DAN ZELOS EXTENDS ADVANTAGE WITH RACE TWO WIN

Dan Zelos secured win number nine of the Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE season in race two at Silverstone to extend his lead at the top of the standings.

Zelos had started the race from second on the grid behind race one winner Will Orton, who was able to hold station at the start when the lights went out.

However, Zelos closed in on his rival during the second lap and nipped ahead going over the line to start lap three, running side-by-side with Orton through Copse before completing the move at Becketts.

From that stage, Zelos was able to ease away at the front on a damp and greasy circuit to secure the win ahead of Nelson King, who managed to fight his way ahead of Orton on the sixth lap as the Hybrid Tune driver started to fade with a gear change issue.

“It’s a great result with Will having a problem, and I was able to hold the gap over Nelson behind,” Zelos said. “The car was on rails and with the reverse grid draw has worked in my favour.”

Oliver Meadows grabbed third spot from Orton a lap after King had moved ahead and would take the flag in third spot to add to his own podium tally with Thomas Jack Lee following behind in fourth after another impressive and trouble-free run from the rookie.

One of the most impressive drives of the race came from Lydia Walmsley, who fought her way through from ninth on the grid to P5 after emerging on top of a late battle for position with Orton – who ended up taking the flag in sixth.

That result – allied to the win for Zelos – means the gap between the pair now sits at 88 points going into the final race, where the top four on the grid will be reversed to put Lee on pole.

Outside the top six, Josh Porter took seventh spot ahead of Joe Tanner, who extended his lead in the Directors Cup, with top Graduate Dominic Wheatley in ninth – a result that allowed him to gain more ground on Jamie Osborne in the points.

Osborne – who missed Saturday’s race through illness – would end up in P12 behind Spencer Stevenson and Jordan Kerridge.

After his strong run on Saturday, James Griffith dropped to the back of the field after stalling at the start and then suffered contact with Lewis Selby late on that forced him to retire, whilst also earning a pitlane start for the final race.

Bradley Gravett meanwhile would elect to go with slick tyres and ended up a lap down at the back of the field, although he did set the fastest lap late on to gain the six bonus points.