JACK BYRNE TARGETS STRONG FINISH AFTER CLINCHING ROOKIE HONOURS

Jack Byrne says he is keen to try and end his first year in the Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy with a victory after taking an unassailable lead in the Rookie standings at Donington Park.

The Irish driver took his run of successive top ten finishes to twelve during the penultimate weekend of the campaign, where he once again found himself dicing for a place on the podium.

Third place in the second race of the weekend matched his best result of the year to help maintain a top five championship position, with a gap of 20 points to Nicky Taylor going into the season finale at Brands Hatch.

“At the start of the season, I wanted to be in the mix for podium finishes by the time we got to Brands Hatch,” he said. “We’ve been able to do that earlier than I wanted to which has helped us to move up the standings, and to be going to the final round with a chance of getting into the top four overall is more than I hoped for this season.

“The fact we’ve been able to score three fastest laps during the last two rounds shows that the pace is there in the car, and we just need to try and convert it into a win.”

Whilst Byrne has been racing on UK circuits for the first time this season, he will hope to make the most of past experience of Brands Hatch for the final three races of the year.

“Brands Hatch is a circuit I have been to before on a track day, and I also did the Team HARD Scholarship last year so I’ve probably done more miles there than anywhere else,” he said.

“I like the circuit and I like wet conditions with the risk involved and the changeable grip as it really suits me – and there’s a good chance that’s what we’ll get in November!”