IRISH MINI CHAMPION JOINS GRAVES MOTORSPORT FOR SENIOR DEBUT

Youngster Leo Richardson will take his first steps into senior competition in the MINI CHALLENGE Trophy this season after inking a deal to join defending champions Graves Motorsport.

Richardson joins the series on the back of hugely successful 2025 campaign in which he stormed to the ICCR Junior MINI Challenge title back in his native Ireland.

In what was his second season in the series, which caters for drivers aged from 14 through to 17, Richardson scored eight wins from twelve starts to romp to the title, having finished third in his rookie campaign twelve months earlier.

Richardson’s success on track saw him honoured at the Motorsport Ireland Awards with the prestigious Hawthorn Trophy, which is handed out each season to the National Racing Driver of the Year and honours the memory of 1958 Formula One champion Mike Hawthorn.

Having only turned 16 last month, Richardson is set to be the one of the youngest drivers in the MINI CHALLENGE this season, with his debut in the series coming against Silverstone next month.

Joining the highly-competitive one-make series will also provide the teenager with the opportunity to compete on the support package to the British Touring Car Championship no fewer than four times.

“I am hugely excited to join the MINI CHALLENGE Trophy grid this year, and to sign up with Graves Motorsport,” he said.

“After my success in the Junior MINI Challenge back in Ireland, it felt like the natural next step for me to move into a series where I can learn all of the top circuits in the UK, but still be at the wheel of a car that I am familiar with from the last two seasons.

“I’m looking forward to getting down to work with a team that was so successful last season, and which has achieved a lot in recent years. Silverstone can’t come soon enough for the first round and it will also be an amazing experience when I get to Snetterton and compete on the BTCC package for the first time.”