OLIVIER ALGIERI JOINS EXPANDED WESTBOURNE LINE-UP

Olivier Algieri will make his debut in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy this weekend at Croft after joining forces with championship front-runners Westbourne Motorsport.

The 19-year-old from Llandudno will join forces with Harry Hickton, Sam Gornall and Luca Marinoni Osborne for the MINI Festival event at the North Yorkshire circuit, and will also contest the final BTCC support meeting of the campaign at Silverstone later this month.

Algieri enjoyed a successful start to his racing career in karting before graduating into car racing for the first time in the K-Tec Racing Clio Sport Championship operated by the 750 Motor Club.

Competing in the series in both 2022 and 2023, Algieri secured a series of impressive results on track, scoring a number of podium finishes, pole positions and fastest laps.

The Croft meeting will mark Algieri’s return to competition, with the teenager having spent 2024 focused on his role coaching youngsters in karting and also on his studies on the Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence delivered by Motorsport UK.

Fellow MINI CHALLENGE racers Hickton, Gornall, Ronnie Smith and Albert Webster are also part of the programme.

“I’m over the moon to join Westbourne Motorsport and get back on the grid after a long break,” Algieri said. “It’s been a real struggle over the past few months making this happen, so I have to say a huge thank you to all of my sponsors and 24Productions for making it possible.

“The MINI CHALLENGE is somewhere I have been keen to try and race for the past few years because of the close and exciting racing, and the fact it is so closely linked to the BTCC – which is where a lot of young drivers aspire to race.

“I’ve never been able to make it work from a funding perspective, so to even be in a position where I can now join the grid at Croft is an achievement in itself. I’m coming into the championship with no real goals or expectations but I want to make the most of this opportunity and plan to be fighting as close to the sharp end of the grid as I possibly can.”

Tickets for the Croft MINI Festival event can be purchased by clicking HERE