GABE FAIRBROTHER DOUBLES UP IN CROFT FINALE

Gabe Fairbrother secured a second win of the weekend with victory in the final Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy race at Croft, which would end up becoming a three minute sprint following a red flag.

The race would take place in the worst of the conditions that drivers had faced across the meeting after heavy rain showers, which forced the cancellation of the pre-race grid walk.

Sam Gornall started the race from pole position and held the lead going into turn one, building a slender lead through the opening lap as Alex Solley found himself under attack from a fast-starting Fairbrother, who jumped away well from the second row and grabbed second spot going into Clervaux.

Solley would then come under attack from Harry Hickton as he grabbed fourth, with Solley briefly losing another spot to Luca Marinoni Osborne before the Westbourne man ran through a puddle of standing water and Solley was able to nip back ahead.

As had been the case whilst chasing Alex Keens in race two, Fairbrother set about hunting down the leader as the front pair broke away from Hickton behind, but the top three then found themselves together on track when Fairbrother and Gornall touched going into the complex.

Fairbrother backed out to allow Gornall to keep the lead but Hickton and Solley had closed onto their tail, with Fairbrother immediately launching a bid for top spot on the exit of Tower on the following lap, sweeping ahead going through the Jim Clark Esses.

Once at the front, Fairbrother set about breaking clear and was helped by Gornall and Hickton squabbling for position behind, with Hickton moving up into second spot when Gornall clipped a pool of water going into the complex – which also allowed Solley to launch a bid for third.

Solley went round the outside at the hairpin to complete the move, leaving Gornall back in fourth and now under pressure from Marinoni Osborne in a four-way fight for the second and third spots on the podium.

Marinoni Osborne dropped away from that battle when he was overhauled by Olivier Algieri whilst further down the top ten, Alex Keens took a trip through the gravel at turn one but was able to continue.

As Fairbrother held a comfortable lead at the front, Hickton was under pressure for second from Solley when the race was halted following an off for Cameron Wood at Sunny Out that saw him clatter into the tyres on the outside of the circuit.

Given the position of his car and the wet conditions, the decision was taken the red flag the race with little over three and a half minutes left on the clock, with the field lining up for the restart once Wood’s car had been recovered and the tyre barrier repaired.

The field set up for the restart with Fairbrother and Hickton sharing the front row ahead of Solley and Gornall, with Algieri and Marinoni Osborne sharing row three.

When the lights went out on a two lap dash to the flag, the top three all got away well but Gornall was slow off the line, resulting in him being overhauled by Marinoni Osborne, who rocketed between his team-mate and Algieri on the run to turn one.

As Fairbrother held the lead, there was drama behind when Algieri got sideways on the damp circuit and tagged Gornall, who went sideways into the gravel at turn one – which was enough to knock his two left tyres off the rim and forced him to retire on the side of the circuit.

That handed a boost to Hickton in the title race but he was unable to challenge Fairbrother for the lead when his windscreen wipers failed, leaving the EXCELR8 man clear to double up with his second win of the weekend.

Hickton was able to secure second spot from Solley, with James Black able to battle his way forwards over the final two laps to grab fourth from Marinoni Osborne on the final tour when Marinoni Osborne put a wheel on the grass exiting the final corner and lost momentum.

Keens took sixth place ahead of leading rookie Ronnie Smith, with CJ Morgan, Leo Purches and Algieri – who dropped back after the clash with Gornall – following behind.

Morgan however would then be penalised for contact with Josh Wilby and dropped down the order, with Harvey Riby instead completing the top ten.

Paul Manning in eleventh made it three Directors Cup wins for the weekend.