JAMIE OSBORNE WINS AGAIN TO EXTEND TITLE LEAD

Jamie Osborne now has a full race in hand over the pack behind after victory in the final Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Snetterton saw the NAPA Racing UK man make it five wins from six starts.

Having returned to the top step of the podium in race two, Osborne lined up at the front of the field for the weekend finale and was in control from the moment the lights went out – helped in part by the fact that Tom Ovenden in second didn’t get away well.

That saw Ovenden come under attack from Max Edmundson for second spot, with the Pro Alloys Racing driver able to take second spot at the hairpin before being forced off across the grass later in the lap – allowing Ovenden to almost nip back through.

Their battle meant Osborne led by more than two seconds by the end of lap one and he was never troubled from that stage as he secured the win, with the only scare coming late on when Nathan Edwards suffered a mechanical failure that dropped oil in the final part of the lap.

“I was watching them in my mirrors behind and it looked like they were having a good battle! he said. “I just tried to build the lead and manage the tyres, and I can’t thank everyone at Alliance Racing and NAPA enough as they have done a great job.

“It was a bit dicey late on as typical me, I saw the slippery surface flag and thought there could be some debris or something than had a sideways moment – so I figured I best just slow down a touch!”

Edmundson would hold on to second for much of the race despite Ovenden’s best efforts, with the EXCELR8 driver finally able to get ahead late on when a small error from his rival ahead provided a chance to get a run out of Agostini.

Ovenden duly made the move stick going into Hamilton and picked up second spot, although he now sits 64 points behind Osborne in the standings ahead of the next round at Oulton Park.

“It was a shame that I messed up the start as it allowed Jamie to get away at the front,” he said. “It was a good race with Max after that and I really enjoyed it, but we need to be beating NAPA more often…”

Edmundson completed a podium hat-trick in third spot, with fourth going the way of Lewis Selby – albeit more than ten seconds away from the fight for second spot.

Selby had lost a spot at the start to slip down to ninth place but recovered well to fight his way through a huge battle in the midfield pack as a train of cars diced for fourth.

Edwards had been involved in that fight before his retirement, with Albert Webster and Josh Porter also showing strong pace – even though in Webster’s case he would suffer more than one sideways moment during the race.

Selby took advantage of the squabbling ahead to come to the fore and took the flag just ahead of Harry Hickton, who once again displayed great race pace to come from 13th on the grid to fifth.

Porter took sixth ahead of Webster, with Charlie Hand, Jacob Hodgkiss and Alex Solley rounding out the top ten, until Hodgkiss was handed a penalty for a clash with Solley that instead meant it was Steven Chandler who was classified in tenth.

Harry Campey had also been in the middle of that fight in arguably his most competitive showing to date, but a penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him down the order to finish in 13th.

Alongside Edwards, Marlo Cordell endured a tough end to a frustrating weekend as he was forced to retire to the pits.