Dan Zelos, Lewis Selby Share Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Wins
Defending champion Dan Zelos and Directors Cup entrant Lewis Selby took a win apiece as the new Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season burst into life at Donington Park.
The race weekend had been due to feature the first three races of the year but poor weather conditions would lead to race two – due to take place on Sunday morning – being cancelled, with series organisers looking into the prospect of running it on a different date later in the year.
Saturday’s qualifying session had seen rookie Tom Ovenden set the pace to earn pole for race three, with Marlo Cordell taking race pole based on second-fastest qualifying times.
As Cordell was forced to retire early, his JamSport team-mate Ant Whorton-Eales took the race lead and was out front when an accident for JCW Sport driver Albert Webster saw the action halted.
Whorton-Eales remained out front after the restart and just beat Zelos to the line before being handed a penalty for crowding his rival off the circuit on the run to the flag – given Zelos the opening win of the year. NAPA Racing driver Jamie Osborne raced from the lower reaches of the top ten on the grid to score third.
The second race to be run was won in dominant fashion by Selby after he gambled on switching from wet tyres to slicks during the two green flag laps run before the start.
As the rest of the field was the forced to manage their wet tyres as the circuit dried out, Selby was able to storm through from the back, at one stage lapping four seconds a lap quicker than anyone else.
Once out front, Selby raced away from the pack behind to secure victory by the largest margin in JCW history – more than doubling the previous record in the process.
Zelos would follow him home having got ahead of Ovenden early on, with the rookie rounding out the podium in third place.
Wins in the new JCW Sport category were shared by NAPA Racing’s Cameron Richardson and JamSport driver Dylan Hotchin.
Next up for the series is a trip to Brands Hatch next weekend.