Weller and Lockwood share the Mini spoils
A win and a third place for Sam Weller at Oulton Park have strengthened the Hybrid Tune driver’s position at the top of the Mini Challenge leaderboard, while Jason Lockwood’s own title bid was boosted by his maiden victory in the finale.
Weller admitted that Saturday was “one of those days you dream of having” after grabbing pole, fastest lap and the win in the opener. His 0.393-second advantage over main title rival Jack Mitchell in qualifying was impressive and set the tone for a comfortable victory.
Weller maintained the lead at the start and again on the restart after a safety-car period to recover Taylor Whitson and Billy Hardy’s cars after a clash at Island hairpin, to eventually finish 3s clear of JW Bird Motorsport driver Mitchell. There was more joy for Hybrid Tune further back as Joe Tanner maintained his strong thirdplaced grid slot to complete the podium.
Tanner did come under pressure from a charging Lockwood late on, the Excelr8 driver having impressively passed Lewis Brown for fourth with a move around the outside at Old Hall that gave him the inside line for Cascades. Reigning champion Dan Zelos was another to gain on his starting position, jumping from eighth to sixth off the line and then passing Brown late on with a bold dive down the inside of the chicane to take fifth.
Lockwood was drawn on pole for the partially reversed-grid race and it looked like another lights-to-flag victory was on the cards until what had been just the odd spot of rain intensified with two laps to go.
The leader was caught out by the wet surface while braking into the chicane and skated straight on, while second-placed Mitchell made an identical mistake behind. But, despite the added tension, Lockwood held on to take his first win
– a result that withstood a post-race investigation into his corner-cutting.
Mitchell and Weller each secured another podium finish, having both jumped Tanner at Old Hall on a safety-car restart, this time after
Kenan Dole hit Ross Marshall at
Druids, with several other cars getting caught up in the incident.
Tanner did hold on to fourth, though, thanks to some robust defending from Alex Denning on the final tour.