MAX HALL WINS TRUNCATED BRANDS HATCH OPENER

Max Hall secured victory in the opening Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Brands Hatch to strengthen his bid for second overall in the championship standings.

Hall started the race from pole as a result of a grid penalty for Nathan Edwards and was able to retain the lead at the start despite the best efforts of Josh Porter off the line.

Porter tried to find a way around the outside going through turn one but was then on the outside line going up to Druids, which opened the door for Lewis Selby to move into second with the NAPA Racing UK man having made a storming start from sixth that saw him rocket up the order on the run to Paddock Hill for the first time.

Edwards would also get ahead of Porter before the cars headed out onto the Grand Prix loop for the first time but there would be drama when the EXCELR8 man then made his bid for second at the same place a lap later.

Heading into Surtees, Edwards saw the chance to go down the inside of Selby going into the left-hander but when Selby then closed the door, contact between the pair saw Selby tipped sideways and Edwards suddenly lose speed.

That in turn caught out the field behind as drivers were forced to take avoiding action, although Porter could do nothing to avoid hitting the rear of Edwards and was then collected by Jamie Osborne – putting Osborne out on the spot and leading Porter with extensive damage to the left hand side of his car.

Hall was suddenly six seconds clear up the road but the safety car was quickly deployed due to Osborne’s stricken machine, with Edwards emerging from the chaos still holding second spot but Marlo Cordell up into third – having ended the opening lap down in ninth.

When the action resumed on lap six, Hall had Edwards fixed right on his tail but before the team-mates could engage in battle for the lead, an incident involving JCW Sport runner Albert Webster saw him run off track on the exit of Westfield and clatter into the barriers.

That resulted in the safety car being called back out with his car on the side of the road the circuit and foam barriers having been dislodged before the decision was taken to bring out the red flags.

It meant Hall therefore scored his fifth victory of the campaign with Edwards forced to settle for second spot, with Cordell returning to the podium for the first time since the first visit to Brands Hatch on the Indy layout earlier in the season.

“We got lucky but it’s amazing to be back on the podium at my home track,” Cordell said. “We struggled in qualifying and then benefitted from the clash ahead, and I was glad when the race ended early as the power sterering failed on the car – so I was terrified that the race would go green again!”

Dominic Wheatley took fourth spot ahead of Selby in fifth, but the NAPA Racing UK driver was then handed a five place penalty having been deemed to be at fault for the incident with Edwards that dropped him down to tenth overall.

Instead, Lydia Walmsley was promoted up into fifth and will therefore start race two from the reverse grid pole, with the top six being completed by Cooper racer Harry Hickton on his debut.

Porter somehow managed to bring his damaged car to the finish in seventh but his participation in the remainder of the weekend is now dependent on being able to switch into a new car for Sunday with his race machine not repairable at the circuit.

Tom Ovenden followed behind having lost ground when running off track to avoid the lap two incident, with Selby rounding out the top ten overall behind the leading JCW Sport runner.

Frankie Taylor, after a difficult Friday that included him rolling his car in the second practice session, and the returning Antony Sullivan completed the finishers.