RHYS HURD STORMS TO RACE ONE SUCCESS

Rhys Hurd added to his Thruxton win with a second victory of the Mairon Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season in the opening race of the weekend at Donington Park.

Having raised the backing to remain with Westbourne Motorsport on the back of his successful return to the series last time out, Hurd fought his way through to the front of the grid from eighth spot to add to his record of wins in the series, although it was Josh Wilby who bagged the maximum score amongst the regulars in second place.

Henry Foote had lined up on pole after showing impressive pace in qualifying but the Race Car Consultants driver didn’t stay out front for long as he was overhauled by the pack behind on lap one – slipping down to fifth as defending champion Alex Keens moved through into the lead from third.

Keens was able to ease clear of Luca Marinoni Osborne in the early stages as he found himself defending from Wilby and then Harry Smith, with Hurd climbing through the pack to become part of the podium battle within three laps.

Having extended his lead to over a second, Keens looked to be racing clear for victory but when Hurd managed to get ahead of Smith and Marioni Osborne to take second, he then wasted little time in chasing down his rival at the front.

Diving down the inside into the final corner on lap seven, Hurd moved ahead and remained out front to the finish to secure a second successive win.

“I didn’t honestly expect that from where we started,” he said. “We managed to work our way up to second and then chased down Alex, and when there was a chance to go for the lead, I went for it.

“It’s great to score the win and a huge thank you to all those who are backing me this weekend for making it possible. We had a fantastic reaction to the performance at Thruxton which allowed me to continue, so this win is for them.”

Keens was able to keep pace with Hurd initially but was under increasing pressure from behind from Marinoni Osborne and Wilby for second spot, with Wilby making a fine move around the outside into the Melbourne Hairpin to pass both drivers on the penultimate lap.

Wilby then came through the final lap unscathed to take second, but Keens found himself off the podium after being forced out of the train and running wide on the exit of the Old Hairpin on the final lap.

That allowed Marinoni Osborne to take third and the final spot on the podium, with Josh Selvadorai also overhauling the champion to take fourth and the Rookie Cup win.

A disappointed Keens had to settle for fifth spot but was still able to reclaim the championship lead from Graves Motorsport team-mate Matt Luff, who finished in seventh spot with the two drivers split by Smith in the results.

Foote had to settle for eighth, with Ashley Gregory and Leo Richardson rounding out the top ten.

All 23 drivers were able to make it to the finish, including Finn Groom despite a difficult day after engine issues in qualifying forced him to change the engine on his car prior to the race.

With the Allgroom Motorsport team comprising of Finn and father Rick, rival teams across the paddock came together to help ensure he made it on track to secure a finish having spent the race battling with Lexie Powell and Adam Curtis.