JENSON MASON SCORES POLE ON MINI CHALLENGE RETURN

Jenson Mason made the perfect return to the Mairon Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE Trophy after topping the times in qualifying for the latest rounds of the season at Thruxton.

Running as a privateer this weekend on what is currently a one-off outing, Mason emerged on top ahead of defending champion Alex Keens in a hard-fought qualifying session that at one stage saw the leading five drivers split by less than a tenth of a second.

Benefitting from managing to get a tow during the session, Mason emerged with the quickest time late on to edge ahead of Keens by just 0.029s and also set the best time amongst the second quickest laps to take pole for race one.

Whilst Mason therefore lines up at the head of the pack, his status as a guest entry means Keens scores the bonus points that are available for pole.

“I didn’t expect that to be honest but I got the perfect tow,” he said. “It only took a couple of laps yesterday to feel comfortable in the car and we managed to nail that session. Obviously I don’t need to worry about a championship and can just push for a wins, so I’m looking forward to the races.”

The top two would end up nearly two-tenths of a second clear of Richard Jepp in third spot, with the Pro-AM Racing driver producing his best qualifying performance by far to score a place on the second row of the grid.

Jepp headed a group of five drivers covered by less than a tenth of a second and will now hope to try and turn his qualifying pace into a first overall podium of the campaign.

“We’re still getting to grips with the car and I’ve not managed to nail qualifying until today,” he said. “It’s slipstream city round here and I managed to get a good tow, although I did lose time on my best lap when Leo Richardson had spin in front of me at the Complex.

“The pace was unreal and I don’t mind going quick round corners – and there’s quite a few of those here!”

Jepp will share the second row of the grid with Ashley Gregory after she was able to secure the funding needed to continue her season with EXCELR8, with Henry Foote and Matt Luff sharing row three.

Foote in particular was aggressive through the final chicane as he looks to impress at the closest thing he has to a home circuit, with points leader Luff having worked with Keens throughout the session but without gaining as much from the tow.

Josh Wilby was seventh quickest from Luca Marinoni Osborne, with top rookie Josh Selvadorai and Harry Smith ounding out the top ten.

Rhys Hurd, the other guest driver returning to action in the series this weekend, qualified in eleventh.