rhys Hurd was trying to get ahead of Fairbrother at the same and Fairbrother would end up squeezed between the pair, with result being Garford spinning across the the front of the EXCELR8 car and into Hurd – who was forced out with damage as a result.
Gregory continued to lead but Algieri reeled her in, forcing the leader to go increasingly defensive and bringing Keens back into the battle.
Keens was able to get a run on Algieri out of Tower and the pair ran side-by-side before Keens got back through into second spot on lap four only for Algieri to reclaim the spot with another dive down the inside at the hairpin that caught his rival napping.
Once again chasing down the leader, Algieri made his move for the lead on the run down to Sunny on the final lap with brief contact between the two putting Gregory wide and allowing both Algieri and Keens to move ahead.
Algieri therefore took the flag first with Keens holding off Gregory on the run to the line for second.
Ronnie Smith would hold on to fourth place despite late race pressure from Fairbrother, with Harry Smith rounding out the top six and Louie Capozzoli storming from the back of the grid after his race one retirement to take seventh.
Purches recovered from his misfortune at the restart to end up eighth, with Craig Morgan and Roberts rounding out the top ten.
Post race however, Harry Smith lost his top six finish thanks to two separate penalties that dropped him down to tenth in the final result
RACE 3:
Algieri once again lined up on pole position for the final race of the weekend and was able to retain the lead on the run down to turn one for the first time.
As the pack then squabbled behind over second place, Algieri opened up a lead of more than two seconds on the opening lap alone and was never in trouble at the front as he eased his way to victory by more than six seconds.
Algieri’s run to victory was helped by what would prove to be a huge battle behind for second between Garford and Capozzoli, who lined up in second and third for the start.
Garford went defensive going into turn one to hold onto second spot initially but Capozzoli didn’t take long to find a way ahead as he got a better run through Barcroft and dived down the inside into Sunny In to take second spot.
From there, Capozzoli went on the defensive to keep Garford behind and was able to celebrate his return to the series in second place with Garford having to settle for third spot – albeit scoring points for second due to the fact that the EXCELR8 man ahead isn’t eligible for points.
Wilby would also be embroiled in the battle for the podium spots after Team Avago managed to repair the damage he sustained in race two and would take the flag in fourth despite race long pressure from behind from Hurd.
Keens rounded out the top six to maintain his lead in the championship standings with Cameron Richardson coming out on top of a race-long fight with Gregory to take seventh.
James Sherrington and Fairbrother rounded out the top ten, with the latter coming from the back of the field to salvage more solid points from the weekend after his engine issues in qualifying.
