MIXED EMOTIONS FOR TOM OVENDEN AS PODIUM RUN ENDS

Tom Ovenden admitted to feeling mixed emotions following the latest rounds of the Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy after his run of podium success came to an abrupt end.

The EXCELR8 Motorsport driver went into the weekend on the back of four straight podium finishes, and added to that in race one after battling his way ahead of Nicky Taylor to secure a second victory of the campaign.

Ovenden was set to add to that in race two as he battled for the lead of the race with Nelson King only for a throttle issue to halt his challenge; knocking the car into limp mode and leaving him to return to the pits for an unscheduled stop.

Starting race three from the back of the grid as a result, Ovenden battled his way forwards to 15th place, although the early finish of the race due to a red flag would prevent him from climbing higher.

“My confidence has been building since Croft and on Saturday, I was on cloud nine having added another win,” he said. “However, the following day was one to forget, but that is unfortunately how it is sometimes in racing.

“Things looked to be going well in race two but there was an issue with the throttle body that meant the car went into limp mode and although I got back out to score some points, it meant we were at the back for race three.

“We were making good progress and I was gutted to see the safety car and then the red flag as I’m sure we could have climbed higher up the order. It’s a shame we were even in that position because of the race two issue, but we’ll look to fight back at Donington.”