OLI WILLMOTT OPENS WITH A TRIPLE AT BRANDS HATCH

Race 1:

Oli Willmott made the perfect start to the defence of his MINI CHALLENGE Clubsport with Airtec Motorsport crown with three wins from three at Brands Hatch. Whilst Willmott scored the overall win in each of the 15 minute encounters there were two victors in the R53 class as a double for Paul Sawyer was followed up by a win for Chris Johnson, whilst Jacob Heap grabbed a hat-trick in the Cooper class.

Qualifying saw defending champion Willmott lead the way amongst the R56 runners with a storming lap that was half a second quicker than closest rival Freddy Hewitt, with Andy Langley - having moved over from an R53 car into the only MINI Clubman in the field - setting the third best time.

Pole in the R53 class went to Sawyer in an impressive fourth overall, three-tenths of a second clear of closest class rival Ben Trundley who would line up ninth overall for the opening race. The Cooper pole meanwhile went to Daniel Truman, although the reigning champion was pushed hard by Heap who was just 0.061s behind on the times. When the lights went out it was Hewitt who made the best start to jump ahead of Willmott on the run to Paddock Hill Bend of the first time, with Langley in third and Steve Webb moving up into fourth ahead of Sawyer’s R53 car. By the end of the opening lap, Willmott was sizing up a move to reclaim the lead and jumped into the lead going through turn one, with Langley having a look down the inside of Hewitt into Druids before being forced to hold position. Once back in front, Willmott was able to race away from Hewitt to secure a relatively straightforward win by more than seven seconds, with Langley taking third despite having Webb keeping him honest in the fight for the final place on the podium.

Ian Trundley has got ahead of Webb early on before he dropped down the order, which left John Wyatt and Adrian Linggi to round out the top six finishers, with Sawyer in seventh taking his maiden win as best of the R53 field. Sawyer led the class throughout and would spend the race dicing with the R56 runners, although Ben Trundley would take second less than half a second behind, with Johnson taking third.

The battle for Cooper honours saw Truman lead the way in the early stages but the champion was never able to relax, with Heap and Jacob Baldry fixed onto the rear of his car and Dan Butcher-Lord also in contention. Heap tried to make a move for the lead as Willmott came through to lap the Cooper battle, but instead he opened the door for Baldry to grab second - and the Chandler Motorsport man then grabbed the lead on the following lap. Baldry’s time at the front didn’t last long however as he made an error that allowed Heap - who had jumped ahead of Truman - to grab the lead, with Truman then reclaiming second before the flag.

Race 2:

With the race two grid decided by the result of race one, Willmott took his place on pole ahead of Hewitt and Langley, with Hewitt once again making better start to lead the field into turn one for the first time as Willmott dropped back to second. In a repeat of race one, Willmott reclaimed the lead from Hewitt before the end of the second lap and once again eased clear of his rivals to make it two wins from two, with Hewitt forced to drive with one eye on his mirrors as Langley kept him honest in third place. Fourth in the R56 class would be Webb in overall, with Ian Trundley and Wyatt rounding out the top six in class.

In the R53 class, a storming start from Sawyer saw him rocket up onto the top four overall on the run to Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, which meant he was able to put a number of R56 cars between his car and those of his closest rivals. Sawyer would lead the class throughout and drove well to keep Webb’s R56 car at bay until the final lap when he was demoted back to fifth, although that was still three seconds clear of the second R53 car in the hands of Johnson in eighth overall, with Ben Trundley rounding out the class podium in tenth.

In the Coopers, race one winner Heap led from the start ahead of Baldry, with Truman hitting trouble on the opening lap and dropping down the class order. The front two were able to break away from the battle for third between Colin Willmott and Butcher-Lord, who almost came to blows at Druids when Butcher-Lord locked up whilst contemplating a move for position. At the front, Baldry’s hopes of overhauling Heap for the win were hampered by the pair being overhauled by the leaders, but was able to close back in on his rival through the final lap only to fall a tenth of a second short at the flag. Willmott held off Butcher-Lord, with Truman recovering from his early dramas to take fifth.

RACE 3:

For the third successive race, Hewitt grabbed the lead when the final race of the weekend got underway but this time around, Willmott was back in front before the end of the opening lap - edging back ahead as the pair crossed the line to kick off lap two. Langley once again found himself sitting third giving chase with Ian Trundley close behind as he looked to break the monopoly that the three drivers ahead had had on the podium spots. Willmott was untroubled in the lead as he made it three wins from three for the weekend, with Hewitt once again finishing as runner-up and Langley taking third, despite being unable to shake off Ian Trundley with John Wyatt and Webb rounding out the top six.

In the R53 class, Sawyer made up a spot off the line to sit fourth overall as he was able to once again put a number of R56 cars between him and his class rivals in the early stages of the races. Having lost overall positions to two R56 cars, Sawyer had Ben Trundley on his tail in the battle for the class win but their battle opened the door for Johnson to overhaul the pair to take the class lead on lap ten. Ben Trundley would eventually grab second but Johnson had too much of an advantage in hand as he scored his first class win of the campaign, with Trundley taking second spot and Sawyer rounding out the weekend in third despite his car slowing in the final laps.

The biggest battles would once again come in the Cooper class, where Baldry held the early advantage ahead of Butcher-Lord, with Heap slotting into third. Baldry was able to build a slender lead as Butcher-Lord battled to keep Heap behind, although the pressure ultimately told on the sixth lap when Heap dived through at Druids. As Heap set off to chase down the leader, Butcher-Lord lost third to a forceful move from Colin Willmott as he slipped away from podium contention, and within a matter of laps, Heap had closed onto the rear of Baldry - diving down the inside on lap eleven going into the final corner to hit the front. Heap therefore took another win from Baldry, with Colin Willmott completing the podium. Neal Clarke, Truman and Chris Aram rounded out the top six, despite the latter having the most lurid of slides at Paddock Hill early on.