SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR ALBERT WEBSTER IN JCW SPORT OPENER

Albert Webster made it seven wins for the season in the JCW Sport category with victory in the opening Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Knockhill.

The JRW Motorsport driver had started from pole position after his second fastest lap was slightly quicker than Cameron Richardson, who had topped the times to secure pole for race three.

Webster made the best start to retain the lead off the line and quickly established a lead of more than a second over Richardson as he found himself running on the tail of the JCW field.

Richardson however was able to slowly reel his rival back in before a small error undid his good work, but the NAPA Racing UK man once again started to close in in the battle for the class win.

Webster ultimately had enough in hand to retain his advantage however as he took the flag seven-tenths of a second ahead to clinch the win.

“Cam has been rapid in the second half of the season and he put up a really good fight,” Webster said. “Luckily for me he made a small mistake in the race that helped me a lot as I could cool the tyres, but it was a great race between us.

“This car is so much fun around here and having got the win today, hopefully I can push for more tomorrow.”

The lead pair would end up comfortably clear of the battle for third, which was initially headed by points leader Dylan Hotchin after the Jamsport racer got ahead of Hannah Chapman in the Sustainable Fuel Development car on the opening lap.

Chris MacKenzie also got ahead of Chapman at the start with the three drivers running together before the battle came to a head on lap ten – resulting in Chapman clearing the pair ahead but Hotchin losing out as he dropped back down to fifth.

Hotchin dropped away from the fight as Chapman looked to hold on to third spot but when he picked up a five second penalty for exceeding track limits, it meant MacKenzie took third spot to return to the podium positions.

“I wasn’t expecting to get a podium from P5 but I managed to follow Hannah past Dylan and then held on to get the position,” he said. “I hadn’t been here before Tuesday testing but I soon felt comfortable and even though qualifying didn’t to well, we’ve picked up a good result.”

Chapman’s time penalty dropped her down to fourth with Hotchin back in fifth spot, whilst Ben Crossley rounded out the finishers in sixth.