ARCHIE JOHNSON DOUBLES UP AT KNOCKHILL AFTER POST-RACE REVERSAL

Archie Johnson made it two wins from three in the JCW Sport class with victory in the final Vertu MINI CHALLENGE race of the weekend.

Johnson had taken the flag in second spot on the road, but a post-race penalty for championship leader Henry Howarth saw the positions at the front of the field reversed, and allowed Johnson to take points out of his team-mate in the fight at the top.

Johnson had qualified on pole after topping the times in qualifying and was able to hold onto the lead when the lights went out at the start, with Howarth slotting in behind into second spot.

The duo quickly managed to build a gap over Nicky Gauci in third place before contact at Clark’s on the fifth lap saw Johnson forced off across the gravel – ripping part of his undertray away and depositing it on the side of the circuit.

Despite that, Johnson was able to retain the lead of the race until pressure from Howarth was able to tell and he moved into the class lead on the tenth lap.

From there, Howarth raced clear to take the flag four seconds clear but a post-race investigation into the earlier contact saw the positions between the pair reversed and promoted Johnson back into top spot.

“It was a hard fought race with Henry and we had a few little incidents that meant my car wasn’t performing as well as it had,” he said.

“The penalties mean I have the win and he is now P2 which means I’ve taken some points out of him in the championship. That’s important with two rounds to go, and I’m feeling confident.”

Away from the top two, Gauci managed to hold off the challenge of Chris Mackenzie and Ben Crossley in the early stages before Crossley was able to get ahead on lap six, having already fought his way ahead of Mackenzie.

Gauci would be unable to keep pace with Crossley but had enough in hand to keep Mackenzie at bay, with the Bitcoin Racing man then picking up a five second penalty for exceeding track limits.

That dropped him down behind Will Crooks in the final results to leave the EXCELR8 driver with fifth as Mackenzie rounded out the field.