MINI CHALLENGE: Open Class Report

16:00

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Race Report

WORDS: MINI CHALLENGE     PHOTOS: David Young

Race 1 
Saturday PM Weather: Bright/Dry Duration 15 minutes

All assembled and ready to go, a small but quality grid. Ben Dimmack is always fast out of the blocks and is usually followed by Rob Austin and Aaron Reeve. Aaron’s car is now working well and he has been on the pace for the last 2 meetings. As his team are managing 9 cars this weekend it is a surprise that he finds time to race! A great race to watch with Ben Dimmack way out in front, with new tyres. At the chequered flag, his gap had been pulled down to 0.55 seconds with Ben slowing down to preserve his tyres.Rob was having a great battle with Aaron for the whole race. P1, P2 and P3 are how these 3 started and is also how they finished. Tim Bill was looking strong and stayed in contention for a podium throughout the whole race, he was slow off the grid allowing Kevin Owen to snatch 3rd, Tim overtook him halfway through the 2nd lap and stayed in P4 for the rest of the race. Chloe Hewitt had a great race with Neil Ginley and Andy Montgomery, Chloe getting the better of Neil but could not get passed Andy. So it looked great with 2 races going on at the same time. The 15 minutes passed and the chequered flag waved and they finished as:

Race 1 Results:
P1 Ben Dimmack
P2: Rob Austin
P3: Aaron Reeve

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MINI CHALLENGE: Cooper Pro/AM Class

12:00

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Race Report

WORDS: MINI CHALLENGE     PHOTOS: David Young

Race 1           
Saturday PM           Weather: Cloudy/Dry      Duration: 15 minutes

Sam Weller made a great getaway and just left the rest of the field in the dust. His lead just grew and grew. Matt Hammond was quick but he had Owen Walton and Jessica Hawkins to worry about. Halfway through the race, Sam seemed to slow but more importantly for Matt, his car just came alive, quickest lap after quickest lap 57.607 in a MINI Cooper! Matt passed Sam with ease but Sam stayed with him. Owen Walton and Jessica Hawkins had a great race but Jessica could not overtake. She dropped a few places then came back eventually finishing in P4. In the Am Class, Stuart McLaren got P1 as predicted as well as fasted lap. A big surprise was for Chris Day with a P2 on his first time out, Chris Middleton had to settle for P3 So a win for Matt Hammond and Stuart McLaren.

Race 1 Results:

Pro:
P1: Matt Hammond
P2: Sam Weller
P3: Owen Walton

Am:
P1: Stuart McLaren
P2: Chris Day
P3: Chris Middleton

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MINI CHALLENGE: Brands Hatch JCW Reports

08:00

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Race Report

WORDS: MINI CHALLENGE     PHOTOS: David Young

RACE 1
Rob Smith withheld intense pressure to secure his first MINI CHALLENGE JCW Championship victory since 2015 in the first race at Brands Hatch. The MINI UK VIP driver produced a superb defensive display to score a lights-to-flag win and keep championship leader Brett Smith at bay. Rob, who scored his second pole position of the year in the morning, made a rapid getaway but was pursued by Brett throughout, taking the flag just 0.193s ahead.

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Latest Mini 7 Newsletter out now: Donington preview & Snetterton report

18:07

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Race Report

Issue 3 of the Mini Se7en Racing Club's Official Newsletter - Pit & Paddock is out now.

In this edition you can catch up with how the standings lie after two double-header rounds, and what lies in-store for drivers and enthusiasts at Donington this weekend.

Read the latest race reports and delve into the Mini Se7en Racing Club's history with a trip through the years of this well-established series.

Download it or read it online for free.


DOWNLOAD


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Mini 7 Racing Club Newsletter Issue 2, Out Now! - Snetterton preview and Castle Combe reports

22:58

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Race Report

The new issue of Pit and Paddock, the Mini 7 Racing Club's Official Newsletter is out now!

Issue 2 previews the upcoming battles likely to be on display at Snetterton, as well as rounding up the events of Rounds 1 & 2 at Castle Combe last month.

There's also a special tribute to two Mini legends who have recently passed away, with touching memories from current racers.

Finally you can go back in time with the Mini 7 Club and read about what was happening and who was racing 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10 years ago - it's fascinating!


Download or read your copy online for free now.


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MINI CHALLENGE: Rockingham (JCW Rd 3&4)

12:31

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Race Report

Words  MINI CHALLENGE   Photos  DAVID YOUNG

 
Round: 3         Laps: 6             Weather: Sunny, dry

Max Bladon learned from his starting errors at Oulton Park to take his maiden JCW victory in a fragmented first race at Rockingham.

Bladon didn’t just have to get off the line once to notch his first win in the turbocharged class, he had to do it twice after a mid-race red flag prompted a full re-grid.

When the lights went out Bladon got a great getaway to hold the lead from the charging Brett Smith as the top four held station with David Grady running third ahead of James Turkington. Charlie Butler-Henderson managed to sneak past Mark Wakefield for fifth off the line.

Things stayed that way until CB-H and Turkington rubbed through the fast Gracelands left-hander. Turkington was spun off while CB-H was delayed with bumper damage. While CB-H continued in fifth, Turkington was 22nd when he rejoined.

That wasn’t the end of the chaos either. The safety car made a brief appearance before the red flags flew when Will Neal’s car was stranded mid-circuit after a collision in the pack out of Tarzan corner.

Will Neal gets stranded on-track

Both delays heaped the pressure on Bladon. “Starts are like a lottery, they can go well, or badly and I could get hit or delayed or anything, so I really had to focus on both restarts,” he said.

Safety car and red flags hold up the racing

“The second standing start was way worse, as the car had lost all temperature by the point we got going so it was really stressful.”

Despite his fears, Bladon nailed it and pulled a colossal 2.6s clear on the first lap as an epic battle broke out behind him. Brett Smith was forced wide through Deene when the pack ran four-abreast into the tight turn, leaving Wakefield in second ahead of Grady, CB-H and Barr.

Grady leads the rest of the pack

Not happy to settle for fifth, Barr dived past CB-H into the Brook chicane before sneaking around the outside of Grady at Tarzan to net third. He then latched on to the back of Wakefield, but couldn’t find a way past in the remaining few laps.

Reece Barr squeezes past CBH on the closing laps

“I’m delighted to get the win and clear the monkey off my back,” said Bladon, who took the flag almost five seconds clear. “The restart went perfectly and I couldn’t believe the gap I got. I was able to back off a bit and look after the tyres as race two could be a struggle on the rubber as it’s very abrasive around here.”

Wakefield said: “The restart could have gone either way for me, better or worse. Thankfully it went better and I got behind Max through the hairpin. When Reece got through behind me I had to turn on defend mode and quit attacking as this championship is all about scoring solid points, not winning every race.”

Barr added: “If you’d offered me third yesterday I’d have happily taken it so I was really happy with my drive. It was about picking my moments and taking every chance I got. I start three places higher for race two, so let’s see what we can do from there.”

Grady was fourth, ahead of CB-H, Brad Hutchinson, Brett Smith, Scott Jeffs and Stuart Gough. Turkington fought his way back to 10th, netting fastest lap in the process. “What happened at the start was unfortunate, but I’ve got to take the positives – we had the pace in the car and I got the bonus for fastest lap. Now on to the next one!”

Round: 4         Laps: 14           Weather: Cloudy, dry

Reece Barr made it four different winners from as many races this year after scoring an emphatic maiden JCW victory in race two at Rockingham.

Barr, a former double Irish karting champion, showed maturity and race craft beyond his young years to storm through the pack and secure a commanding first victory.

The reversed grid placed Charlie Butler-Henderson on pole, with David Grady alongside as Barr and Mark Wakefield occupied the second row, with race-one victor Max Bladon back in fifth.

Bladon and Barr in an early tussle

CB-H’s start wasn’t the best, allowing Grady past on the outside of Turn One before Bladon made an audacious lunge on the brakes down the inside on the brakes into the Deene Hairpin to secure third, as those behind were delayed. Barr was swamped down to fourth and Brad Hutchison secured an early fourth.

Barr didn’t wait long to start making a move and went door-handle to door-handle with Hutchison as Rob Smith also closed in. Smith pulled off a fine move to briefly dive in front of both on the brakes at Deene, before contact with Mark Wakefield a lap later led to Smith spinning and Wakefield heading to the pits with damage.

Mark Wakefield has to pit after damage in a collision with Rob Smith

Barr slipped past Hutchison and then set his sights on the top three. He passed Bladon with a fine move up the inside through Gracelands, which he also then repeated on Butler-Henderson for second. Grady then fell victim to the charging Irishman on the brakes into Deene with a few laps to run.

Barr has CBH and champion Grady in his sights

“That was an amazing race,” said Barr. “I lost a few places in the first corners but then calmed myself down and started concentrating on pumping the lap times in and the car felt great. I had new-ish tyres on the front and the extra grip really seemed to pay off.

“After the start to the weekend with the penalty this is the perfect result. It’s moved me up in the championship and I’m feeling really good ahead of the next rounds.”

Grady said: “I was blown away by Reece’s pace there, I didn’t expect him to come through as fast as he did. I was managing the gap to Charlie and then he just arrived and cruised past. It caught me by surprise a bit. I’ll still take second as a good result though.”

And takes the win to make it four different winners in four races

Butler-Henderson added: “I thought age and experience pays over youth, but that little Irish lad is quick! It’s great for points and I really enjoyed it. We were all really struggling with tyres and around turn one there’s huge clumps of rubber vibrating and flying off the car so it feels like the tyres are about to blow out and it’s massively unsettling. I backed off when I knew I was sure of a podium.”

Brett Smith was fourth ahead of Stuart Gough, Hutchison and Scott Jeffs. James Turkington fought to eighth place ahead of Henry Neal and Mohammed Nalwalla. Max Bladon gradually slipped back after opting to not fit any fresh tyres for this race. He wound up 11th, but said: “It’s a learning exercise really. Sure we got the call on the tyres wrong but we’ve still won a race and earned good points this weekend.”

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MINI CHALLENGE: Oulton Park Rounds 1&2

11:50

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Race Report

Words: MINI CHALLENGE   Photos: David Young

Round: One     Laps: 7      Weather: Cloudy

Mark Wakefield secured his first victory in the MINI CHALLENGE’S JCW class with an assured drive in a shortened opening race of the season at Oulton Park.

Mark Wakefield starts with a win

Wakefield, on tenterhooks with his partner in hospital expecting the birth of their child, looked in a rush as he made an excellent getaway off the line from his front row start and move into the lead past his Excelr8 team-mate and pole sitter Max Bladon up the inside at Old Hall.

Bladon suffered a less convincing start, quickly being swamped by last season’s runner-up Charlie Butler-Henderson, who made a lightning jump of three places from fifth. Bladon’s opening lap woes continued as Brett Smith snuck around the outside at the Brittens chicane.

Max Bladon battles with Butler-Henderson

Despite a good start, Rob Smith was soon heading backwards, losing out in a side-by-side duel with James Turkington up Clay Hill and into Druids, before losing sixth place to a recovering Reece Barr and immediately under pressure from Jeff Smith.

While Henry Neal was putting on an impressive surge, to move up five places to 13th by lap three, Butler-Henderson made his move for second with an excellent manoeuvre through Cascades. As in qualifying, last year’s champion David Grady struggled to make inroads into the top 10 as he and Neal passed Formula Ford 1600 convert Stuart Gough.

Neal makes a move inside Grady

As Brett Smith set the fastest lap on the fourth tour to cut Wakefield’s lead to less than half a second, the local racer was forced on the defensive. But with Smith sticking to Wakefield’s rear bumper, their tussle began to slow each other down bringing Butler-Henderson into the squabble.

With the race reduced to only 13 minutes due to incidents earlier in the day’s timetable, Wakefield benefited from navigating the Cheshire circuit for only seven laps. By the final tour, Brett Smith was forced to focus his attentions on his mirrors as Butler-Henderson closed in further, enabling Wakefield to pull out the largest advantage of the race.

Bladon continued to pursue the leading trio, but with Turkington closing in his mirrors, fourth was the closest his would manage.

Barr took sixth place with Rob Smith managing to curtail any further place loss in seventh. He headed Jeff Smith with Brad Hutchinson taking ninth just ahead of David Grady.

“I got off to a lightning start, it was tricky as it was still wet on that side of the track and I did get wheel spin,” said a delighted Wakefield. “The car felt like it was pushing away from me but later in the race I managed to get it under control and it wasn’t until the final corner that I felt I’d got the win. I’m over the moon.”

Smith was full of admiration for Wakefield’s defensive skill: “Mark didn’t put a foot wrong. Charlie left the door open at Cascades as there was no grip on the outside which is where he had placed his car.

“It wasn’t worth the risk to try to pass Mark towards the end of the race. I’m targeting the title and didn’t want to score a DNF so early in the season.”

Butler-Henderson added: “We were on wet tyres with the track now totally dry, so we decided just to push the tyres and go for it. Under braking the car was a handful but it was good fun.”

Charlie Butler-Henderson scores his first win of 2017

Round: Two    Laps: 8      Weather: Cloudy

Charlie Butler-Henderson scored victory in race two of the MINI CHALLENGE JCW opening weekend of the season at Oulton Park to once again stake his claim for a championship challenge.

With the top four finishers from the day’s opening affair reversed, Max Bladon sat on pole position once again with Butler-Henderson, courtesy of his earlier podium finish, alongside on the front row of the grid.

Butler-Henderson made a demon start, heading into the lead by the time the pack made its way to Old Hall Corner, as Bladon struggled with excessive wheel spin off the line.

“That was my first ever dry start in this CHALLENGE JCW car,” Bladon said. “I know what I did wrong and I’ll have to learn quickly.”

CBH leads after Bladon wheelspins at the line

Race one victor Mark Wakefield was unable to repeat his earlier feat, being handed a 10-second time penalty for a false start despite challenging in third place on the road.

As Kevin O’Connor took a spin to the back of the field, Brett and Rob Smith, who vaulted his way up from seventh, tussled side-by-side through Cascades enabling the top three to further pull away.

Henry Neal continued his challenge for the top 10, moving into ninth and ahead of a battling Reece Barr on the second tour as brother Will Neal went for a spin at Hislops on lap three.

The Smiths battle for third

With Butler-Henderson pulling away from Bladon to a one-second advantage, Rob Smith had managed to nip ahead of his namesake Brett for third, but was a further five seconds back.

Last year’s champion David Grady profited from other drivers’ misfortune, making his way up to seventh place behind Jeff Smith, who was demoted four places after an earlier excellent start.

Butler-Henderson had more in the tank after a brief one-lap advance from Bladon to the flag, while James Turkington slid out on to the grass down The Avenue after contact with Jeff Smith.

“It was all about the start but I went wide at the Shell Oils hairpin on lap four, started hearing noises in the car and wondered if my luck was out,” Butler-Henderson said. “But I loved every single movement of that race.”

The leader was just far enough ahead to not have to defend from Bladon with Rob Smith taking third from Brett Smith.

Bladon added: “I’m happy with that result. I had the pace to force it towards the end when I closed up on Charlie, but around this circuit it would need to be a bold move, and when I saw that there were three laps left, I just decided to bank the points. To sit close to the top of the points is not a bad start to the year.”

Smith was in a reflective mood after taking third. “If I’d been able to get some clear air at the start, with the pace that we had in the car, I think we could have won that race,” he said. “But I’m happy to take third after not being able to show our pace in qualifying and with the grid position I had to contend with.”

Wakefield had to settle for fifth following his time penalty. Reece Barr worked his way up well to sixth, out-dragging Jeff Smith and David Grady to the line. George Sutton and Ryan Dignan completed the top 10.

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The 2016 Birkett 6 Hour Relay

08:00

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Race Report

PHOTO: Stephen Colbran

This was to be the 66th Birkett Relay race and some 50 years earlier in 1966 the Mini7 Club had entered a team and finished 3rd, Dave Robinson thought that it would be a good idea to enter a team to celebrate this 50 year anniversary.

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