JOSHUA WILBY OPENS MINI CHALLENGE WIN ACCOUNT

Joshua Wilby secured his maiden win in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy with victory in a disrupted opening race of the season at Snetterton.

Wilby had started the race from the front row of the grid and having held the lead when the action had to be briefly halted, held on at the restart to emerge on top.

Gabe Fairbrother held the lead when the race kicked off and the field streamed down to Riches for the first time, with Wilby slotting in behind and Rhys Hurd making early progress as he cleared Alfie Garford and Ashley Gregory to move into third spot.

Wilby tried to make a move for the lead going down to Brundle for the first time but had to also keen an eye on Hurd behind, but it wouldn’t take long for the Team Avago man to hit the front – with Fairbrother losing momentum on the exit of Nelson and Wilby taking advantage to get a run that ultimately ended with him grabbing the lead at Murrays.

As Wilby then looked to break away at the front, Gregory was on a move as she overhauled Hurd for third and then got ahead of Fairbrother as the EXCELR8 man struggled to keep pace with the leader.

However, before Wilby could move too far clear, the action was halted when Olivier Algieri clipped a tyre stack at Hamilton and suffered a spin, with his car coming to a halt on the circuit.

The race restarted over a shortened distance of eight minutes, with Wilby hold the lead as Fairbrother and a fast-starting James Sherrington – from fifth on the grid – got ahead of Gregory by the time the field reached Montreal.

Having been slow off the line, Hurd would fail to make it past Palmer and was forced to retire, with Wilby leading the way from Fairbrother and Sherrington holding off Gregory when she tried to have a look on the run down to Brundle.

Further back, Ronnie Smith was making up ground after a tough qualifying session and moved into fifth place, with Graves Motorsport pair of Leo Purches and Alex Keens on his tail.

The race appeared to be relatively settled at the front as Wilby kept Fairbrother and Sherrington behind, with yellow flags at Montreal removing one of the key overtaking opportunities.

It meant the big battle for for fifth, with Smith under ever-increasing pressure from Purches in the fight for position.

Going into the final lap, Fairbrother was being pushed along by Sherrington, which brought Gregory and Smith into the battle behind. Gregory managed to take advantage to clear Sherrington on the exit of Palmer and she then found herself in second when Fairbrother ran off at Oggies and into the tyres.

Sherrington then ran wide at Nelson across the grass to lose further ground but out front it was Wilby who was comfortably clear to score a first win for both himself and the Team Avago squad, with Gregory taking second and Smith claiming third – despite starting down outside the top ten.

“It feels amazing,” Wilby said. “I got a good start after the red flag and was able to maintain the gap. I want to thank all of the team and my sponsors for their support and this is fantastic!”

“When Josh got away there was no catching him,” Gregory added. “It was a great battle behind for second between a load of us and this is a great way to start the season.”

Keens would take fourth ahead of Sherrington, who also took Rookie Cup honours, with the top six being completed by Garford – who was one of those to benefit from Purches running wide on the final lap.

Keates, Harry Smith, Craig Morgan and Purches rounded out the top ten.