ASHLEY GREGORY BAGS POLE FOR COOPER FINALE

Ashley Gregory topped the times in qualifying for the final rounds of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season following a chaotic session at Brands Hatch.

The privateer runner emerged just 0.003s clear of Luca Marinoni Osborne at the top of the timesheets in a 15 minute long session that would be halted twice, with the second red flag being enough to bring things to an early conclusion.

Gregory’s fastest time came a handful of minutes before the first stoppage to recover the car of Paul Manning from the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend, which allowed her to edge ahead of Alfie Garford at the top.

Marinoni Osborne was following on the road and split the pair to go into second spot, with Garford demoted back to third despite his time being just 0.043s off the top.

After the stoppage to recover Manning from the gravel, a five minute shootout for pole was on the cards but Murray Richardson then went off on the exit of Graham Hill Bend with his car going sideways into the gravel where a low speed roll left his car on its side.

As a result, the chequered flag was thrown to confirm Gregory on pole for the final race of the campaign, with the times deciding the line-up for race three.

“It was a difficult session and we didn’t know what to expect with the changing conditions compared to testing yesterday,” she said. “We had a plan and it came through for us and we managed to pip Luca.

“It’s always tight round here and with it being the finale, everyone wants to win. We’ve just got to try and make sure we finish the job off tomorrow.”

Marinoni Osborne may have missed out on pole for race three, but his second quickest time in the session would be good enough to put him out front for the opening race of the weekend, with his time being just 0.001s quicker than Gregory’s second best.

“It’s a shame we missed pole for race three as it would have been a massive moment for me – as I’m sure it is for Ashley,” he said. “P2 is a good result however, and we did two good lap times which put us in the mix for the grid for race one.”

Garford had to settle for third spot on the times but was best placed of the championship contenders, with his Rookie Cup rival Henry Foote impressing in fourth as he looks to maintain the strong form he showed last time out at Silverstone.

Rhys Hurd and Leo Purches share the third row of the grid, with Ronnie Smith and Olivier Algieri rounding out the top eight – the latter in his first weekend with the EXCELR8 squad.

Points leader Alex Keens could only manage the eleventh best time, and will start race one of the weekend from the same position on the grid as he looks to wrap up the championship crown.