HARRY HICKTON OVERWHELMED BY COOPER TITLE

Harry Hickton admitted to feeling ‘overwhelmed’ after emerging from the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy final as the 2024 champion.

The Westbourne Motorsport driver went into the Brands Hatch weekend sitting 31 points behind team-mate Sam Gornall in the standings having lost ground in the title race after a tough run of form in the second half of the campaign.

Topping the times in qualifying gave Hickton six valuable championship points and he then closed in on Gornall with fourth in race one – with the points leader finishing down the order after clutch failure left him stuck in third gear.

Hickton then hit the front in the standings with victory in race two, and despite Gornall then winning race three, he took the flag in third spot to grab the title by just two points.

“I feel overwhelmed to have done it, and won the title,” the new champion said. “We’d had some bad luck in recent rounds that hampered me heading to Brands Hatch and I knew that we needed to put in a strong performance.

“This was a weekend where the pieces of the jigsaw needed to fall into place, and from the moment we scored pole in qualifying, that is what happened. The whole weekend has been a real rollercoaster with so much going through my head, and to emerge from it as champion is brilliant.”

Hickton had been in contention for the title from the opening meeting of the season at Snetterton, where he scored a double win in a Westbourne clean-sweep; with Gornall having won race one.

From that point on, the pair were embroiled in the battle for the title with Hickton quick to praise his team-mate.

“Sam is so quick and I have a lot of respect for him,” he said. “We’ve had some really good, clean battles this season and you tend to get the best racing when you are going up against someone you really respect.

“I’ve learned a lot from Sam and I’m sure there are things he has been able to learn from me, and I know how he’ll be feeling as I’ve been in that position before. But he’s had a great year and has done a fantastic job.”

Hickton’s focus now turns towards the 2025 season and, having already enjoyed a one-off outing in the JCW category, is bidding to follow the likes of Dom Wheatley, Nelson King and Tom Ovenden in using the title as a springboard to graduating to the top class.

“I’ve been speaking to my current sponsors, and some potential new ones, about moving up into JCWs for a while,” he said. “This is a big boost for me in trying to get some deals across the line and is a big boost for my career. This is just the beginning.”