Champions crowned as rain hits Brands Hatch finale
A high-quality, 19-race programme building up to Brands Hatch’s celebrated fireworks display drew a sell-out crowd on Sunday despite conditions, which were never less than damp and sometimes verged on the impossible. Despite the weather, champions were crowned among the heavyweight trucks as well as their smaller Pickup cousins, in the national Legends series and for two different kinds of Minis.
Two commanding wins on Saturday wrapped up Ryan Smith’s seventh British Truck racing title in succession. The Midlander came to Kent as favourite and took both opening races from pole, although some of his rivals complicated things by prompting red flags each time.
Race one was stopped twice, the first time after a clash at Clearways and the second when Smith’s leading points rival, David Jenkins, was edged wide at Druids and crunched the barriers. Race two was halted when Tom O’rourke spun and nudged the pitwall with a truck already battered from race one. Stuart Oliver was runner-up both times, and the third podium step was shared by Craig Reid and John Newell.
Sunday’s three races featured reversed grids, but the first of them started in single file due to dreadful morning conditions. This gave Steven Powell the chance to lead, bottling up an increasingly impatient queue. Powell defended his position while chaos reigned behind, with Newell brushing the barriers before spinning across the track along Cooper Straight.
When Michael Oliver slid sideways at Paddock Hill Bend, the incident triggered a chain reaction that sent trucks bouncing off one another and the barriers, causing another red flag and leaving a number of teams with heavy damage to repair. Smith’s truck was one of those returning to the paddock on a suspended tow.
In Division 2, Luke Garrett spun at Graham Hill Bend and took several laps to find enough traction to escape from the slippery grass, damaging his title hopes.
Heroic efforts in the paddock produced a near-complete grid for race four, Michael Oliver’s rig the only one out for the day. Smith was back in winning form, while Newell defended aggressively to hold second from Reid, who was later handed a penalty that relegated him to fourth. Division 2 swung back in Garrett’s favour with a class win, three of the D2 trucks having collided at Surtees on lap one before rejoining.
After another downpour, blinding sunshine welcomed the fifth and final truck outing and, despite its end-of-season status, this was the least eventful of the weekend. Reid was a popular winner, while Jenkins’s second place pipped Stuart Oliver for runner-up spot in the championship. Third in class won the Division 2 title for an emotional Garrett.
Will Gibson dramatically cut Miles Rudman’s Legends championship lead by winning both of Saturday’s heats, helped by reigning champion Rudman not starting heat two due to an electrical problem. The first day’s finale looked like a different story, though, Rudman ninth on the road to Gibson’s 16th, but officials decided that Rudman had gained a place after safety car
lights appeared and he was demoted behind his rival in the results.
Sunday’s first heat was won by Gibson behind the safety car, with Rudman a frustrated fifth after a bad opening lap. It was Rudman’s turn to win heat two with Gibson third, leaving the title battle finely poised heading into the finale.
Guest driver Ryan Mcleish won but wasn’t eligible for points, meaning Gibson’s second place earned a maximum score. But it wasn’t quite enough to beat third-placed Rudman to the title, the reigning champion adding this year’s crown to his 2019 and 2021 triumphs.
All six Legends races were enlivened by the reappearance of the car campaigned for many years by the late Gerard Mccosh. It was fielded by Sussex driver Glenn Burtenshaw as a guest entry, complete with Napoleon, the pink pig soft toy clamped to the back of the car.
A three-round Mini 7 Racing Club Winter Championship started at Silverstone in March and ended at Brands with a trio of races. Jeff Smith won twice on Saturday, the second outing easily the race of the day as Smith grappled with Rupert Deeth and Joe Ferguson on a streaming wet track while they sliced past slower cars. All three survived some wild moments, along with the chasing Scott Kendall and Colin Peacock.
Deeth won Sunday’s decider, adding the Winter Championship to his main national Miglia title after another frantic battle involving Smith and Ferguson. Sadly, this ended when the latter pair plunged off together at Clearways and brought out the red flag.
Nelson King just needed a good points score to be crowned Mini Challenge
Trophy champion, and he did it with two races to spare thanks to a convincing win on Saturday. King was chased home by Nicky Taylor and a tight group of three at the head of a field of more than 30 cars.
King won again on Sunday morning in monsoon conditions, Taylor having followed closely before hitting a puddle and aquaplaning. He recovered to just pip Nathan Edwards for third place, but was demoted to 10th for a yellow-flag infringement as Lee Pearce finished second.
Another downpour greeted drivers for race three, and a huge effort by Pearce from a reversed grid helped him to keep King at bay. The pair pulled clear of the next five cars, which finished covered by just over 1s, Taylor making spectacular progress into sixth from his penalised starting position.
Matt Simpson won both Pickup Truck races while people with calculators worked out who would be this year’s champion. George Turiccki wasn’t there to defend his lead for unspecified personal reasons, leaving the title up for grabs.
Third place in race one enabled Reece Jones to take over the lead and a steady race-two finish would guarantee him the title, although Dale Gent and Mark Willis were still just about in the running. Jones was third for part of the distance, until a mid-race mistake dropped him to 10th, but this was still enough to take the crown.