JAMIE OSBORNE, CAM RICHARDSON TOP CROFT QUALFYING

Jamie Osborne and Cameron Richardson led the way for NAPA Racing UK by scoring pole position in both classes for as the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season resumed at Croft.

In cloudy but dry conditions in North Yorkshire – and with the threat of rain in the air – Osborne led the way in impressive fashion to head the JCW field, with Richardson emerging on top in a hard-fought fight for JCW Sport honours.

The early stages of qualifying had suggested that a close battle for top spot was set to play out, with the likes of Max Hall, Dominic Wheatley and Tom Ovenden all taking turns at the front as the leading pack were covered by fractions of a second.

Lewis Selby then hit the front in his NAPA-backed car before Osborne blitzed the field with a lap that would ultimately be more than two-tenths of a second clear of anyone else.

“It was a fun session apart from running off track on my first push lap – but I seem to always manage to go off at some point in a session,” he said. “After that, I saw red and just chased the time and managed to get it for P1 so I’m really pleased.

“On many occasions I’ve struggled to hook a full lap up but I did it here and the results are clear. It’s been a good session for the team as we struggled for pace a bit in the events before the summer break so this is a confidence boost.”

Osborne would end up being joined on the front row by Ovenden as the EXCELR8 driver nipped ahead of Selby late on and whilst Osborne’s second fastest lap was good enough for race one pole, it is Ovenden who will lead the field away.

That’s as a result of a grid penalty for Osborne carried over from Oulton Park that will drop him down to fourth spot.

“We didn’t have the pace of Jamie but I’m pleased with the performance in the session and our times were consistent,” Ovenden said. “We’re in a good place for the races and it’s good to carry the performance from Oulton Park into this weekend.”

Selby would end the session in third ahead of defending champion Dan Zelos, who lost two lap times to track limits over the course of the session in his new-look car – carrying a one-off livery this weekend in support of Parkinson’s UK.

Wheatley and Hall then rounded out the top six ahead of Nelson King, Josh Porter, Marlo Cordell and Lydia Walmsley.

Oulton Park pole sitter Nathan Edwards missed out on the top ten after an engine fire halted his session early, with EXCELR8 now working to replace the engine on his car for race one later today.

In JCW Sport, Richardson emerged on top of the pile as he edged ahead of Albert Webster onto provisional pole before improving his lap to ultimately end up two-tenths of a second clear out front.

The roles were reversed on second quickest times however, with Webster on race one pole by just 0.060s.

“It felt like a long summer break and it’s good to be back,” Richardson said. “I think my experience in Coopers helped in that session and we had a productive test which meant could hit the ground running. It was a close battle with Albert and it was good to come out on top.”

Ben Crossley will start both races from third spot on the grid ahead of invitational runner Stephen Harrison, with the grid rounded out by Chris MacKenzie and points leader Dylan Hotchin.

Hotchin failed to set a representative lap time due to a ball joint failure on his car.