JAMIE OSBORNE GRABS SNETTERTON POLE AT THE DEATH

Jamie Osborne left it late in qualifying to snare pole for the second meeting of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season at Snetterton.

Osborne heads into the weekend sitting top of the championship standings on the back of three wins from three at Donington Park, and was able to extend his lead at the top when he secured the six bonus points for quickest time in the session.

It would be a close run thing however, with lap times dropping throughout on a drying circuit after rain overnight – with the field starting the session either running on wet rubber or a mixture of slicks and wets.

Osborne had moved to the head of the pack when drivers switched to dry tyres and pitted having set a 2:06.623s lap that he felt was good enough for pole.

However, when that was then bettered by a number of his rivals, Osborne headed back out and on the final flying lap he was able to get in during the time that remained, edged ahead of Tom Ovenden to grab pole by four tenths of a second.

“I came in thinking we’d done enough and then the lads said it could get quicker, so we went back out again and we managed to pull it out of the bag,” he said. “We didn’t manage to get pole for both races but one is good enough for me after a tricky session with the conditions.”

Ovenden had to settle for second spot but will start the opening race of the weekend from pole position with his second fastest time being the best on the grid.

His fastest time was only 0.001s ahead of top rookie Max Edmundson as he grabbed third for Pro Alloys Racing, and the double Civic Cup champion should have started race one from the same position, but a two place penalty carried over from Donington Park drops him down the order.

“The track was getting drier and drier so it was all down to whoever did the lap at the finish,” Edmundson said. “I didn’t get the best lap in but hopefully I can get a good start to the races and go from there.

“We showed good pace in Friday testing and it’s now whether we can carry that into the races and avoid any mistakes.”

Charlie Hand was another driver to impress as he set the fourth fastest time for local outfit Mannpower Motorsport, having at one stage been on provisional pole when the circuit was still damp enough to require a mix of tyres.

Harry Campey also posted a new personal best time with the fifth-fastest lap, with the top six being completed by Lewis Selby despite him going off the road on his first flying lap of the session and taking a trip across the grass at turn one.

EXCELR8 trio Nathan Edwards, Josh Porter and Marlo Cordell followed behind, with the top ten being rounded out by Alex Solley in the third on the NAPA Racing cars.

In JCW Sport, Ben Crossley was the man who topped the times to grab pole for JRW Motorsport, setting his best lap right at the end of the session in a similar way to Osborne at the front.

Crossley ended up six-tenths of a second clear of Will Crooks as he nicked second late on, with current points leader Henry Howarth going third fastest.

“On the lap I got the time I almost came off so I really lucky,” Crossley said. “We’re on pole for race one as well which is great and it was good from the team to bring me in for slicks when they did as we timed it just right.”

Outside the top three, Archie Johnson – who had a mid-session moment at Nelson – was fourth quickest, with Chris Mackenzie and Nicky Gauci rounding out the grid.

All six JCW Sport cars outpaced the JCW entry of Ned Anthony, although the Amigo Motorsport driver will line up ahead on track.