NATHAN EDWARDS CONVERTS POLE INTO SILVERSTONE WIN

Nathan Edwards made the most of pole position for the final Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend at Silverstone to score his third win of the season.

Edwards had been given a boost ahead of the race when a penalty imposed for exceeding track limits in race two was overturned, which resulted in him being promoted into third spot in the final results.

Holding onto the lead at the start ahead of Lewis Selby, Edwards would be out front throughout the race although there was plenty of pressure from behind from Max Edmundson after he edged ahead of Selby on the second lap.

Chasing a third win of the weekend, Edmundson would keep Edwards honest throughout but the EXCELR8 driver held on for a victory that moves him up into the top six in the championship standings.

“Full credit to EXCELR8 because they gave me a mega, mega car,” he said. “To go from 13th to third in race one was fantastic and then we could have won race two with a bit more luck on our side.

“Today I had to just maximise the car I had and Max pushed me really hard, so to come away with the win is brilliant.”

In truth, Edmondson was never able to get close enough to make a serious move for the lead, although he did make a bid at Brooklands on the final lap – braking late in the hope of forcing Edwards into an error.

However, the Pro Alloys Racing man was forced to settle for second spot for another strong haul of points that strengthens his bid to secure the Rookie Cup title.

Third on the road would be Selby for much of the race until a charging Harry Hickton – who had dropped as low as seventh early on – made a fine move down the inside at Copse when a handful of laps to go.

That left Hickton set for a first podium finish until he was handed a track limits penalty that dropped him down the order and promoted Selby up into third.

Post race however, that decision was overturned to give Hickton some well-earned silverware to take away from the weekend.

Selby would then be classified back in fourth, which means he now sits level on points with absent team-mate Jamie Osborne in the standings – 73 points behind Tom Ovenden.

“It’s really unfortunate for Jamie, “ he said, “and we’re all absolutely gutted that he’s not here.

“It’s made it a bit hard for him to win the championship now and realistically we need Tom to have a DNF at Brands Hatch to bring us back into it – which is a position you don’t really want to be in.”

Ovenden took the flag in fifth spot behind his rival, with Josh Porter rounding out the top six.

Harry Campey was second best of the rookies in seventh, with the top ten completed by Alex Solley, Charlie Hand and Cameron Richardson.