NATHAN EDWARDS SECURES REVERSE GRID RACE HONOURS

Nathan Edwards secured victory in the second Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Brands Hatch but it wasn’t enough to stop Max Hall from wrapping up the Rookie Cup title.

The race kicked off with Lydia Walmsley on pole ahead of Dominic Wheatley and it was Wheatley who grabbed the lead on the opening lap when he nipped through on the run to the GP loop for the first time.

After an early caution to recover Dylan Hotchins JCW Sport car from the gravel, Wheatley was able to build a lead at the front as Walmsley looked to keep Edwards and Hall behind, with Edwards briefly getting ahead at Paddock Hill only for Walmsley to immediately fight back.

However, at the start of lap six, Edwards and Hall were both able to get ahead of Walmsley going into turn one only for Walmsley to again fight back – which allowed Jamie Osborne behind the nip ahead of the pair.

Wheatley was clear at the front but ran wide heading onto the GP loop and dropped down the order, which moved Edwards into the lead of the race, with Osborne moving into second and Hall taking third from Walmsley just before the safety car was called out again following a spin for Harry Hickton.

Two laps remained at the end and Edwards was able to hold on at the front to take the win, but behind the fight for second spot was very much on.

Hall moved ahead of Osborne on lap ten only for the NAPA man to fight straight back, but on the final lap, Hall made the move stick to grab second spot and with it, wrap up the Rookie Cup crown as it put him out of reach of Edwards with just the season finale left to run.

“I had no idea I needed to pass Jamie for the Rookie Cup,” Hall said. “I just wanted to get as high as I could in the race and I made it hard with a poor start that dropped me down the order and left me to fight back.

“To wrap it up with a race to spare is good and we’ve got the winning feeling to take into race three.”

Osborne rounded out the podium in third spot ahead of Walmsley, with Lewis Selby and a recovering Wheatley completing the top six.

Josh Porter, with his car somehow repaired overnight, took seventh from debutant Frankie Taylor, with Antony Sullivan and Tom Ovenden rounding out the finishers.

Ovenden had been forced to pit early on with a power steering issue that dropped him off the lead lap.