JOSHUA WILBY BATTLES TO RACE ONE VICTORY

Joshua Wilby picked up his second win of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season with victory in the opening race of the weekend at Brands Hatch.

Wilby had started the race from second place on the grid alongside Ronnie Smith, with Gabe Fairbrother lining up in third behind.

When the lights went out, Smith was able to hold onto the lead on the run to turn one as Fairbrother got ahead of Wilby heading to Druids, with the top three running line astern until the end of lap two when ran slightly wide going through Clark Curve – allowing both Fairbrother and Wilby to sneak through.

Fairbrother then held the lead until the start of lap five when Wilby got a better run out of Paddock Hill Bend and was able to sweep around the outside into the lead.

From there, the Team Avago driver was forced to play a defensive game to keep Fairbrother – and Smith – at bay as the leading three broke clear of the squabbling pack behind.

Fairbrother tried more than once to reclaim top spot but Wilby was able to fend him off, with Fairbrother mindful of the need to keep Smith behind.

It was only on the final lap that the leader was given some breathing space when Fairbrother ran wide at Druids and Smith was able to nip ahead, leaving Wilby clear to score victory by half a second as Smith beat Fairbrother to second spot.

“It was a great race and Gabe has been quickest all weekend so to hold him off is a good result,” he said. “It’s hard to defend round here but we managed to do it and then on the final lap, I got a bit of a breather when Ronnie got up into P2.

“Team Avago have given me a great car and huge thanks to them and my sponsors for allowing me to be here.”

The battle behind had been headed early by Luca Marinoni Osborne but having been overhauled by team-mate Rhys Hurd and points leader Leo Purches, he dropped down the order when a clash with Jenson Mason saw both run off track at Surtees.

Hurd instead took up the charge behind but contact between him and Purches would allow Alex Keens and Monroe Rennard to come through to take fourth and fifth – with the latter scoring his first victory in the Rookie Cup.

“I didn’t have any pre-season testing before rocking up at Snetterton but I feel a lot more comfortable now and I’m buzzing with a trophy,” he said. “I’m really happy with the result and I think my background in endurance racing helped me to deal with the conditions in the race. Hopefully I can build on this tomorrow and going forwards into the rest of the season.”

Hurd rounded out the top six, but Purches would he forced to retire back to the pits having picked up a damaged wheel that left him running well off the pace – resulting in the black and orange flag being shown.

After a tough qualifying session, Olivier Algieri came through the pack well to take seventh ahead of James Sherrington, who was also forced to recover from his off in qualifying to take eighth. Alfie Garford and Mason rounded out the top ten.

Following her dramatic accident in qualifying, Ashley Gregory was able to start the race from the pits and came through to 18th place at the finish.

Sherrington is now top scorer in terms of points but once drops are taken into account, it is Wilby who heads the championship standings going into Sunday, with the top six drivers covered by just ten points.