HARRY HICKTON SECURES REVERSE GRID VICTORY

Harry Hickton scored his fourth win of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season with victory in the reverse grid race of the weekend at Donington Park.

Hickton, who came into the weekend as the championship leader, had endured a frustrating qualifying session on Saturday that left down towards the rear of the grid, although he battled through the field to take the flag in race one in ninth spot.

That put the Westbourne Motorsport driver on pole for race two and he made the ideal start to lead the field into turn one for the first time, with James Black and Luca Marinoni Osborne slotting in behind.

After an early caution period to recover the car of race one winner Rhys Hurd from the gravel at the Esses after he went off battling for position with Alex Solley, Hickton was able to lead the race from the front ahead of Black as the front two took full advantage of the squabbling behind to break away from the pack.

Hickton would ultimately take the flag 1.4 seconds clear of his rival, with Black following behind for his fifth podium of the year.

“We had a rough day yesterday in qualifying but managed to fight up to P9 and were able to benefit from the reverse grid,” Hickton reflected. “I felt we deserved that bit of luck and when I was on pole, I knew I had to make the most of it.

“I tried not to look in the mirrors and just focused on looking forwards and was able to get a bit of a gap that allowed me to control the race from the front.

“I like the fact that the new qualifying format this season helped me to get the win, although at the same time, it means I’m going to be near the back again in race three. Hopefully I can make the most of the pace in the car to fight my way through.”

Whilst the front two would remain unchanged throughout, it was a different story in the battle for the final place on the podium, with Marinoni Osborne holding the position through to lap five when he came under attack from Ronnie Smith at the hairpin.

That move however opened the door for Sam Gornall behind, who managed to pass the pair in one move to grab third, with Smith also getting ahead of Marinoni Osborne to sit in fourth.

Within a matter of corners however, Marinoni Osborne had pulled a similar move gong through turn one to move back into third, with a train of cars then squabbling through the remainder of lap six – with Gornall and Smith both losing out when they were forced off line to drop down the order.

It allowed Reece Lycett to climb up to fourth ahead of Gabe Fairbrother and Gornall, with Smith forced to run across the gravel at the Esses and dropping down in ninth.

Lycett stole third from Marionini Osborne going through Redgate at the start of lap seven and eased away from the Westbourne Motorsport driver to take a second podium finish of the weekend, with Marinoni Osborne able to take his best result of the season in fourth having fended off Fairbrother through the closing laps.

Smith took sixth having been able to fight ahead of Alex Keens and Gornall late on, with Callum Eason also taking advantage of that pair squabbling for position to grab seventh, with Gornall rounding out the top eight.

Ashley Gregory and John Castle rounded out the topo ten, with Keens back in eleventh after running wide through the turn one gravel whilst dicing for position with Gornall on the final lap.

Fellow title contender Solley would end the race back in 15th spot having been forced to pit to have a puncture repaired after the early race contact with Hurd.