JENSON MASON SCORES MAIDEN MINI CHALLENGE VICTORY

Jenson Mason emerged on top of a huge battle for honours in the second Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy race of the weekend to score his maiden win in the series.

The Wera Alliance Academy Racing team had started the weekend at the back of the field as a result of a penalty carried over from Brands Hatch, but raced his way through the pack to take sixth in the opening race.

Lining up in fifth place on the grid for race two, Mason was part of the train of cars that was dicing for the lead by the end of the opening lap, where Alex Keens hit the front from P3 after polesitter Luca Marinoni Osborne found himself shuffled down the pack.

Ashley Gregory from the front row of the grid had held position behind Keens after the opening lap but made her move for the lead at the start of lap two only for Keens to immediately reclaim the place heading out onto the rear of the circuit.

Even then, Gregory moved back ahead by Church but as the field headed up Woodham Hill and the tow came into effect, she was overhauled by Mason – who had also nipped ahead of Keens at Church.

Gregory took P1 back on the run up the chicane on the following lap but when Mason then pulled a similar move on lap four, he reclaimed a lead he then managed to maintain all the way to the finish despite the best efforts of those behind.

“From the back of the grid yesterday, I can’t believe we managed to get the win – it’s unbelievable!” he said. “When we got to the front it was really difficult to stay ahead but we held on after a brilliant battle.”

The squabble for second once Mason had hit the front was headed for most of the race by Gabe Fairbrother, who had started from sixth before working his way through the battles ahead.

Fairbrother tried more than once to find a way into the lead but that opened him up to attack from behind.

On the final lap, Keens made a move for second and got ahead into second spot, with Gregory and Josh Wilby following him through on the exit of the complex.

Keens however was unable to retain the spot to the end of the lap as both Gregory and Wilby got ahead before the line to secure the final two spots on the podium.

“We were second, then first, then fifth, then sixth – we were all over the place!” Gregory said. “That was just a crazy race and we struggled a bit in the middle with understeer but the fight ahead allowed us to close back up on that lead battle and to come away with P2 is great.”

Wilby taking third spot allowed him to close in on Keens in the title race to bring the gap between the pair down to a single point going into race three, with Fairbrother taking fifth and Olivier Algieri rounding out the top six.

That capped a stunning recovery for Algieri after being forced to retire from race one, with the Westbourne Motorsport driver coming from the back of the grid and setting the fastest lap as he gained 14 spots.

Team-mate Rhys Hurd would go one better with a gain of 15 having also been forced to start the near back, taking eighth spot with Leo Purches the driver who split the pair in seventh.

James Sherrington and Paul Manning rounded out the top ten, with the latter having suffered a scary moment mid-way through the race after contact with Marinoni Osborne round the back of the circuit saw both run off track – with Marinoni Osborne suffering a high-speed spin before he rejoined down the order.

Both Ronnie Smith and Harry Smith suffered issues with their bonnets coming loose as they battled on track, with Harry Smith having his bonnet fly open to result in him being called into the pits.