OLIVIER ALGIERI SCORES POLE FOR SNETTERTON SEASON OPENER

Olivier Algieri made the perfect start to his first full season in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy with a storming run to pole position for the opening meeting of the campaign at Snetterton.

Returning to the series with Westbourne Motorsport after a two-round guest entry last season, Algieri topped the times in impressive fashion to score his maiden pole in the Cooper class – marking the second successive season in which Westbourne has led the way in qualifying at the longest circuit on the calendar.

With only 15 minutes in which to set the two laps required to determine the grid for races one and three of the weekend, drivers wasted little time in getting up to speed, with Ashley Gregory, Gabe Fairbrother and Josh Wilby taking their turns at the top early on.

When the times started to drop however, it looks like rookie Alfie Garford could be set to spring a surprise when he put in a 2:19.108 lap in his Wera Racing Alliance Academy-run car to go three-tenths clear of the field.

With little more than three minutes on the clock however, Algieri was able to better that time and become the only driver to break into the 2:18s bracket, going quickest of all in the second sector to post a lap 0.332s quicker than Garford.

By that stage, a number of his rivals had already started their final laps and it was quickly clear that no-one was going to get close, meaning Algieri will start the final race of the weekend from pole and takes the extra six bonus points on offer.

Garford ensured that the front row will be an all-rookie affair for the weekend finale having held on to second spot from Jamie Keates, who failed to make the front row by just a tenth of a second.

Keates will share the second row of the grid with Wilby – who was the leading Graduate Cup driver – with Rhys Hurd and pre-season title favourite Gabe Fairbrother rounding out the top six.

Gregory was unlucky to miss out on the third row with a time that was just 0.005s down on Fairbrother, leaving her in seventh alongside Alex Keens, with Leo Purches, Luca Marinoni Osborne and Jenson Mason the final drivers to qualify within a second of the fastest time.

Algieri wouldn’t be in the fight for the opening race pole however, which instead went the way of Fairbrother thanks his second quickest lap being better than any of his rivals.

A time of 2:19.433s was a fraction of a second slower than his best lap, suggesting the EXCELR8 man has more consistency than some of his rivals, with Wilby joining him on the front row.

Gregory and Garford will share the second row of the grid with Hurd and Mason on row three, whilst Algieri will start back in ninth – his second fastest lap being more than a second slower than his session best.