With the Mini 7 Racing Club celebrating its 60th anniversary and a huge crowd in attendance, there was a real party atmosphere at the annual Mini Festival at Brands Hatch last weekend and, typically, the close and frantic action that took place on track only added to the entertainment on offer, not least in the Mini Miglia triple-header.
One driver who has often starred in the Festival in the past has been former series champion Endaf Owens and this year proved to be no exception. Back behind the wheel of his Miglia for the first time in two years, the Welshman took victory in the first race after emerging from a fierce battle with Joe Ferguson, which had also included a tangle between the pair at Paddock. Four-time champion Aaron Smith survived his own clash with Ferguson at Surtees soon after to take second, while Ian Curley took advantage of the battling ahead to claim third by the finish.
This quartet were central to the lead battle again in race two, but it was Ferguson who took the spoils after he swept around the outside of Owens at Paddock on the final tour. Any hope Owens had of a last-ditch fightback faded when his engine cut out on the run to the flag, dropping him to fifth behind Curley, Smith and Sam Summerhayes. A lengthy yellow-flag period at Paddock limited overtaking opportunities in race three, but Owens was not complaining as he claimed his second win of the weekend ahead of Curley, while Kane Astin salvaged third after a holed radiator in race one and an oil pipe failure in the second contest had ruled him out of contention.
More joy for the Owens family came from Endaf’s son Jac, who scored two Libre victories on a weekend when the pair had competed on the same track for the first time.
Owens Sr may have narrowly missed out on a hat-trick, but one driver who did achieve a triple triumph was Ross Billison in the Mini Se7en encounters. Billison powered to victory in the opener after sweeping ahead of polesitter and team-mate Dan Munro before pulling clear. Spencer Wanstall, racing for the first time since getting married, was also able to usurp Munro after a race-long struggle, while reigning champion Damien Harrington charged through to fourth from the back of the grid after an underweight car had led to disqualification from qualifying. Billison left his pursuers to battle for the runner-up spot again in the second encounter after breaking the tow early, before completing his perfect weekend in the third event having survived a brush with Harrington at Paddock.
May (l), Winkworth (c) and Woollard (r) each took a Se7en S-Class win after frantic battling
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
Three different drivers shared the honours in three thrilling concurrent S-Class events. James May won the opener but spun wildly approaching Paddock in the second after contact. Bertie Woollard picked up the pieces to claim the victory while Michael Winkworth won the finale.
There were also celebrations aplenty in the Mighty Minis paddock as the series commemorated its 30th year of competition and Greg Jenkins was crowned provisional champion after taking two race wins across the weekend. Michael Barber stormed through from fourth on the grid to take the lead in the opener but was soon pushed back by Jenkins as the race developed. Paul Jenkins eventually moved his way into second as Barber’s challenge faded, while Morgan Harris sealed the final podium spot.
Greg Jenkins made light work of a fourth-row start in race two as he charged his way to the front by Druids on the opening lap, but any hopes of an easy run to victory and the title were threatened by Barber, who charged onto the leader’s tail in the closing stages. Barber briefly got ahead at Graham Hill Bend on the penultimate tour, but Jenkins was back ahead by Surtees and went on to secure a win that claimed a championship he last won a decade ago.
There was a dramatic start to the first Sanwa Trophy event for Pre-’66 Minis when Dan Wheeler spun into the Paddock gravel and Aimee Watts was pitched into the pitwall. Race victory eventually went to Phil Bullen-Brown ahead of Nathan Heathcote after race-long leader Endaf Owens was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Former British Rallycross champion Heathcote was fortunate to emerge unscathed after he rolled four times into the gravel at Paddock in race two before coming to rest against the barriers. Bullen-Brown, who had been challenging Heathcote for the lead prior to the incident, was declared the winner ahead of Owens and Chris Morgan.
Howell was rapid en route to more Fastest Mini in the World success
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
History was made in the opening ‘Fastest Mini in the World’ race as Matthew ‘Ollie’ Howell became the first driver to record a lap of under 50 seconds in the event at the wheel of his Honda K20-powered Austin Mini Seven. Howell also won both races during the weekend, defeating Harvey Death’s V8-powered Austin Mini Cooper S in the first and Tyrone Luffarelli’s Peugeot 106 Supercharged Mini Classic in the sequel.
Away from the Minis, Tom Nippers took full advantage of a mistake at Surtees by early pacesetter Rory Smith to win the opening United Formula Ford race in his Van Diemen RF01. Smith salvaged second in his Medina Sport JL18 despite a late tangle with the RF99 of Morgan Quinn, while third was taken by reigning Northern Ireland FF1600 champion Ronan Doherty in his RF00.
Smith made amends with a lights-to-flag victory in race two, which earned him the Peter Rogers Memorial Trophy. In the battle for second, Doherty snatched the place from Quinn with just three laps remaining as Quinn struggled with a slow puncture.
Steve Dickens claimed a hat-trick of Clubmans Sports Prototype wins in his Mallock Mk29, despite the best efforts of Jarred Lester in his Clubman Mk 35 to deny him in the opening two races. Elsewhere, CSP1 class leader Michelle Hayward endured a difficult start to the weekend when the engine in her Phantom P82TR blew and caused her and three other cars to spin on her oil at Clearways. Hayward repaid the work her team carried out with a heroic charge to second in race three from the back of the grid, finishing just 1.1s behind Dickens.
Hayward rocketed through the field to take second in Clubmans finale
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here
