Mini Festival 2018 Brands Hatch

The 7th running of the Mini Festival at Brands Hatch took place over the weekend (25-26/08/2018), with a two day celebration on and off the track, celebrating Britain’s most popular small car.

Saturday’s MINI Challenge-Cooper Pro/Am class, Toby Goodman put his Mini R50 Cooper on pole. The start was delayed. Simon Walton’s car cut out on the start line which had to be removed from the grid. The car was restarted but not allowed to compete because the race had already started. Richard Newman got away well with Kyle Reid slipping in close behind. The race was red flagged because Neal Clark’s car had drop oil around the circuit and had to be cleared. At the restart Richard Newman found himself in the lead but was passed one lap later by Kyle Reid who remained in the lead throughout the remainder of the race. Richard Newman took 2nd and Robbie Dalgleish taking the final step of the podium in Pro. Am class standings 1st Andy Godfrey 2nd Alex Nevill and 3rd Lee Pearce.

Sunday’s 1st Cooper Pro/Am race was a wet affair. Kyle Reid had a flyer of start with Richard Newman and Toby Goodman following behind. James Goodall brought out the safety car, which lasted 3 laps, after an excursion off track. The race to the chequered flag was tight. Kyle Reid lost the lead to Mark Cornell on the final lap going into Clarks but got enough in front down Brabham Straight to take his 2nd Pro class win of the weekend by less than a second. In Am Andy Godfrey finished in 1st, 2nd place was occupied by Lee Pearce with Adrian Norman 3rd.

Sunday’s 2nd Cooper Pro/Am race was also a wet contest. With a reverse gird this ment Kyle Reid started from 5th on the grid but by the end of the 1st lap Reid had worked his way up to 2nd passing Dalgleish and Newman at Paddock Bend. With only Goodman in his sights, making the pass on the next lap sending Kyle Reid on his way to another Pro class win. In Am Lee Pearce took the win with Gary Papworth 2nd and Andy Godfrey 3rd.

Kyle Reid On His Way To A Triple Class Win.

Saturdays MINI Challenge Cooper S race started with light rain falling. Will Fairclough qualified on pole and went on to take the first Cooper S Challenge win of the weekend. The race was not without it’s drama. On lap 8 Stuart McLaren rolled his car into the gravel at Paddock Bend which brought out the red flag and the end of proceedings. Thankfully no serious damage was done to driver or car. Fairclough given the win, 2nd went to Rob Austin and 3rd going to Kevin Owen.

Sunday’s 1st Cooper S race was wet with the rain falling throughout. Will Fairclough again on pole, everyone got away cleanly. Fairclough away in front Jono Davis came from 7th on the grid to 3rd and took the fight to Rob Austin for a well earned 2nd place.

Another wet race, another reverse grid. Jono Davis went on to take Sunday’s second Cooper S race win with a massive 12 second gap. Will Fairclough came home 2nd and Rob Austin 3rd.

Cooper S Double Winner Will Fairclough.

Saturday saw the 1st of the weekend’s MINI Challenge-JCW races, Jordan Collard put his MINI R56 JCW on pole. Lights out, Collard got great start of the line with Whorton-Eales close behind and Nathan Harrison slotting into 3rd. Traffic hampering Collards efforts throughout the race, he managed to hang on, fighting his way through the back markers to victory. Collard’s victory was later striped by the race officials for a start line infringement and given a 10 second penalty for being out of position at the start. This put him down to 5th in the amended race standings. The win was awarded to Ant Whorton-Eales, Nathan Harrison moved up to 2nd which enabled Henry Neal to move up to 3rd.

Putting more space between himself and his rival’s in the Championship standings after Jordon Collard’s time penalty, Ant Whorton-Eales also inherited pole position for Sunday’s 1st MINI Challenge-JCW race. Whorton-Eales got of to a cracking start leading into Paddock. Henry Neal who was third going into Paddock lost the rear end of his car, catching the rear of Jordan Collard. Neal’s contact left Collard taking to the gravel and losing ground, rejoining the pack down in 8th place. The safety car was soon called for to bring the racing to a temporary halt to help retrieve the car of Calum King’s from the gravel at Paddock. A second safety car was soon out so as the clear the car Rory Cuff. An incident pack race was eventually won by Ant Whorton-Eales, Henry Neal in 2nd and Dan Zelos 3rd.

The 2nd of Sunday’s MINI Challenge-JCW races saw Ant Whorton-Eales make it a triple win in wet conditions. The race was stopped when Jake de Haan crashed at Druids, the cause of the first red flag. The second red flag soon came because of deteriorating conditions, bringing the race to an early close. The win went to Whorton-Eales, 2md place went to Nathan Harrison and 3rd Dan Zelos.

Triple JCW Race Winner Ant Whorton-Eales.

Mini Miglia racer Nick Padmore took both the weekends Miglia wins. Not without it’s drama’s, before the first lap was even completed, Saturdays Miglia race saw a coming together of several cars that started at Paddock Hill and continued up Hailwood and into Druids, taking many competitors out of the race. At the restart Padmore built up and kept a decisive lead from Smith and Deegan, staying out in front to take the chequered flag. Sundays 2nd Meglia outing of the weekend was wet with rain poring down from start to finish. Padmore from pole took the lead with Deegan at his heals throughout the race, leaving Padmore no room for error. Wins in the Mini Se7en Challenge went to Spencer Wanstall and Daniel Budd. Wanstall took the first win of the weekend with pole sitter Andrew Deviny bringing his car home 2nd. Daniel Budd finished ahead of Andrew Deviny in Sundays race who finished once again in the runner up sport only to be excluded from the results for an earlier collision with a back marker.

In the Mighty Mini’s, Connor O’Brian shared the weekends spoils with fellow Super Mighty Mini Racer Neven Kirkpatrick. Champion Of Brands, with only one race on Saturday, victory went to Michael Eastwell in his Spectrum 011C and in the MSVR All Comers, Chris Enderby drove the Radical SR4 home to take the win.

Thanks to MSV for a great weekend and a big thank you to the lads and lasses in orange for keeping us all safe.

All Results can be found here

MINI Challenge Home Page

Mini 7/Mini Miglia

Mighty Mini Racing