MATT LUFF OPENS 2026 SEASON WITH SILVERSTONE VICTORY

Matt Luff made the perfect start to his first full season Mairon Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season with victory in the opening race of the campaign at Silverstone.

Luff emerged at the head of a four-way fight for top honours after a 15 minute race in which the lead changed hands multiple times, albeit having taken the chequered flag in third spot.

Luff had started the race from pole position in a Graves Motorsport 1-2 ahead of defending champion Alex Keens, with Josh Wilby sharing the second row with Luca Marinoni Osborne.

At the start it was Luff who held the lead from Keens, with Marinoni Osborne managing to get ahead of Wilby into third, with the leading four runners stuck together from that point on.

Luff held the lead for the early laps before Keens managed to move ahead at Maggotts, although more than once on the laps that followed, the fight for the lead saw cars going three wide on the run down to Brooklands as Luff, Wilby and Marinoni Osborne all tried to find a way through.

Luff would eventually reclaim the lead from Keens going into Maggotts on lap ten, but the next time around, Wilby took his chance to pass the pair ahead and grab the lead, which he managed to then hold to the flag.

Post race however, Wilby was hit with a penalty for contact with Keens during the battle at the front which dropped him down off the podium spots and should have instead given victory to Marinoni Osborne after he managed to overhaul both Luff and Keens on the penultimate lap.

However, Marinoni Osborne too was hit with a penalty having been found to be at fault for an incident that saw Josh Selvadorai and Henry Foote come together at Brooklands in the early stages, with an eight place penalty dropping him down the order.

As a result, it was Luff who became the provisional winner in a Graves 1-2 ahead of Keens, with Wilby dropping down into third spot.

Ashley Gregory would end up classified in fourth spot, despite originally taking the flag back in sixth.

As well as gaining a spot from the penalty handed out to Marinoni Osborne, she also gained a place when Rookie Cup winner Chris Doble was given a one place penalty for contact during the race – although the other penalties meant that the Race Car Consultants driver retained his fifth place.

Giovanni Santora was moved up into sixth spot in the final result ahead of Isaac Doble, with Harry Smith, Marinoni Osborne and Jorrel Julius rounding out the top ten.

Smith had been part of the battle for fifth earlier in the race before he suffered a moment at Luffield and ran across the grass.

Directors Cup honours went to Richard Jepp despite early contact that cost him places. He would recover to take 13th overall by the finish.