Historic F1 ace Padmore claims Mini Miglia brace
BRANDS HATCH MSVR AUGUST 25-26
In a car very different to his classic
Williams FW07C, Historic F1 ace Nick Padmore claimed two Mini Miglia wins in contrasting weather at Brands Hatch.
In Saturday’s dry opener, moments after the fast-starting Aaron Smith and Kane Astin tripped over each other leaving the line, five drivers were eliminated in a pile-up climbing Hailwood Hill, leading to an immediate race stoppage.
Reigning champion Rupert Deeth briefly blasted into the lead at the restart, chased by Lee Deegan, Astin and poleman Padmore. By the start of lap four Padmore had worked his way to the front as Astin – sporting heavy front-end damage from his earlier clash – and Deeth dropped down.
While Padmore pulled clear, Deegan came under pressure from Smith in a thrilling tussle for second. Smith took the position approaching Paddock Hill five laps from the end but Deegan and the recovering Deeth never allowed him time to relax. The trio were separated by just 0.166 seconds at the flag, with Smith beating Deegan and Deeth.
Deegan shadowed Padmore relentlessly in a sodden race two on Sunday but was unable to get by, and Smith finished a distant third.
There were two first-time winners in the Mini Se7en contests. Spencer Wanstall powered around the outside of triple series champion Andrew Deviny at Paddock en route to sealing victory in a damp first encounter. Reigning Super Mighty Mini champion Scott Kendall claimed an impressive third in his S Class machine. In an even wetter second event, Daniel Budd rewarded his team for all its hard work in rebuilding his car following his huge Thruxton shunt in June by scoring an emotional triumph. Initial race runner-up Deviny was excluded from the results post-race due to ‘driving in a manner incompatible with general safety’.
Max Hunter was promoted to second after a drive from the back as he missed Saturday due to a kidney operation.
Three further wins for Ant Whortoneales strengthened his Mini Challenge JCW title claim. Jordan Collard led from lights to flag in race one but was penalised post-race for an out-of-position start. Collard
attempted to fight back in race two, but had two trips through the Paddock gravel, enabling Henry Neal and series debutant Dan Zelos to seal the final two podium spots behind Whorton-eales. A soaking and red flag-interrupted third race was won by Whorton-eales from Nathan Harrison.
Kyle Reid was another driver to claim a hat-trick in the Cooper Pro/am class on his first visit to Brands. After fending off Richard Newman in a dry opener, Reid narrowly held off the challenge of the rapidly closing Mark Cornell in race two after Cornell had gambled on a late switch to wet tyres. Reid comfortably won a soaking race three ahead of the battling Robbie Dalgleish and Newman.
Connor O’brien put in a dominant performance to record his first Super Mighty Minis win of the year in race one. Neven Kirkpatrick battled his way through to second before series leader Jo Polley produced a superb pass around the outside of Surtees to snatch third from David Kirkpatrick in the closing stages.
The Kirkpatrick brothers scored a one-two in the wet second encounter ahead of O’brien, with Neven leading home David despite the latter sliding wide at Clearways.