Mini Se7ens & Miglias @ Brands Hatch Mini Festival 6th August 2023
The 11th annual Brands Hatch Mini Festival took place on Sunday the 6th of August, featuring the Dunlop Mini Se7en and Miglia Challenges, the CCRC Super and Mighty Minis plus the yearly Fastest Mini in the World races. Among the many display cars sat Steve Cooper’s stunning road-going (!) Peter Baldwin replica spaceframe Mini Clubman, the original of which now resides in Japan.
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Dunlop Mini Miglia supported by Mini Spares
Aaron Smith, twice a dominant winner at Zandvoort last month, came into the meeting leading the championship by 47 points from Kane Astin. An absent Jeff Smith and 2022 champ Rupert Deeth were separated by a single point in third and fourth arriving at Brands, with the defending champion racing a new Owens Motorsport-built car. 2021 champion Andrew Jordan sat fifth in the table after missing the Donington and Snetterton meetings. The rapid Nick Padmore was back in the field and would surely be a thorn in the side of the regulars, as would ace preparer Endaf Owens.
Qualifying: Nick Padmore came out on top of the red flag interrupted session, Padmore headed the field prior to the break and went quicker again as the times continued to improve after the stoppage to best Andrew Jordan by 0.222 seconds for pole position. Championship leader Aaron Smith and Ashley Davies, who returned to the championship after missing the previous three meetings due to engine woes, shared the second row ahead of Endaf Owens and Kieran McDonald on the third row. Phil Bullen-Brown, out for the first time in Owens’ ‘works’ car that debuted at Thruxton, Kane Astin, Rupert Deeth, Rob Howard, Colin Peacock, Ben Colburn and his brother James Colburn made up the first thirteen qualifiers and completed the group that set a time within a second of pole.
Race One: Poleman Nick Padmore lost the initiative off the line with a bout of wheelspin, fellow front-row starter Andrew Jordan rocketed into a clear lead towards Paddock Hill Bend as Padmore held off Ashley Davies for second. Davies wouldn’t hold third for long as Aaron Smith moved up to third at Druids for the first time, Endaf Owens further demoted his fellow Welshman past the pits starting lap two. Up front, Padmore quickly moved back onto the tail of Jordan as a seven-car train formed at the head of the field. The polesitter passed Jordan to hit the front going up to Druids for the fourth time and Smith also started pressing the 2021 champion but he was cheekily passed by Owens around the outside of Druids on lap six. As the three-time champion tried to retaliate, Owens squeezed Smith onto the grass towards Surtees which cost Smith two spots to Davies and Kane Astin by Clearways. Ben Colburn also towed through passing the pits but Smith took his place back in the top six at Graham Hill Bend. Davies and Astin both breezed by Owens along the Brabham Straight starting lap nine but the Welshman retook teammate Astin into Paddock Hill Bend. A lap later and Astin did get through with Smith following him by, a clearly struggling Owens then peeled into the pits at the end of the lap. This split the pack as two groups of three contested the top six places. Starting lap twelve with greater momentum, Jordan lined up an attempt for the lead up the inside of Paddock Hill Bend but brushed wheels with Padmore as the leader narrowed the gap on the committed Jordan. The 2021 champion momentarily rode up onto two wheels as he briefly took the lead, with Davies pouncing on the pair's slow exit to lead into Druids. Padmore also swiftly retook Jordan at the hairpin, whilst Smith took fourth from Astin at Graham Hill Bend too. Further back, the second Libre class runner Les Stanton slithered off into the gravel at the top of Paddock Hill Bend with nine minutes left, forcing an appearance of the Safety Car. Padmore had taken the lead across the start/finish line just before the race was neutralised with eight minutes to go so headed the queue when racing resumed, with just under four minutes remaining. A four-car breakaway contested the victory as the minutes dwindled, with Davies crawling all over Padmore in the lead. Padmore clung on to win a breathless encounter by 0.190 seconds after Davies slewed sideways through Surtees for the final time. Jordan just held off Smith over the line as 0.670 seconds covered the top four. Astin sealed fifth place from Rupert Deeth, Rob Howard, Ben Colburn and Phil Bullen-Brown as the five finished line astern. Richard Colburn sped to the first Libre class win of the day from Peter Hills.
Race Two: The top-eight grid reversal for Race Two placed Ben Colburn onto pole position, with Rob Howard’s mint green car alongside. Reigning champion Rupert Deeth sat on row two beside Kane Astin, whilst the first race top four filled the next two rows. Aaron Smith and Andrew Jordan started on row three, with Ashley Davies and victor Nick Padmore on row four. Poleman Colburn kept his place at the head of the field away from the start to become the early leader from Astin and Jordan, who had made a great start from the third row to run side by side with Astin up the hill to Druids. Padmore was also away well and slotted into fourth. Back in the pack, disaster struck for championship leader Smith as he is left stranded in the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap,. The Mini Spares machine was pinched between Davies and Howard as they turned through the corner, with Smith clipping the left-rear wheel of Howard's car and exiting stage left into a dusty retirement. Davies bounced through the gravel in avoidance but continued in seventh, whilst Howard spun off to the infield. The Safety Car was quickly called for whilst Smith's errant car was removed and racing started again with twelve and a half minutes to go. Colburn led Astin, Jordan, Padmore and Deeth in the queue, Colburn went early at the restart to try to break the tow and opened a short-lived margin but the top five were back in line ending the restart lap. Next time around on lap seven, Padmore made an attempt to jump Jordan at Graham Hill Bend but Jordan held on around the outside, whilst Davies, James Colburn and Phil Bullen-Brown formed the next group not far behind. Jordan and Padmore both towed by Astin starting the eighth lap, with just under ten minutes left. Having got clear of James Colburn, Davies was now starting to home in on the lead quintet as they squabbled. Whilst under pressure from Padmore, Jordan slid wide at Graham Hill Bend with eight and a half minutes left to drop from second, the legacy of an offside-rear puncture which sent him pitward. Further down the field, James Cuthbertson dumped a large quantity of oil at Graham Hill Bend and sent the lower-order scattering but the lead pack was wise to the danger when they came round again. Once Padmore cleared Colburn ending the eleventh tour, the Race One winner was able to disappear up the road to a 4.567-second victory from reigning champion Deeth, who took the best result of his short time with his new mount after usurping Astin with four minutes remaining. Astin came home in third from Colburn, who fell behind Astin when he ran wide on the Graham Hill Bend oil just after losing the lead and Deeth came through when Colburn's effort on Astin failed to pay off with five minutes left. Davies and Bullen-Brown came home in fifth and sixth, as 1.410 seconds separated the five cars behind the victorious Padmore. After his Race One disappointment, Endaf Owens made solid progress from starting 25th to reach thirteenth by the end of lap one and had got to seventh before more frustration followed as he retired with three and a half minutes left. Richard Colburn completed his victory double in the Libre class from Hills.
Aaron Smith, twice a dominant winner at Zandvoort last month, came into the meeting leading the championship by 47 points from Kane Astin. An absent Jeff Smith and 2022 champ Rupert Deeth were separated by a single point in third and fourth arriving at Brands, with the defending champion racing a new Owens Motorsport-built car. 2021 champion Andrew Jordan sat fifth in the table after missing the Donington and Snetterton meetings. The rapid Nick Padmore was back in the field and would surely be a thorn in the side of the regulars, as would ace preparer Endaf Owens.
Qualifying: Nick Padmore came out on top of the red flag interrupted session, Padmore headed the field prior to the break and went quicker again as the times continued to improve after the stoppage to best Andrew Jordan by 0.222 seconds for pole position. Championship leader Aaron Smith and Ashley Davies, who returned to the championship after missing the previous three meetings due to engine woes, shared the second row ahead of Endaf Owens and Kieran McDonald on the third row. Phil Bullen-Brown, out for the first time in Owens’ ‘works’ car that debuted at Thruxton, Kane Astin, Rupert Deeth, Rob Howard, Colin Peacock, Ben Colburn and his brother James Colburn made up the first thirteen qualifiers and completed the group that set a time within a second of pole.
Race One: Poleman Nick Padmore lost the initiative off the line with a bout of wheelspin, fellow front-row starter Andrew Jordan rocketed into a clear lead towards Paddock Hill Bend as Padmore held off Ashley Davies for second. Davies wouldn’t hold third for long as Aaron Smith moved up to third at Druids for the first time, Endaf Owens further demoted his fellow Welshman past the pits starting lap two. Up front, Padmore quickly moved back onto the tail of Jordan as a seven-car train formed at the head of the field. The polesitter passed Jordan to hit the front going up to Druids for the fourth time and Smith also started pressing the 2021 champion but he was cheekily passed by Owens around the outside of Druids on lap six. As the three-time champion tried to retaliate, Owens squeezed Smith onto the grass towards Surtees which cost Smith two spots to Davies and Kane Astin by Clearways. Ben Colburn also towed through passing the pits but Smith took his place back in the top six at Graham Hill Bend. Davies and Astin both breezed by Owens along the Brabham Straight starting lap nine but the Welshman retook teammate Astin into Paddock Hill Bend. A lap later and Astin did get through with Smith following him by, a clearly struggling Owens then peeled into the pits at the end of the lap. This split the pack as two groups of three contested the top six places. Starting lap twelve with greater momentum, Jordan lined up an attempt for the lead up the inside of Paddock Hill Bend but brushed wheels with Padmore as the leader narrowed the gap on the committed Jordan. The 2021 champion momentarily rode up onto two wheels as he briefly took the lead, with Davies pouncing on the pair's slow exit to lead into Druids. Padmore also swiftly retook Jordan at the hairpin, whilst Smith took fourth from Astin at Graham Hill Bend too. Further back, the second Libre class runner Les Stanton slithered off into the gravel at the top of Paddock Hill Bend with nine minutes left, forcing an appearance of the Safety Car. Padmore had taken the lead across the start/finish line just before the race was neutralised with eight minutes to go so headed the queue when racing resumed, with just under four minutes remaining. A four-car breakaway contested the victory as the minutes dwindled, with Davies crawling all over Padmore in the lead. Padmore clung on to win a breathless encounter by 0.190 seconds after Davies slewed sideways through Surtees for the final time. Jordan just held off Smith over the line as 0.670 seconds covered the top four. Astin sealed fifth place from Rupert Deeth, Rob Howard, Ben Colburn and Phil Bullen-Brown as the five finished line astern. Richard Colburn sped to the first Libre class win of the day from Peter Hills.
Race Two: The top-eight grid reversal for Race Two placed Ben Colburn onto pole position, with Rob Howard’s mint green car alongside. Reigning champion Rupert Deeth sat on row two beside Kane Astin, whilst the first race top four filled the next two rows. Aaron Smith and Andrew Jordan started on row three, with Ashley Davies and victor Nick Padmore on row four. Poleman Colburn kept his place at the head of the field away from the start to become the early leader from Astin and Jordan, who had made a great start from the third row to run side by side with Astin up the hill to Druids. Padmore was also away well and slotted into fourth. Back in the pack, disaster struck for championship leader Smith as he is left stranded in the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap,. The Mini Spares machine was pinched between Davies and Howard as they turned through the corner, with Smith clipping the left-rear wheel of Howard's car and exiting stage left into a dusty retirement. Davies bounced through the gravel in avoidance but continued in seventh, whilst Howard spun off to the infield. The Safety Car was quickly called for whilst Smith's errant car was removed and racing started again with twelve and a half minutes to go. Colburn led Astin, Jordan, Padmore and Deeth in the queue, Colburn went early at the restart to try to break the tow and opened a short-lived margin but the top five were back in line ending the restart lap. Next time around on lap seven, Padmore made an attempt to jump Jordan at Graham Hill Bend but Jordan held on around the outside, whilst Davies, James Colburn and Phil Bullen-Brown formed the next group not far behind. Jordan and Padmore both towed by Astin starting the eighth lap, with just under ten minutes left. Having got clear of James Colburn, Davies was now starting to home in on the lead quintet as they squabbled. Whilst under pressure from Padmore, Jordan slid wide at Graham Hill Bend with eight and a half minutes left to drop from second, the legacy of an offside-rear puncture which sent him pitward. Further down the field, James Cuthbertson dumped a large quantity of oil at Graham Hill Bend and sent the lower-order scattering but the lead pack was wise to the danger when they came round again. Once Padmore cleared Colburn ending the eleventh tour, the Race One winner was able to disappear up the road to a 4.567-second victory from reigning champion Deeth, who took the best result of his short time with his new mount after usurping Astin with four minutes remaining. Astin came home in third from Colburn, who fell behind Astin when he ran wide on the Graham Hill Bend oil just after losing the lead and Deeth came through when Colburn's effort on Astin failed to pay off with five minutes left. Davies and Bullen-Brown came home in fifth and sixth, as 1.410 seconds separated the five cars behind the victorious Padmore. After his Race One disappointment, Endaf Owens made solid progress from starting 25th to reach thirteenth by the end of lap one and had got to seventh before more frustration followed as he retired with three and a half minutes left. Richard Colburn completed his victory double in the Libre class from Hills.
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Dunlop Mini Se7en supported by Mini Spares
A difficult pair of races for former championship leader Mike Jordan in the Netherlands last month cost the Midlander the title race lead to Joe Thompson, who now topped the standings by sixteen points. Ross Billison lurked just four further points behind in third. With partner Jeff Smith missing from the Miglia entry, it came as no surprise to find Jo Polley absent from the Se7en field too. As well as gathering championship points, the field would also be competing for the Bob Fox Trophy, the winner at Brands Hatch during the first year of Mini Se7en competition in 1966.
Qualifying: Mike Jordan set the pace during the fifteen-minute session to narrowly grab pole position by 0.141 seconds from Ross Billison. Defending champion Connor O’Brien headed the second row from Spencer Wanstall. Championship leader Joe Thompson qualified on the third row and was the last driver to set a time within a second of Jordan’s pole-winning mark, 2022 S-Class champion Damien Harrington completed the top six. After a troubled session, expected front-runner Glen Woodbridge would line up at the back of the field.
Race One: Having got away from the second row superbly, Spencer Wanstall drove around the outside into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time to take the lead,. Front row starter Ross Billison was slow off the mark with a troublesome clutch but he held fourth into the first corner behind Jordan and O’Brien - who skated wide across the gravel and lost out to Billison, Thompson and Harrington by the time they reached Druids. Looking to make amends for slipping back at the start, Jordan tried for the lead on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend starting the second lap but only succeeded in losing second to Billison on the climb to Druids. Ending the lap, Billison draughted by Wanstall past the pits to take up the running and poleman Jordan followed the new leader past into Paddock Hill Bend starting lap three. However, Wanstall cut back inside on the way out to retake second and Jordan then had to fend off Thompson at Druids to keep his third place. Meanwhile, O’Brien tried to drive around the outside of both and succeeded in relieving Thompson of fourth. Their scrapping allowed Billison to try to make his escape, it also allowed Damien Harrington and Glen Woodbridge, up from the back of the field, to catch the fighting trio. The fighting continued as O’Brien dived past Jordan for third into Paddock Hill Bend on lap five but Jordan quickly repassed the 2022 champion into Druids. Ending the lap, Billison’s lead was out to 1.178 seconds before Jordan had a big slide down Paddock Hill Bend, just after taking Wanstall for second on lap six, but the Midlander is still able to bring Billison’s lead down to 0.808 of a second. Just behind, Harrington relegated Thompson to fifth. A succession of fast laps saw Jordan reel in the leading Billison, with Wanstall and O’Brien going with him. After harrying the leader for a few laps, Jordan passed Billison with just over eight minutes to go after the erstwhile leader ran wide exiting Graham Hill Bend. Billison stuck with Jordan initially but the new leader eventually broke the tow to win by 1.484 seconds from Billison. The victor dedicated his win to the recently-passed famed engine builder Neil Brown and christened his new Swiftune engine ’Neil’ in tribute. Wanstall narrowly defeated O’Brien in the fight for third, the pair had constantly swapped places in the closing laps. After he'd bested Harrington, Thompson was reeling the duelling duo in the later stages to claim fifth. Having been part of the front-running bun fight, both reigning S-Class champion Damien Harrington and Glen Woodbridge were mid-race retirements. A third member of the Jordan clan made his debut in the Se7ens at the meeting, younger son Bradley Jordan lining up eleventh for the first encounter before finishing tenth.
Race Two: Andrew King sat on the reversed grid pole, with Graeme Davis alongside. Darren Thomas shared row two with title race leader Joe Thompson. Race One heavy hitters Connor O’Brien, Spencer Wanstall, Ross Billison and winner Mike Jordan filled the next two rows. The start was momentarily delayed by a brief rain shower over the east end of the circuit as the field formed for the start. When the bout did get underway, Wanstall repeated his race one manoeuvre around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend to vault into the lead from the third row. Thompson and O’Brien sat in second and third by Druids, the defending champion having been forced towards the gravel by Davis as they plunged down Paddock Hill Bend. Seven cars were in the lead train in the early stages, with Thomas and a remarkable Glen Woodbridge from the back of the grid in the mix. Race One leading lights Billison and Jordan both demoted Thomas at Druids on lap two, having just swapped places themselves at Paddock Hill Bend. Up front, Thompson took the lead from Wanstall into Druids on the fourth lap and Billison moved up to third in their mirrors. Wanstall took the lead back racing towards Paddock Hill Bend as they started lap five, whilst Billison followed Wanstall past Thompson climbing up to Druids. Eager to hit the front, Billison took the lead starting lap six and straight away gapped the squabbling Wanstall, Thompson and Jordan. The latter got up to third with a good run on the inside of Clark Curve ending the sixth lap and O’Brien further demoted the championship leader. Now into his stride, Jordan moved up to second on the way up to Druids for the eighth time but Billison had by now established a small 0.920-second lead. Much like in the first encounter, the chasing Jordan started to reel in Billison and set a new Mini Se7en lap record in the process before moving inside Billison through Clark Curve for the lead with ten minutes to go. The battle for the win was effectively over as Billison couldn’t live with Jordan’s extra speed, so the victorious Jordan took his eighth win of the season by 4.740 seconds from Billison and reduced the deficit to championship leader Thompson to just six points. The O’Brien, Thompson and Wanstall battle for third place saw them three abreast approaching Paddock Hill Bend when the lead changed hands, O’Brien emerged from the centre in third. Woodbridge soon latched onto the group too and passed Thompson into Druids with two and a half minutes remaining, having arrived at the hairpin three-wide with Wanstall. Wanstall made a bold bid to steal third from O’Brien at Clearways for the final time, which resulted in Wanstall losing out to Woodbridge and Thompson on the run to the flag to trail in sixth after minor contact with O’Brien cost him momentum. Bradley Jordan slipped back a spot from Race One to finish eleventh but gathered valuable experience.
A difficult pair of races for former championship leader Mike Jordan in the Netherlands last month cost the Midlander the title race lead to Joe Thompson, who now topped the standings by sixteen points. Ross Billison lurked just four further points behind in third. With partner Jeff Smith missing from the Miglia entry, it came as no surprise to find Jo Polley absent from the Se7en field too. As well as gathering championship points, the field would also be competing for the Bob Fox Trophy, the winner at Brands Hatch during the first year of Mini Se7en competition in 1966.
Qualifying: Mike Jordan set the pace during the fifteen-minute session to narrowly grab pole position by 0.141 seconds from Ross Billison. Defending champion Connor O’Brien headed the second row from Spencer Wanstall. Championship leader Joe Thompson qualified on the third row and was the last driver to set a time within a second of Jordan’s pole-winning mark, 2022 S-Class champion Damien Harrington completed the top six. After a troubled session, expected front-runner Glen Woodbridge would line up at the back of the field.
Race One: Having got away from the second row superbly, Spencer Wanstall drove around the outside into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time to take the lead,. Front row starter Ross Billison was slow off the mark with a troublesome clutch but he held fourth into the first corner behind Jordan and O’Brien - who skated wide across the gravel and lost out to Billison, Thompson and Harrington by the time they reached Druids. Looking to make amends for slipping back at the start, Jordan tried for the lead on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend starting the second lap but only succeeded in losing second to Billison on the climb to Druids. Ending the lap, Billison draughted by Wanstall past the pits to take up the running and poleman Jordan followed the new leader past into Paddock Hill Bend starting lap three. However, Wanstall cut back inside on the way out to retake second and Jordan then had to fend off Thompson at Druids to keep his third place. Meanwhile, O’Brien tried to drive around the outside of both and succeeded in relieving Thompson of fourth. Their scrapping allowed Billison to try to make his escape, it also allowed Damien Harrington and Glen Woodbridge, up from the back of the field, to catch the fighting trio. The fighting continued as O’Brien dived past Jordan for third into Paddock Hill Bend on lap five but Jordan quickly repassed the 2022 champion into Druids. Ending the lap, Billison’s lead was out to 1.178 seconds before Jordan had a big slide down Paddock Hill Bend, just after taking Wanstall for second on lap six, but the Midlander is still able to bring Billison’s lead down to 0.808 of a second. Just behind, Harrington relegated Thompson to fifth. A succession of fast laps saw Jordan reel in the leading Billison, with Wanstall and O’Brien going with him. After harrying the leader for a few laps, Jordan passed Billison with just over eight minutes to go after the erstwhile leader ran wide exiting Graham Hill Bend. Billison stuck with Jordan initially but the new leader eventually broke the tow to win by 1.484 seconds from Billison. The victor dedicated his win to the recently-passed famed engine builder Neil Brown and christened his new Swiftune engine ’Neil’ in tribute. Wanstall narrowly defeated O’Brien in the fight for third, the pair had constantly swapped places in the closing laps. After he'd bested Harrington, Thompson was reeling the duelling duo in the later stages to claim fifth. Having been part of the front-running bun fight, both reigning S-Class champion Damien Harrington and Glen Woodbridge were mid-race retirements. A third member of the Jordan clan made his debut in the Se7ens at the meeting, younger son Bradley Jordan lining up eleventh for the first encounter before finishing tenth.
Race Two: Andrew King sat on the reversed grid pole, with Graeme Davis alongside. Darren Thomas shared row two with title race leader Joe Thompson. Race One heavy hitters Connor O’Brien, Spencer Wanstall, Ross Billison and winner Mike Jordan filled the next two rows. The start was momentarily delayed by a brief rain shower over the east end of the circuit as the field formed for the start. When the bout did get underway, Wanstall repeated his race one manoeuvre around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend to vault into the lead from the third row. Thompson and O’Brien sat in second and third by Druids, the defending champion having been forced towards the gravel by Davis as they plunged down Paddock Hill Bend. Seven cars were in the lead train in the early stages, with Thomas and a remarkable Glen Woodbridge from the back of the grid in the mix. Race One leading lights Billison and Jordan both demoted Thomas at Druids on lap two, having just swapped places themselves at Paddock Hill Bend. Up front, Thompson took the lead from Wanstall into Druids on the fourth lap and Billison moved up to third in their mirrors. Wanstall took the lead back racing towards Paddock Hill Bend as they started lap five, whilst Billison followed Wanstall past Thompson climbing up to Druids. Eager to hit the front, Billison took the lead starting lap six and straight away gapped the squabbling Wanstall, Thompson and Jordan. The latter got up to third with a good run on the inside of Clark Curve ending the sixth lap and O’Brien further demoted the championship leader. Now into his stride, Jordan moved up to second on the way up to Druids for the eighth time but Billison had by now established a small 0.920-second lead. Much like in the first encounter, the chasing Jordan started to reel in Billison and set a new Mini Se7en lap record in the process before moving inside Billison through Clark Curve for the lead with ten minutes to go. The battle for the win was effectively over as Billison couldn’t live with Jordan’s extra speed, so the victorious Jordan took his eighth win of the season by 4.740 seconds from Billison and reduced the deficit to championship leader Thompson to just six points. The O’Brien, Thompson and Wanstall battle for third place saw them three abreast approaching Paddock Hill Bend when the lead changed hands, O’Brien emerged from the centre in third. Woodbridge soon latched onto the group too and passed Thompson into Druids with two and a half minutes remaining, having arrived at the hairpin three-wide with Wanstall. Wanstall made a bold bid to steal third from O’Brien at Clearways for the final time, which resulted in Wanstall losing out to Woodbridge and Thompson on the run to the flag to trail in sixth after minor contact with O’Brien cost him momentum. Bradley Jordan slipped back a spot from Race One to finish eleventh but gathered valuable experience.
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Dunlop Mini Se7en S-Class supported by Mini Spares
The entry-level Se7en S-Class raced alone for the second year in succession. Page Three Racing’s Jonathon Page held a healthy 32-point lead from Welshman Chris Prior on the points chart after Zandvoort. Frazer Hack sat another twelve points away in third, his father Andrew a similar amount further back in fourth. Dan Bell, the son of the late Mini Se7en champion Steve Bell, made his debut in the class.
Qualifying: An all-Page front row was the headline from qualifying, as Matthew bested his championship-leading brother Jonathon by 0.301 seconds to clinch pole position. The second row saw Frazer Hack lining up alongside Matthew Ayres, whilst Andrew Hack and Chris Prior made up the third row as 0.667 seconds covered the lot of them.
Race One: Polesitter Matthew Page lurched forward whilst the red lights were on but stopped half a Mini length ahead of his grid spot, however, Jonathon Page still outdragged his brother off the line and led into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Starting lap two, Frazer Hack threw himself past Matthew Page into second into Paddock Hill Bend. Matthew Ayres did the same to Chris Prior for fourth, the relegated Welshman then had a moment dropping down the hill and contact after being left with nowhere to go sent Andrew Hack and Prior into the Paddock Hill gravel and out of the race. The top four ran line astern whilst the lengthy recovery took place and when the yellow flag was withdrawn at Paddock Hill Bend with just under 13 minutes remaining, Ayres pounced immediately to dive inside Matthew Page for third. Ayres leant on the poleman down the dip, Page consequently bounced across the gravel and dropped to fourth. A lap later Hack moved inside Ayres into Paddock Hill Bend, having slipped behind Ayres when he ran wide at Druids, but took the majority of the lap to finish the move and was helped when Ayres got crossed up into Clearways. Their continued scrapping let Jonathon Page open a significant lead, which showed no sign of abating when Matthew Page towed past Ayres for third racing towards Paddock Hill Bend with eight minutes left and he would soon be on the tail of Hack for second. The pair began fighting tooth and nail over second on-the-road as the race entered the closing stages, Page finally prized open the door up to Druids for the penultimate time but Hack retaliated at Surtees. Ayres was back with them in fourth as the trio headed onto the final lap and Page drew up the outside for second into Paddock Hill Bend but the defensive Hack hung on again. The group then ran three-wide up the hill to Druids but the status quo was retained so Jonathon Page won from Hack and Matthew Page. However, Matthew was hit with a ten-second out-of-position start penalty which dropped him to sixth and elevated Ayres to third, who had biffed Page wide at Clearways for the last time. Lee Poolman and Dave Rees were also moved up to fourth and fifth, whilst Page slotted into their group in sixth ahead of Michael Winkworth.
Race Two: The first attempt at getting the race underway was red-flagged after a multi-car incident at Paddock Hill Bend involving Arnold Duncan, Lee Poolman and both Hacks. Poolman lost control dropping down the dip and Frazer Hack t-boned the sideways car with nowhere to go. Frazer was then collected by his father Andrew in the aftermath, whilst Duncan spun to the inside avoiding Poolman. The restarted race would be contested over fifteen minutes. Michael Winkworth had a great first lap from the front row to open a few Mini-lengths lead but soon had Matthew Page for company. Another to make significant strides up the order on the opening lap was Chris Prior, the Welshman rose from the seventh row to sit in fifth behind Dave Rees and Declan Edgecombe and was just ahead of Jonathon Page and Matthew Ayres. Having pressed Winkworth throughout the opening laps, Matthew Page made his move for the lead using the cutback up to Druids on lap three, the new leader scampered clear thereafter. Prior, Jonathon Page and Ayres knocked Rees back to sixth in one fell swoop at Paddock Hill Bend starting the fifth lap, before Ayres swooped around outside of Surtees into third after passing Race One winner Page at Druids. Page further demoted Prior up to Druids one lap later and then climbed back up to third into Druids on lap seven, despite Ayres’ energetic attempt to reclaim the spot exiting the hairpin. Ayres did take the spot back soon after with a better run along the Cooper Straight, their squabbling meant that Prior was now back with them. Page dived inside Ayres into Paddock Hill Bend to claim back third as they began lap eight, whilst up ahead Matthew Page serenely reeled off the remaining time to seal a 5.147-second victory, an unusually large margin for the S-Class. Brother Jonathon staved off a late bid from Matthew Ayres at Clearways to take second. Early leader Winkworth came in fourth, Jonathon Page and Ayres having passed him in quick succession with less than three minutes to go through Paddock Hill Bend and Druids. Novice Declan Edgecombe took a respectable sixth, having dispensed with early third-place runner Rees at Clearways.
The Mini 7 Racing Club’s next event takes place at Croft on the 16th and 17th of September for races fourteen and fifteen, where dropped scores will start to come into play as the top fourteen results from the seventeen races count towards the championship titles.
The entry-level Se7en S-Class raced alone for the second year in succession. Page Three Racing’s Jonathon Page held a healthy 32-point lead from Welshman Chris Prior on the points chart after Zandvoort. Frazer Hack sat another twelve points away in third, his father Andrew a similar amount further back in fourth. Dan Bell, the son of the late Mini Se7en champion Steve Bell, made his debut in the class.
Qualifying: An all-Page front row was the headline from qualifying, as Matthew bested his championship-leading brother Jonathon by 0.301 seconds to clinch pole position. The second row saw Frazer Hack lining up alongside Matthew Ayres, whilst Andrew Hack and Chris Prior made up the third row as 0.667 seconds covered the lot of them.
Race One: Polesitter Matthew Page lurched forward whilst the red lights were on but stopped half a Mini length ahead of his grid spot, however, Jonathon Page still outdragged his brother off the line and led into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Starting lap two, Frazer Hack threw himself past Matthew Page into second into Paddock Hill Bend. Matthew Ayres did the same to Chris Prior for fourth, the relegated Welshman then had a moment dropping down the hill and contact after being left with nowhere to go sent Andrew Hack and Prior into the Paddock Hill gravel and out of the race. The top four ran line astern whilst the lengthy recovery took place and when the yellow flag was withdrawn at Paddock Hill Bend with just under 13 minutes remaining, Ayres pounced immediately to dive inside Matthew Page for third. Ayres leant on the poleman down the dip, Page consequently bounced across the gravel and dropped to fourth. A lap later Hack moved inside Ayres into Paddock Hill Bend, having slipped behind Ayres when he ran wide at Druids, but took the majority of the lap to finish the move and was helped when Ayres got crossed up into Clearways. Their continued scrapping let Jonathon Page open a significant lead, which showed no sign of abating when Matthew Page towed past Ayres for third racing towards Paddock Hill Bend with eight minutes left and he would soon be on the tail of Hack for second. The pair began fighting tooth and nail over second on-the-road as the race entered the closing stages, Page finally prized open the door up to Druids for the penultimate time but Hack retaliated at Surtees. Ayres was back with them in fourth as the trio headed onto the final lap and Page drew up the outside for second into Paddock Hill Bend but the defensive Hack hung on again. The group then ran three-wide up the hill to Druids but the status quo was retained so Jonathon Page won from Hack and Matthew Page. However, Matthew was hit with a ten-second out-of-position start penalty which dropped him to sixth and elevated Ayres to third, who had biffed Page wide at Clearways for the last time. Lee Poolman and Dave Rees were also moved up to fourth and fifth, whilst Page slotted into their group in sixth ahead of Michael Winkworth.
Race Two: The first attempt at getting the race underway was red-flagged after a multi-car incident at Paddock Hill Bend involving Arnold Duncan, Lee Poolman and both Hacks. Poolman lost control dropping down the dip and Frazer Hack t-boned the sideways car with nowhere to go. Frazer was then collected by his father Andrew in the aftermath, whilst Duncan spun to the inside avoiding Poolman. The restarted race would be contested over fifteen minutes. Michael Winkworth had a great first lap from the front row to open a few Mini-lengths lead but soon had Matthew Page for company. Another to make significant strides up the order on the opening lap was Chris Prior, the Welshman rose from the seventh row to sit in fifth behind Dave Rees and Declan Edgecombe and was just ahead of Jonathon Page and Matthew Ayres. Having pressed Winkworth throughout the opening laps, Matthew Page made his move for the lead using the cutback up to Druids on lap three, the new leader scampered clear thereafter. Prior, Jonathon Page and Ayres knocked Rees back to sixth in one fell swoop at Paddock Hill Bend starting the fifth lap, before Ayres swooped around outside of Surtees into third after passing Race One winner Page at Druids. Page further demoted Prior up to Druids one lap later and then climbed back up to third into Druids on lap seven, despite Ayres’ energetic attempt to reclaim the spot exiting the hairpin. Ayres did take the spot back soon after with a better run along the Cooper Straight, their squabbling meant that Prior was now back with them. Page dived inside Ayres into Paddock Hill Bend to claim back third as they began lap eight, whilst up ahead Matthew Page serenely reeled off the remaining time to seal a 5.147-second victory, an unusually large margin for the S-Class. Brother Jonathon staved off a late bid from Matthew Ayres at Clearways to take second. Early leader Winkworth came in fourth, Jonathon Page and Ayres having passed him in quick succession with less than three minutes to go through Paddock Hill Bend and Druids. Novice Declan Edgecombe took a respectable sixth, having dispensed with early third-place runner Rees at Clearways.
The Mini 7 Racing Club’s next event takes place at Croft on the 16th and 17th of September for races fourteen and fifteen, where dropped scores will start to come into play as the top fourteen results from the seventeen races count towards the championship titles.
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Fastest Mini in the World
Without reigning champion Harvey Death’s Powertec V8-motivated silhouette in the field, a new name could lay claim to having the Fastest Mini in the World after the day’s two races, the 29th time the title had been awarded. Jim Lyons’ turbocharged Clubman, Bill Richard’s’ Maguire Clubman Estate special saloon, the Honda-powered Mini Sprint of Sri Lankan Ashan Silva and a fleet of four Enville Motorsport Clubman special saloons, headed by Richard Billingham’s turbocar, all had eyes on claiming the prize, with the competitors cars all running on Sustain Classic 102 RON synthetic fuel in a nod to the possible future of the sport.
Qualifying: Starting the day as he meant to go on, Richard Billingham blazed to pole position over a second clear of his nearest rival. That rival would be Ashan Silva’s low-line machine as he consigned Bill Richard’s Maguire Clubman and Fabio Luffarelli’s bike-engined device back to the second row. Two more of the Enville Motorsport spaceframes made up the third row, as Jamie Billingham bested Richard Morris.
Race One: The Vauxhall VXR-powered spaceframe Clubman of Richard Billingham dominated from the rolling start, moving well clear of the field before they’d even reached Paddock Hill Bend for the first time and ran away to a convincing 16.892-second winning margin. Once Bill Richards had cleared Ashan Silva’s 2-litre car during the first lap, the Maguire Clubman Estate would stay in second for the remainder. Silva fell back into battle with Fabio Luffarelli’s green machine in the early stages until Luffarelli spun off down Paddock Hill Bend for the third time and retired. Silva was able to close back up to Richards but the veteran kept the Sri Lankan at bay. The chance of a Class C win for the leading steel-bodied car of Craig Edgecombe disappeared when he pulled into the pitlane within sight of the flag, Class D victor Gary Warburton topped the ‘steelies’ as a result and handed the Class C win to Ian Fraser. Expected front-runner Jim Lyons had qualified seventh for the encounter but the turbocar didn’t take the start.
Race Two: In a race of attrition, Richard Billingham once more opened a large lead as he dominated again in his turbocharged device and the field became spread out around the small corner of Kent. In his wake, Bill Richards was almost sideswiped by Ashan Silva as the Duratec-engined Estate retook second ending the opening lap and he did manage to bring the lead gap down to a little over a second at one point, after the race leader eased his pace, before a late misfire stymied his charge. After his opening race exit, Fabio Luffarelli came up from fourteenth to claim the final podium spot. Another charging drive came from Jim Lyons as he climbed from the very back to fourth after missing Race One but his pace slowed late on to finish fifth behind Richard Morris’ spaceframed Clubman. Silva grabbed second into Paddock Hill on the opening lap but slid down the order thereafter before eventually retiring to the pits. After his Race One disappointment, Craig Edgecombe was able to make amends and headed home the steel-bodied cars in sixth overall.
Without reigning champion Harvey Death’s Powertec V8-motivated silhouette in the field, a new name could lay claim to having the Fastest Mini in the World after the day’s two races, the 29th time the title had been awarded. Jim Lyons’ turbocharged Clubman, Bill Richard’s’ Maguire Clubman Estate special saloon, the Honda-powered Mini Sprint of Sri Lankan Ashan Silva and a fleet of four Enville Motorsport Clubman special saloons, headed by Richard Billingham’s turbocar, all had eyes on claiming the prize, with the competitors cars all running on Sustain Classic 102 RON synthetic fuel in a nod to the possible future of the sport.
Qualifying: Starting the day as he meant to go on, Richard Billingham blazed to pole position over a second clear of his nearest rival. That rival would be Ashan Silva’s low-line machine as he consigned Bill Richard’s Maguire Clubman and Fabio Luffarelli’s bike-engined device back to the second row. Two more of the Enville Motorsport spaceframes made up the third row, as Jamie Billingham bested Richard Morris.
Race One: The Vauxhall VXR-powered spaceframe Clubman of Richard Billingham dominated from the rolling start, moving well clear of the field before they’d even reached Paddock Hill Bend for the first time and ran away to a convincing 16.892-second winning margin. Once Bill Richards had cleared Ashan Silva’s 2-litre car during the first lap, the Maguire Clubman Estate would stay in second for the remainder. Silva fell back into battle with Fabio Luffarelli’s green machine in the early stages until Luffarelli spun off down Paddock Hill Bend for the third time and retired. Silva was able to close back up to Richards but the veteran kept the Sri Lankan at bay. The chance of a Class C win for the leading steel-bodied car of Craig Edgecombe disappeared when he pulled into the pitlane within sight of the flag, Class D victor Gary Warburton topped the ‘steelies’ as a result and handed the Class C win to Ian Fraser. Expected front-runner Jim Lyons had qualified seventh for the encounter but the turbocar didn’t take the start.
Race Two: In a race of attrition, Richard Billingham once more opened a large lead as he dominated again in his turbocharged device and the field became spread out around the small corner of Kent. In his wake, Bill Richards was almost sideswiped by Ashan Silva as the Duratec-engined Estate retook second ending the opening lap and he did manage to bring the lead gap down to a little over a second at one point, after the race leader eased his pace, before a late misfire stymied his charge. After his opening race exit, Fabio Luffarelli came up from fourteenth to claim the final podium spot. Another charging drive came from Jim Lyons as he climbed from the very back to fourth after missing Race One but his pace slowed late on to finish fifth behind Richard Morris’ spaceframed Clubman. Silva grabbed second into Paddock Hill on the opening lap but slid down the order thereafter before eventually retiring to the pits. After his Race One disappointment, Craig Edgecombe was able to make amends and headed home the steel-bodied cars in sixth overall.
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Super & Mighty Minis
Qualifying: Neven Kirkpatrick headed the half-dozen of the slightly more modified ’Super’ Mighty Minis by a slender 0.162 seconds from Steven Rideout. The polesitter’s brother David headed the second row from Ian Slark, with Neil Slark and Stuart Coombs completing the field. The lesser-powered Mighty Minis were fronted by last year’s top novice James Jenkins, ahead of Olly Samways. Ben Butler and William Burnham lined up in third and fourth.
Race One: The poleman Neven Kirkpatrick got into the lead at the start and wouldn’t be headed, as Ian Slark, Steven Rideout and David Kirkpatrick scrapped over second place. Lapped traffic allowed Neven Kirkpatrick to pull further away from the squabbling as he eventually won by 2.629 seconds. Rideout and David Kirkpatrick both mugged Slark after the former second-placed car ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend on lap thirteen, with the luminous yellow car of Rideout holding off Kirkpatrick’s Union Flag-endowed Mini for second. Among the Mighty Minis, Ben Butler fought his way to the front and established a small margin initially, until Olly Samways recovered from starting the race in third gear to catch the leading car. The pair traded places for lap after lap and Samways eventually held off Butler on the run to the line by 0.183 seconds. James Jenkins took the flag in a lonely third, whilst William Tyrrell came out on top of a four-car tussle for fourth to head home Graham Sheppard, Suzy Inch and William Burnham.
Race Two: A top-six grid reversal would be a feature of the Castle Combe Racing Club-organised championship and Stuart Coombs would start on pole, with Ian Slark starting beside him. David Kirkpatrick and Steven Rideout sat on the second row, whilst opening race victor Neven Kirkpatrick went from the third row. When the lights went out, Slark made a great start to drive into the lead towards Paddock Hill Bend. Behind Slark, the Kirkpatricks both passed Coombs at Druids before Neven drove around David at Graham Hill Bend to settle into second and third places. Coombs slipped back another spot before lap one was completed, with Rideout moving into fourth by Surtees. In the Mighty Minis, Graham Sheppard led the early stages from William Tyrrell as Olly Samways ended lap one in third, which became second on lap two. Race One runner-up Ben Butler was also climbing through the order and was on the tail of Samways as they started a fraught fifth lap. The first race victor was pushed towards the grass climbing up to Druids by a defensive Sheppard, who’d ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend, which forced the two of them wide and Butler pounced to grab the lead as Samways also fell prey to Tyrrell. Samways then threw his car off into the gravel at Clearways later in the lap as he tried to recover the lost ground. The incident forced the introduction of the Safety Car, which came in with eight and a half minutes remaining. Having seen off the attention of Neven Kirkpatrick when the race resumed, Slark slightly smokily took the win after pulling a small margin in the late stages. Neven Kirkpatrick survived an attack from brother David at Clearways for second on the last lap, whilst Rideout grabbed the opportunity to nick third from David towards the line after the siblings traded paint. Butler finished 2.402 seconds up the road as he sped to the Mighty Mini victory ahead of the tussling Sheppard and Tyrrell in second and third.
Qualifying: Neven Kirkpatrick headed the half-dozen of the slightly more modified ’Super’ Mighty Minis by a slender 0.162 seconds from Steven Rideout. The polesitter’s brother David headed the second row from Ian Slark, with Neil Slark and Stuart Coombs completing the field. The lesser-powered Mighty Minis were fronted by last year’s top novice James Jenkins, ahead of Olly Samways. Ben Butler and William Burnham lined up in third and fourth.
Race One: The poleman Neven Kirkpatrick got into the lead at the start and wouldn’t be headed, as Ian Slark, Steven Rideout and David Kirkpatrick scrapped over second place. Lapped traffic allowed Neven Kirkpatrick to pull further away from the squabbling as he eventually won by 2.629 seconds. Rideout and David Kirkpatrick both mugged Slark after the former second-placed car ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend on lap thirteen, with the luminous yellow car of Rideout holding off Kirkpatrick’s Union Flag-endowed Mini for second. Among the Mighty Minis, Ben Butler fought his way to the front and established a small margin initially, until Olly Samways recovered from starting the race in third gear to catch the leading car. The pair traded places for lap after lap and Samways eventually held off Butler on the run to the line by 0.183 seconds. James Jenkins took the flag in a lonely third, whilst William Tyrrell came out on top of a four-car tussle for fourth to head home Graham Sheppard, Suzy Inch and William Burnham.
Race Two: A top-six grid reversal would be a feature of the Castle Combe Racing Club-organised championship and Stuart Coombs would start on pole, with Ian Slark starting beside him. David Kirkpatrick and Steven Rideout sat on the second row, whilst opening race victor Neven Kirkpatrick went from the third row. When the lights went out, Slark made a great start to drive into the lead towards Paddock Hill Bend. Behind Slark, the Kirkpatricks both passed Coombs at Druids before Neven drove around David at Graham Hill Bend to settle into second and third places. Coombs slipped back another spot before lap one was completed, with Rideout moving into fourth by Surtees. In the Mighty Minis, Graham Sheppard led the early stages from William Tyrrell as Olly Samways ended lap one in third, which became second on lap two. Race One runner-up Ben Butler was also climbing through the order and was on the tail of Samways as they started a fraught fifth lap. The first race victor was pushed towards the grass climbing up to Druids by a defensive Sheppard, who’d ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend, which forced the two of them wide and Butler pounced to grab the lead as Samways also fell prey to Tyrrell. Samways then threw his car off into the gravel at Clearways later in the lap as he tried to recover the lost ground. The incident forced the introduction of the Safety Car, which came in with eight and a half minutes remaining. Having seen off the attention of Neven Kirkpatrick when the race resumed, Slark slightly smokily took the win after pulling a small margin in the late stages. Neven Kirkpatrick survived an attack from brother David at Clearways for second on the last lap, whilst Rideout grabbed the opportunity to nick third from David towards the line after the siblings traded paint. Butler finished 2.402 seconds up the road as he sped to the Mighty Mini victory ahead of the tussling Sheppard and Tyrrell in second and third.
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