FRESH BLOOD HEADLINES ENTRY FOR DONINGTON PARK OPENER

An entry that is largely new in name but which is also high in quality is already on site at Donington Park as the new Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season prepares to burst into life this weekend.

Two weeks after the MINI CHALLENGE Trophy opener at Snetterton, the JCW and JCW Sport classes will contest their first three races of the campaign in the East Midlands, with a field of 23 cars in place for round one.

The number of cars in both JCW and JCW Sport is up on last year in a major boost for the series, with more expected to join the grid throughout the season on a race-by-race basis.

The entry list is headed by the only line-up on the grid not to feature a rookie driver, with three cars running under the EXCELR8 Driver Development Programme banner.

Nathan Edwards heads the three cars as the highest placed returning driver on the entry list this season, with the 26-year-old having taken third in the standings during his rookie campaign twelve months ago.

Edwards is joined by fellow race winner Tom Ovenden, who was one of the stars of the Donington meeting twelve months ago, as well as Josh Porter – who will be aiming to try and break his JCW podium duck during the season ahead.

EXCELR8 also runs a second entry under the EXCELR8 Motorsport banner, with a pair of cars for Marlo Cordell and Harry Campey.

Cordell goes into his third season in the JCW class with a new team after switching from Jamsport over the winter, and is keen to try and find consistency to match the pace he has previously displayed, whilst Campey is a newcomer to the series having not raced for more than a decade.

The only other team to have previously competed in the JCW class is NAPA Racing UK, which now focuses fully on a single class for the first time having previously competed across multiple categories in recent years.

Jamie Osborne and Lewis Selby both return and go into the weekend in positive mood after running strongly in Thursday practice – with Osborne topping FP1 before Selby set the quickest time of the day in FP2.

Selby in particular has fond memories of Donington after his stunning win in mixed conditions last season, and will hope to try and repeat that result this time around.

The pair are joined by Cameron Richardson as he graduates from the Sport class, whilst regular Cooper front-runner Alex Solley is one of the expected front-runners amongst the rookies as he graduates into the top category.

Solley will renew rivalries with the reigning Cooper champion Harry Hickton, who moves up into JCW on a full-time basis after a one-off outing with EXCELR8 last year.

Hickton and his father David will work on the car themselves but with Mannpower Motorsport looking after things on a race weekend as the team also steps up from the Cooper class, with Charlie Hand running in a second car.

Hand will be one of the more interesting stories to watch during the season as he returns to action following an accident whilst racing in Britcar that resulted in him being forced to miss the entire 2024 season with injury.

Pro Alloys Racing also runs a multi-car entry for its first season in the MINI CHALLENGE, with big things expected of Max Edmundson after back-to-back title wins in the Civic Cup – despite the fact he is still in his teens.

Edmundson is joined by Owen Hillman as he too moves up from the Civic Cup, with the pair keen to impress for the team in its most high-profile racing programme to date.

Four single car entries then complete a 17 car JCW entry for the opening weekend, with JRW Motorsport stepping up with Albert Webster, who scored more wins than anyone else last season in JCW Sport.

Webster will hope for a less dramatic start to his season than twelve months ago when he rolled out of the opening race of the weekend in an incident that ultimately ended his title challenge early.

Race Car Consultants, which debuted in the Cooper class at Snetterton, joins the JCW line-up with teenager Jacob Hodgkiss, whilst Amigo Motorsport is another newcomer with Ned Antony at the wheel of its entry.

Chandler Motorsport round out the field running the MINI CHALLENGE Sustainable Fuel Development car, which this weekend is in the hands of Steven Chandler.

As was the case when the car ran in JCW Sport last year, it remains available for drivers who want to experience the MINI CHALLENGE throughout the season, with the series and the team offering subsidised drives to anyone interested.

JCW Sport also sees a raft of new names appear, although Ben Crossley and Chris MacKenzie both return with a year of experience under their belts.

Crossley moves over to JRW Motorsport whilst MacKenzie continues with his Bitcoin Racing team, and both will hope to make strong starts to their respective title challenges.

Defending champions Jamsport however have a strong three-car entry in place, as seen by the fact that the team topped all three sessions in Thursday practice.

Youngsters Henry Howarth and Archie Johnson were right at the sharp end of the field and will expect to fight for victories this weekend, with Nicky Gauci rounding out the line-up having won Jamsport’s scholarship over the winter.

Will Crooks then completes the six-car field for this weekend on his series debut having linked up with EXCELR8 for his rookie season.

The 17-year-old will continue to compete in the JCW Sport category as he looks to improve on the third place championship finish he secured his his rookie campaign.

Crossley was the only driver in the JCW Sport class to finish every race last year, taking to the podium ten times in 19 starts and scoring a best overall finish of tenth – with the JCW Sport cars sharing a grid with more powerful JCW machines.

The teenager, who had previously competed in rallycross, also scored fastest laps at both Brands Hatch Indy and Croft.

Having made his debut with the Jamsport team, Crossley moves over to the JRW Motorsport squad that scored nine wins in the class last season with Albert Webster and will   make his first outing for the team at Donington Park this weekend.

Crossley scored a podium finish at the circuit last year, bringing his car home in third place in the final race of the weekend, which was held in some of the most challenging conditions he would face across the entire season.

“I’m really excited to join JRW Motorsport and to see how they can help me improve on my performance from last year,” he said.

“My first goal is enjoy that elusive trip to the top step of the podium, and I feel ready and raring to go against my rivals old and new ahead of the opening rounds.”