RICHARD JEPP TAKES MAIDEN WIN IN STUNNING CROFT OPENER

Richard Jepp secured a first Mairon Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE Trophy race win for both himself and the Pro-AM Racing team after emerging on top of a huge battle for victory in the opening race at Croft.

Jepp started the race from second on the grid behind Alex Keens, with the defending champion having earned pole by virtue of having the best second-fastest time in qualifying earlier in the day.

Keens held the lead off the line when the lights went out at the start, with Jepp slotting in behind and Josh Selvadorai retaining third – although there was less than a lap of action before the race went under the safety car to recover the car of Adam Curtis from the gravel at turn one.

With the car quickly removed, the action resumed on lap three with the top three briefly breaking clear of Matt Luff in fourth who, in turn, had Luca Marinoni Osborne fixed to the rear of his car.

Jepp was desperate to try and find a way ahead of Keens into the lead but had Selvadorai trying to get into second – with the three suddenly running side-by-side out of Sunny Out on lap eight.

Heading into the complex, Jepp went one side of Keens whilst Selvadorai went the other, with the trio emerging from the hairpin with Jepp having grabbed the lead.

Selvadorai was on the outside but that gave him in the inside line on Keens as heading down to turn one, allowing him to also pass the points leader to move into second.

Two laps later, Selvadorai made a move for the lead himself at the hairpin but Jepp managed to hold on at the hairpin to retain the best line into turn one, with the Rookie Cup leader then launching one more bid on the final lap only to be forced to back out due to a yellow flag caused by Chris Doble pulling off the circuit.

That allowed Jepp through to take the win, with Selvadorai forced to settle for second and Keens rounding out the podium in third.

“Like qualifying, the car was fantastic and I’m so happy for the whole team,” Jepp said. “It was a great race and Alex and Josh fought hard, so to come out on top is brilliant. After everything the guys and girls have been through over the past two weeks, this is more than we could have hoped for.”

Marinoni Osborne held off Luff for fourth spot for most of the race before Luff was forced to run across the chicane late on, which allowed James Colburn through to split the pair on his debut to finish in fifth, with Luff chasing him home in sixth for a result that saw him lose ground to team-mate Keens in the standings.

A strong drive from Ashley Gregory saw her recover from a difficult qualifying session to gain six spots and finish in seventh ahead of Harry Smith, with the top ten rounded out by Leo Richardson and former champion Dominic Wheatley.