SIX-WAY FIGHT SET FOR COOPER FINALE

The Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season draws to a close this weekend at Brands Hatch and with just three races left to run around the short Indy circuit, six drivers still retain a chance of securing the championship title.

Tom Ovenden is currently the man to beat at the top, despite seeing his advantage cut to 30 points last time out at Silverstone.

The EXCELR8 driver logged his first DNF of the campaign after an unfortunate clash in the opening race of the weekend and lost ground to the chasing pack as a result – with seventh being the best he could manage from the three races.

Before Silverstone, Ovenden had been on a solid run of form with seven podium finishes in eight starts, and he will hope to repeat the kind of results he secured when the season kicked off at Brands Hatch back in April – where he scored a win and two second place finishes.

As has been the case all season, Ovenden’s main rivals are all from the Graves Motorsport stable, led by Alex Solley.

Solley scored his seventh podium of the season at Silverstone and has more wins than anyone else this year, having made it onto the top step four times.

One of those wins came at Brands Hatch during round one and a return to the top step of the podium this weekend would be ideal as he bids to overhaul Ovenden at the top and secure a second title in as many seasons for the Graves team.

Solley is 28 points ahead of team-mate Nicky Taylor, despite Taylor seeing a remarkable run of top-ten finishes come to an end last time out.

Taylor has the second-highest points total before dropped scores going into the weekend and will be seeking to add to the solitary win he picked up at Snetterton earlier in the year.

Whilst he will need luck on his side, Taylor has the pace to take the fight to his rivals at the front as he looks to sign off his season with silverware to his name.

Jack Byrne, already confirmed as Graduate Cup champion, rounds out the top four but needs to overturn a 74 point deficit, with Rhys Hurd in fifth being the final driver within 100 points of the championship leader.

The Chandler Motorsport man has been one of the form drivers in the second half of the season and arrives at Brands Hatch having been on the podium in five of the last six races, including a maiden win in the final race at Silverstone.

Whilst an overall title win is unlikely, Hurd has one hand on the Rookie Cup and needs to score just a single race finish to take the class crown.

Nathan Edwards is the final driver who could still take the overall title after three wins in five races, but like Hurd, would need an unusual set of circumstances to occur in order to secure a championship crown.

Given the pace he has shown in recent events however, it’s highly likely that Edwards will have a role to play in how the title is decided – even if he isn’t set to be the man who claims the silverware at the end of the weekend.

The other title still to be decided is the Directors Cup, with Lee Pearce odds on to lift the crown given his advantage over Paul Manning in the standings, although his rival could yet overall him if an unlikely set of results were to go his way.

A field of more than 30 cars is set to do battle in the finale, with Team Avago making its series debut with a two-car entry for Louis Fleet and Joshua Wilby and Steven Chandler getting behind the wheel with his own team for the first time in the series having focused on his engineering role during the season to date.

Andy Wright joins up with the AReeve Motorsport team to partner daughter Sophie for the season finale, whilst there is a welcome return to the series for Clark Wells who makes his first appearance of the campaign having spent most of 2023 on the sidelines.