JAMES BLACK SCORES MAIDEN WIN IN WET SILVERSTONE ENCOUNTER

James Black ended his wait for a first victory in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy with top spot in the second race of the weekend at Silverstone.

The race was held in treacherous wet conditions with heavy rain falling as the cars headed out onto the grid, only adding to poor weather that had hit the circuit overnight.

Black lined up on the reverse grid pole and was able to retain the lead at the start, although there was no chance to build a lead with the car of Warren Scibberas going off at Becketts to bring out the safety car.

Once the action resumed on lap six, Black was able to nail the restart to stay out front ahead of Harry Hickton and Alex Solley, with Gabe Fairbrother and points leader Sam Gornall close behind.

Fairbrother immediately jumped Solley for third as Gornall tried to find a way of following him through, whilst Fairbrother launched a move on Hickton for second going into Brooklands to grab the position.

Hickton then came under pressure from Solley for third before the Westbourne Motorsport man suddenly slowed heading onto the Wellington Straight and dropped down the order.

The safety car was then called out for a second time when Harvey Riby and Leo Purches tangled at Becketts whilst dicing over eighth spot, with Riby suffering a spin that left him sideways across the circuit where he was collected by the following Joshua Wilby.

Elsewhere, Cameron Richardson’s return to the Cooper grid ended later in the lap with his car sliding off at Luffield.

The cars would continue for a lap behind the safety car before the red flag was thrown, leaving Black victorious for the first time in the series ahead of Fairbrother and Solley.

“Last night when I knew I was on pole, I thought we could do it,” he said. “My starts haven’t been good this year but I got away and had a gap but then the safety car came out. I’ve not led the field to the restart before so had to do that on the fly but nailed it to keep the lead and we only had limited time to try and keep Gabe behind.

“I’d have loved to take the chequered flag but a win is a win, and it’s been 841 days since my last win in Britcar – so it couldn’t come soon enough!”

Outside the podium places, Gornall took fourth to maintain his lead in the championship standings ahead of Alex Keens, with the top six being rounded out by Luca Marinoni Osborne.

Olivier Algieri made it two rookie wins from two in seventh ahead of Reece Lycett, with Purches and Hickton after his mid-race issues rounding out the top ten.

Directors Cup honours went to Tommy Watson in 13th spot, whilst Ashley Gregory went from the back of the grid to 17th having been cleared to return to her car after missing Saturday’s action.