TOM OVENDEN KICKS OFF TITLE DEFENCE WITH VICTORY

Tom Ovenden overcame a poor start to the opening race of the new Power Maxed MINI CHALLENGE season at Donington Park to kick off his title defence with victory.

Ovenden had started from pole in his EXCELR8-run car after topping the times in qualifying but was slow away from the line, which meant he was under pressure from both Nathan Edwards and Josh Porter on the run down to turn one.

Ovenden was able to retain his advantage at the front and was able to ease clear of the pack behind as Edwards found himself under pressure from both Porter and then Sam Gornall on his JCW debut.

The defending champion was ultimately able to bring his car to the finish comfortably clear of his rivals, setting the fastest lap en-route to victory by more than three seconds.

“I seem to be the king of bad starts but after that, it was good,” he said. “Races like that don’t really come around too often but the pace in the car was unbelievable and I’m really happy with the result.

“The fact that the others were battling behind did make my life a bit easier and there was plenty of debris on the circuit towards the end that I had to make sure I avoided, but that’s a pretty good start.”

Edwards ran second for much of the race but wasn’t able to shake off Gornall, with the top three breaking away from the fight for fourth between Olivier Algieri and Porter, who had swapped spots on the second lap.

Gornall closed in on his more experienced rival ahead, and having got a run out of the final corner at the end of the tenth lap, was able to get ahead going down the Craner Curvers a few corners later to bag second spot.

“Unfortunately Tom was a bit too quick today but the pace was strong and I’m really happy with second in my first JCW race,” he said. “I’ve never driven a car like this before and it’s a big step up from what I’ve raced before but I’m getting the hang of it.”

Edwards was forced to settle for third spot ahead of Algieri, who saw the pressure from Porter disappear when the latter made a mistake coming out of the final chicane and clattered into the tyre barriers, leading to him being forced in to retire.

That promoted Harry Hickton up into fifth spot for Manpower Motorsport having fought his way back from dropping to eighth in the early stages, with the top six being completed by Harry Campey.

Campey spent most of the race dicing for position with Max Edmundson, who would be classified in seventh at the finish, with the top ten being rounded out by Alex Solley, Charlie Hand and Joe Tanner.

With the top seven reversed on the grid for race two, Edmundson will start from pole on Sunday morning.