Mini 7 Racing Club Anglesey 6th & 7th July 2024
JOY FOR JEFF, JOE AND JORDAN, HAPPY DAYS FOR HARRINGTON TOO
The scream of A-Series engines and the whine of straight-cut gears heralded the arrival of the Mini 7 Racing Club’s return to competition after their starring role at the Thruxton BTCC meeting in June on the weekend of the 6th and 7th of July. The entry journeyed to the North Wales outcrop of Anglesey for their next racing action and the club was making only its second appearance at the coastal venue after first visiting in 2022.
Mini Miglia: 2021 Miglia and 2013 BTCC title holder Andrew Jordan was the double victor at Thruxton and took both wins at the seaside circuit in 2022 so would be fancying his chances at the weekend. Fellow BTCC refugee Jeff Smith could be expected to offer spectacular opposition, the car now straight again after ending the May meeting at Snetterton on its roof. Reigning champion Aaron Smith and his predecessor Rupert Deeth, along with 2015 titlist Kane Astin, would ensure that the touring car veterans didn’t have it all their own way. A table-topper from the turn of the millennium has also been in the thick of it on his return to the Miglias and Ian Curley would be there or thereabouts in Wales. Mini 7 Racing Club Commercial Manager Colin Peacock also has front-running speed and was likely to feature towards the sharp end. Phil Bullen-Brown is capable of challenging for the podium positions with the lurid orange machine that was debuted in 2023 by Endaf Owens. Ex-bike racer Jody Lees continues to gather experience after his transition to four wheels in another Owens Motorsport-built car, with Jo Polley doing likewise after her graduation from the Se7ens this season in her strikingly-liveried car. Damien Harrington was on double duty in the Miglias and Se7ens, with hopes of a good result in each. Josh Evans and Peter Hills are usually found near the front of the Libre class cars and both would be seeking glory on Anglesey. Club veteran Julian Proctor moved into the Libre field for the 2023 season after many years in the Se7ens and aimed to harass the two favourites, along with Huw Turner, Les Stanton and Phil Harvey.
Qualifying: The Miglias were the first of the Minis to qualify and Andrew Jordan set the pole position time in the blustery but dry conditions by 0.180 seconds from Jeff Smith. Kane Astin was less than a tenth from the front row and headed current champion Aaron Smith in fourth, with just 0.062 seconds between the two cars. Two former champions made up the third row as Rupert Deeth and Ian Curley were the last cars to qualify within a second of Jordan’s benchmark. Club PR man Colin Peacock and the powder blue car of Shaun King would start from row four, with ex-motorcycle racer Jody Lees becoming more acclimatised to four wheels in ninth and James Cuthbertson completed the top ten. Phil Bullen-Brown had a tricky session with a slight misfire and would start from twelfth alongside Jo Polley, the luminous orange machine would be expecting to move forward from there. Damien Harrington was another to suffer issues and would start from the back of the Miglias without setting a time. Peter Hills was quickest of the Libre class runners in fourteenth overall and had almost a second in hand from the second fastest Les Stanton in seventeenth but would the two would start beside each other as the Libres are gridded together. Expected pacesetter Josh Evans stopped at Rocket part way through the session and the four-time 2024 class winner would start from the back row.
The scream of A-Series engines and the whine of straight-cut gears heralded the arrival of the Mini 7 Racing Club’s return to competition after their starring role at the Thruxton BTCC meeting in June on the weekend of the 6th and 7th of July. The entry journeyed to the North Wales outcrop of Anglesey for their next racing action and the club was making only its second appearance at the coastal venue after first visiting in 2022.
Mini Miglia: 2021 Miglia and 2013 BTCC title holder Andrew Jordan was the double victor at Thruxton and took both wins at the seaside circuit in 2022 so would be fancying his chances at the weekend. Fellow BTCC refugee Jeff Smith could be expected to offer spectacular opposition, the car now straight again after ending the May meeting at Snetterton on its roof. Reigning champion Aaron Smith and his predecessor Rupert Deeth, along with 2015 titlist Kane Astin, would ensure that the touring car veterans didn’t have it all their own way. A table-topper from the turn of the millennium has also been in the thick of it on his return to the Miglias and Ian Curley would be there or thereabouts in Wales. Mini 7 Racing Club Commercial Manager Colin Peacock also has front-running speed and was likely to feature towards the sharp end. Phil Bullen-Brown is capable of challenging for the podium positions with the lurid orange machine that was debuted in 2023 by Endaf Owens. Ex-bike racer Jody Lees continues to gather experience after his transition to four wheels in another Owens Motorsport-built car, with Jo Polley doing likewise after her graduation from the Se7ens this season in her strikingly-liveried car. Damien Harrington was on double duty in the Miglias and Se7ens, with hopes of a good result in each. Josh Evans and Peter Hills are usually found near the front of the Libre class cars and both would be seeking glory on Anglesey. Club veteran Julian Proctor moved into the Libre field for the 2023 season after many years in the Se7ens and aimed to harass the two favourites, along with Huw Turner, Les Stanton and Phil Harvey.
Qualifying: The Miglias were the first of the Minis to qualify and Andrew Jordan set the pole position time in the blustery but dry conditions by 0.180 seconds from Jeff Smith. Kane Astin was less than a tenth from the front row and headed current champion Aaron Smith in fourth, with just 0.062 seconds between the two cars. Two former champions made up the third row as Rupert Deeth and Ian Curley were the last cars to qualify within a second of Jordan’s benchmark. Club PR man Colin Peacock and the powder blue car of Shaun King would start from row four, with ex-motorcycle racer Jody Lees becoming more acclimatised to four wheels in ninth and James Cuthbertson completed the top ten. Phil Bullen-Brown had a tricky session with a slight misfire and would start from twelfth alongside Jo Polley, the luminous orange machine would be expecting to move forward from there. Damien Harrington was another to suffer issues and would start from the back of the Miglias without setting a time. Peter Hills was quickest of the Libre class runners in fourteenth overall and had almost a second in hand from the second fastest Les Stanton in seventeenth but would the two would start beside each other as the Libres are gridded together. Expected pacesetter Josh Evans stopped at Rocket part way through the session and the four-time 2024 class winner would start from the back row.
Race One: The early morning wetness had given way to beautiful summer sunshine for the afternoon but the wind was still gusting strongly as the Miglias came to the grid. Andrew Jordan fended off Jeff Smith at the start and built a small lead on the opening lap in an attempt to break the tow but the strong headwind along the back straight soon brought Kane Astin, Jeff Smith and Aaron Smith back onto the poleman’s tail. Aaron Smith had been forced onto the grass exiting the first corner and looped into a 360-degree spin but amazingly only lost one position to Ian Curley, whom he soon retook when the two-time champion braked a little too late for the Rocket left-hander on lap two. The top four were locked together but no change in their order was forthcoming once Astin passed Jeff Smith racing up to the Church sweeper on lap one. Despite being sat in Jordan’s wheeltracks for lap after lap, Astin couldn’t beat Jordan’s perfect car placement so the 2021 champion took the spoils by 0.227 seconds as 1.088 seconds covered the quartet. Curley came home in a solitary fifth place after being unable to quite match the pace of the leading four. Jody Lees had put in a great drive to hold sixth place after getting ahead of Shaun King on lap two and James Cuthbertson at Rocket for the fourth time but the dipstick worked its way out of his engine and covered the windscreen with oil, which forced him out. The one to lose out in the four-time champion Aaron Smith's first lap incident was Rupert Deeth, who was forced way off onto the greenery at The Banking whilst Smith regained control and fell back into the Libre class cars but put in a storming drive to profit from Lees' exit with sixth place. Cuthbertson held off Colin Peacock by less than half a second for seventh place and Damien Harrington, who had started at the back of the Miglias after failing to set a time in qualifying, fought through for a place in the top ten with ninth. Jo Polley rounded out the first ten finishers as seventh place down ran in a line for a large portion of the race, with Ryan Taylor, Mark Sims, Phil Bullen-Brown and the non-finishing Shaun King also involved - the last-named pair having tangled approaching Rocket with three minutes remaining. Peter Hills led the Libre class all the way but was caught by Josh Evans mid-race, who in turn was being caught by Huw Turner. Hills took the win as Evans and Turner squabbled over second on the final lap, with Turner stealing the place away at Rocket Out and surviving Evans’ retaliation at Peel.
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Race Two: Like Saturday, the second day dawned with heavy rain falling but this time the soggy weather hung around long enough to force the field onto wet tyres for Race Two. The grid for the second bout was established by the fastest lap times from Saturday’s race, which placed Jeff Smith onto pole position alongside namesake Aaron Smith on the front row. The second row was headed by runner-up Kane Astin from race winner Andrew Jordan. Ex-champion Ian Curley was scheduled to line up in fifth but withdrew so former two-wheeled racer Jody Lees, who hoped to see the finish line after his dipstick issue on Saturday, would be joined by Rupert Deeth on the third row. The rain had intensified during the previous race to the Miglias and held up their race start by twenty minutes for track conditions to improve and for barrier repairs to be completed. Aaron Smith led through the opening corners before Jeff Smith came by under braking for Rocket for the first time. Rupert Deeth made a great start to run in an initial third place ahead of Jordan until he slithered off at Church on lap two, which dropped the three-time champion down to seventh. When Aaron Smith's challenge for the race lead faded, Jordan passed the reigning champion for second place on lap eight and closed down Jeff Smith's just over one second lead but was unable to shift the championship top man from the head of the field as he triumphed by 0.839 seconds, the victor was in a hurry to finish the race as he had a helicopter waiting to whisk him and partner Jo Polley off to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Aaron Smith scored decent points for the championship with what turned into a lonely third place. Deeth was usually the fastest car on track after his off-track antics and he recovered to finish fourth, claiming the spot with a sixth-lap move at Rocket. In fifth was Deeth's last victim Astin and the quick-off-the-mark 2015 champion could have led into first corner until he had his nose cut off by Jeff Smith, Jordan then took away his fourth place screaming up to Church for the first time. Colin Peacock narrowly headed James Cuthbertson in the early stages until his retirement at half-distance so the Cotswold man took the flag in sixth place from Ryan Taylor. Lees made it to the end within a second of Taylor for eighth place, whilst Damien Harrington and Mark Sims completed the top ten. Early Libre leader Julian Proctor was caught and passed by Josh Evans but the new leader ran straight on at Rocket soon after to fall to third behind Huw Turner and winner Proctor. Saturday victor Peter Hills struggled with a badly misted windscreen to finish fifth behind Phil Harvey, having led the class for the first lap and a half until a spin at Rocket dropped him back.
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Mini Se7en: Ross Billison sat at the top of the championship tree arriving on the scenic Welsh island, with regular sparring partners Joe Thompson and Spencer Wanstall looking to eat into his advantage. Damien Harrington has been getting quicker and quicker after his move into the Se7ens, the 2022 S-Class king would also be blooding his Miglia over the weekend. Darren Thomas has shown race-winning speed in the past and could well harry the title chasers for victory. Reigning champion Mike Jordan took both of the Se7en race wins supporting the BTCC at Thruxton in June but didn’t venture to Anglesey and his son Andrew was entered in the car but ultimately chose not to take his place, having taken a dominant double victory with it at the Donington Park season opener. Pre-event favourite Matthew Ayres fought tooth-and-nail for S-Class glory with Frazer Hack at Thruxton, with the ‘Dave Addison Fan Club’ car of Hack prevailing both times but he hadn’t ventured to North Wales and gave title chase leader Ayres a chance to open a larger advantage. The chocolate brown car of Arnold Duncan, Welshman Chris Prior, Dave Rees’ green machine, Callum Perfect’s blue mount and the increasingly fast Bradley Jordan all aimed to ensure Ayres wouldn’t have a relaxed pair of races.
Qualifying: A strong wind was billowing across the clifftop circuit when the 1000cc Se7ens went out to sort their grid positions. Joe Thompson helped his chances of reducing championship leader Ross Billison’s points advantage by narrowly bagging pole position by 0.065 seconds from Damien Harrington. Current table topper Billison headed up row two some 0.259 seconds off pole and was joined by Steven Hopper in an impressive fourth. Next of the likely title contestants would start from fifth place in the form of Spencer Wanstall and just 0.024 seconds was all that stood between him and the second row, the previously race-winning Darren Thomas completed the top six. In the S-Class, title race leader Matthew Ayres topped the times with an effort that was good enough for fourth fastest overall and he held a healthy 1.648-second margin over second qualifier Arnold Duncan. Dave Rees’ metallic green machine would start from third and the newest member of the Jordan family to start racing came next, with Bradley Jordan holding a cigarette paper’s advantage of 0.001 seconds from Bertie Woollard in fifth. Vehicle graphics specialist Chris Prior rounded out the top six starters.
Qualifying: A strong wind was billowing across the clifftop circuit when the 1000cc Se7ens went out to sort their grid positions. Joe Thompson helped his chances of reducing championship leader Ross Billison’s points advantage by narrowly bagging pole position by 0.065 seconds from Damien Harrington. Current table topper Billison headed up row two some 0.259 seconds off pole and was joined by Steven Hopper in an impressive fourth. Next of the likely title contestants would start from fifth place in the form of Spencer Wanstall and just 0.024 seconds was all that stood between him and the second row, the previously race-winning Darren Thomas completed the top six. In the S-Class, title race leader Matthew Ayres topped the times with an effort that was good enough for fourth fastest overall and he held a healthy 1.648-second margin over second qualifier Arnold Duncan. Dave Rees’ metallic green machine would start from third and the newest member of the Jordan family to start racing came next, with Bradley Jordan holding a cigarette paper’s advantage of 0.001 seconds from Bertie Woollard in fifth. Vehicle graphics specialist Chris Prior rounded out the top six starters.
Race One: The weather was still bright but breezy for the Mini Se7ens' first encounter on Saturday afternoon. Joe Thompson held the lead from pole through Target for the first time, whilst Damien Harrington came under fire from Ross Billison and the pair were abreast through Target and The Banking. Thompson hadn't got away from the tussling pair and Harrington nudged up the inside through Church and led the way after lap one but the poleman was late on the brakes into the Rocket left hander for the second time to hit the front once more. However, the mint green car went the long way around Rocket Out to snatch the lead back again and the 2022 S-Class champion wouldn’t be headed again, speeding to his maiden triumph in the category by 5.211 seconds from an equally lonely Thompson. Ross Billison couldn’t match the pace of the lead pair and trailed Thompson by 9.640 seconds in an unusually spread out Se7en race. Spencer Wanstall had taken third from Billison at Rocket for the first time before making a bid for Thompson's second place towards Peel but ultimately lost out to the championship leader dropping down to the Corkscrew to come home in fourth. Initial fifth-placed Steven Hopper slipped back with an early pitstop but reached the flag in seventh of the Se7ens behind Jamie Payne and Nigel Davies. Amongst the S-Class field it was a similar story for the victory as Matthew Ayres fought off a spirited attack from Arnold Duncan on the opening lap before pulling clear to the tune of 16.898 seconds to cross the line in seventh overall. Duncan had looked safe in second for much of the race but was closed in on by the scrapping Dave Rees, Callum Perfect and Bradley Jordan as the race’s conclusion neared, with Duncan holding on by the skin of his teeth from Perfect, Jordan and Rees - who’d been passed by Perfect at Rocket with a little under four minutes to go and by Jordan at The Banking inside the last minute and a half. Bertie Woollard claimed sixth after being involved with the scrap ahead and had gone three-wide out of Chruch at one stage with Perfect and early third place runner Chris Prior, who failed to reach the finish after slowing on lap six.
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Race Two: The earlier torrential rain had abated when the Se7ens came to the line for their second twenty minutes of action but the track surface remained very slick.The top four finishers from Race One would line up in the same order for Race Two, with Damien Harrington on pole position from Joe Thompson and Ross Billison headed row two from Spencer Wanstall. The third row comprised the delayed Steven Hopper and Jamie Payne. Darren Thomas would start last of the eight-car Se7en field behind Nigel Davies after engine trouble on Saturday forced him to miss the race. Thompson jumped ahead of poleman Harrington around the outside of Target for the first time and established himself in a clear lead, which he had extended to 13.351 seconds by the time the Safety Car was deployed in the last quarter of the twenty minutes. The race was red-flagged with no time to complete the recovery of Bertie Woollard‘s S-Class car stranded in the wet grass at the very slippery entry to the Cockscrew so Thompson took an unchallenged victory. Wanstall ran in a solo second place after following Thompson past Harrington at the first corner and Billison also passed the opening race winner at the Rocket sequence after close to fourteen minutes had elapsed, squeezing up the inside of the left-hander before taking the the long route around the right-handed element to take away third place. Race One non-starter Darren Thomas was classified as the fifth Se7en home after outbraking Steven Hopper from a fair way back into Rocket on lap one, who chased the Roonspeed car home for sixth. As with the headline Se7ens, the less-modified S-Class field lined up with the leading quartet in the positions that they took the flag in on Saturday. That meant Matthew Ayres started from pole position and shared the front row with Arnold Duncan. Callum Perfect would have Bradley Jordan beside him on the second row and Chris Prior headed Bertie Woollard on the third row to complete the top six cars. Polesitter Matthew Ayres lost out to Arnold Duncan and Callum Perfect off the line and Perfect slithered up inside of a wide Duncan to take the class lead at The Banking. Duncan draughted past Perfect through School, with Ayres following suit into the left of Rocket and the poleman was back into the class lead by the end of the lap at the Corkscrew, as the Se7en of Jamie Payne recovered from a moment just ahead. Ayres ran away to seal the class victory by a little under twelve seconds and took a fine fifth overall. Bradley Jordan got ahead of Perfect and Duncan to take a superb second in the tricky conditions, having performed a well-worked move on Perfect at the Rocket complex for the second time and pulled off a spectacularly sideways move on Duncan into the Corkscrew a lap later. Duncan finished a shade over a second ahead of Perfect for the last podium spot and Chris Prior survived a couple of off track excursions for fifth place, whilst novice Alex Watson sealed a top six finish a little further back.
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The Mini Se7en Racing Club returns south to the Mini Festival meeting at Brands Hatch for their next round on the 3rd and 4th of August, with each category contesting three .races over the weekend.