RHYS HURD SECURES VICTORY IN THRUXTON FINALE

Rhys Hurd emerged victorious in the final race of the Mairon Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE Trophy weekend at Thruxton after a dramatic final corner resulted in on-the-road winner Josh Wilby being handed a penalty.

The race had started with Jenson Mason pole but he failed to get away from the line properly with a clutch issue, which allowed Alex Keens to grab the lead from Richard Jepp going up to the complex for the first time, with Henry Foote making up two spots into third.

Further down the order, Jorrell Julius suffered a scare when he ran off between Goodwood and Village, taking a high-speed trip across ht grass before joining at the back of the field.

Keens was able to hold the lead through the early stages of the race, with the leading cars breaking clear of the chasing pack, although that seven car train was then reduced to six when Josh Selvadorai ran wide at Village and dipped a wheel onto the grass.

Ashley Gregory was making a move towards the podium spots and having taken nipped ahead of Foote into the chicane to take third spot, she then took advantage of Jepp making a move on Keens for the lead to grab second into the complex.

Heading up Woodham Hill on lap four however, Gregory found herself out-towed by Wilby, who dived down the inside of two cars to move up to second, with Gregory dropping down into the gaggle of cars behind.

In fact, the leading ten cars were now pretty much together, with the slipstream coming into full effect as drivers swapped positions in that front pack – with guest driver Hurd amongst those to rocket up the order as he climbed four spots in the space of half a lap to suddenly find himself sitting in fourth spot.

The front battle was split on lap seven when Gregory and Leo Richardson went wheel-to-wheel though the complex and were delayed enough to let the top four break away but even then, there was no time to rest with Smith leading the charge to bring the train of cars back together as he chased down Hurd.

At the front, Keens continued to lead the way with Wilby sitting on his tail but seemingly content to not make a move, knowing that that would leave him punching a hole in the air for those behind. Hurd however wasn’t planning to wait for a move on Luff for third and dived down the inside going into the chicane to move into the podium spots.

That move allowed a small gap to develop between the top two and the battle for third, with Smith getting out of shape through the back of the circuit as he chased Luff which allowed Marinoni Osborne and Jepp to come through. Marinoni Osborne then dived down the inside of Luff into turn one at the start of lap eleven to take fourth, whilst ahead, Hurd was charging after the lead battle.

Heading up Woodham Hill for the penultimate time, Hurd has caught the lead duo and was fixed onto the rear of Wilby’s car across the line. One lap later as the field headed for the chicane, Wilby made his move around the outside of Keens for the lead, but as he moved over to take his line, tagged the front of Keens’ car.

That sent Keens sideways before he gathered his car up to try and take the corner, bouncing over the kerb on the inside of the left-hander as Wilby moved to the lead. Hurd however had dived to the inside of Wilby and emerged from the corner in front, only to make contact with team-mate Marinoni Osborne as he tried to sneak up the inside.

That allowed Wilby to sneak back ahead before the line, with Hurd and Marinoni Osborne having to settle for second and third, with Luff in fourth and Keens in fifth.

Post-race however, Wilby was penalised for the clash with Keens and demoted back behind his rival to fifth, with Hurd promoted into first place and Marinoni Osborne bagging maximum championship points in second.

“I wanted three wins this weekend, and we’ve ended up with one on the road yesterday before the penalty, and then a win today so it’s been alright after nine months out of the car,” Hurd said. “It was a all a bit hectic and we didn’t quite have the pace to match Keens and Wilby, although that was a bit of a blessing in disguise to be honest when they clashed on the final lap.

“I can’t thank the sponsors enough that allowed me to get out this weekend and hopefully we’ll be able to come back out and do some more events. It’s always a challenge to try and get sponsorship, but getting a win this weekend won’t hurt when it comes to finding some more.”

Behind Wilby, Jepp took sixth place to score victory in both the Rookie Cup and Directors Cup, with the leading runners covered by less than half a second.

Smith took seventh sport ahead of Ashley Gregory, with Henry Foote and Leo Richardson rounding out the top ten.