Not for the first time in recent Mini Festival history, Nick Padmore and Endaf Owens tasted success at Brands Hatch as the Mini Miglia championship served up three typically thrilling races for last weekend’s large crowd to enjoy.
Padmore, a double winner at this event last season and in 2018, took victory in the first encounter after indulging in a tight lead battle with 2011 series champion Owens for much of the 21-lap race. Former British Touring Car driver Jeff Smith closed in on the duo as the race concluded, but he was forced to settle for third.
There was a dramatic start to race two when poleman Rupert Deeth and front-row partner Owens tangled as they sprinted away from the line, the contact causing Deeth to spear off into the Paddock barriers. The incident, followed by a separate three-car shunt at Druids, contributed to a race stoppage.
With Owens unable to take his original grid position before the restart, Padmore effectively inherited pole but, on the run up to Druids, he lost out to both Smith and Ian Curley. The Historic Formula 1 ace moved back up to second by lap five before eradicating Smith’s three-second lead and then relieving him of first place at Surtees just after half-distance. Owens came close to claiming third after a heroic charge from the back, but Curley snatched the position away at Surtees on the last tour and Kane Astin came within 0.003s of demoting Owens further on the drag to the line.
Owens was handed a grid penalty for his part in the second race startline shunt, and had to fight his way through the field again in the finale. After making numerous passes around the outside of Paddock, a similar move on race leader Smith on lap nine of 22 took him to the front. Smith briefly grabbed back the advantage, but a wide moment at Druids demoted him to fourth as a magnificent nine-car lead battle developed. Astin and Smith relegated Padmore to fourth at Paddock with two laps remaining, but Owens proved uncatchable, adding to the double he achieved at this event in 2021.
Joe Thompson claimed the spoils in the opening Mini Se7en contest after he overhauled early race pacesetter Ross Billison at Surtees. Poleman Mike Jordan, who had dropped to seventh on the first tour, recovered to second after surviving a brush with Damien Harrington at Paddock. Thompson repeated his success in race two, while Billison was forced to defend his second place from the battling Harrington and Jordan. A treble success looked on for Thompson, after he grabbed the lead away from Harrington early on, but Jordan emerged victorious thanks to sweeping past Thompson on the outside heading down towards Graham Hill Bend just after the midway point.
For the fourth time in the past five events, Harvey Death claimed the title of being the driver of the ‘Fastest Mini in the World’ when he steered his 360bhp Cooper S V8 to two wins, although Matthew ‘Ollie’ Howell, driving Pete Crudgington’s Honda K20-powered Austin Mini Seven, provided a strong challenge in race one. Howell fended off Death’s challenge until tyre concerns forced him to give best to the Radical-powered car. Death then took a lights-to-flag success in race two.
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Jason Smyth took victory in his Van Diemen RF00/JL12 in the first United Formula Ford/Champion of Brands race after coming out on top in a thrilling battle with Andrew Rackstraw’s Spectrum KMR, the pair trading the lead on multiple occasions. Series leader Morgan Quinn caught the duo in the closing laps in his RF99 but had to be content with third.
Smyth looked all set to claim a dominant win from pole in race two, only for his engine to cut out “without warning” exiting Clearways on the penultimate lap, helping Porsche Carrera Cup GB star Rackstraw claim victory and the Peter Rogers Trophy. Quinn, who had hounded Rackstraw throughout, took second while GB4 contender Brandon McCaughan emerged from a fraught battle for third in his Van Diemen JL13.
Reigning champion Simon Hill took full advantage of Henry Riley’s absence from the pair of Production GTI races to record a “much-needed” double success in his bid to retain his title. Max Walsh recovered from two slow getaways to claim second in both, each time defeating James Colbourne.
Star names ensure successful return for Sanwa Trophy pre-’66 Minis
Strong grids and household names helped the Sanwa Trophy make a successful return to the Mini Festival programme after an eight-year absence as the 65th anniversary of the Mini was commemorated at Brands Hatch.
Open to pre-’66 Minis and Mini derivatives, the Trophy event attracted more than 30 entrants and, unlike in its previous guise when the race was held as an endurance contest, two short sprint races were run this time instead.
Among the star-studded entry was current British Touring Car racer Adam Morgan, driving the Mini his father Russell debuted in the BTCC-supporting Pre-’66 Touring Car race at Croft the weekend beforehand; former BTCC contenders Jeff Smith and Mike Jordan (the latter in a Swiftune Cooper S), Historic Formula 1 ace Nick Padmore (sharing a Cooper S with Giles Page), and Freddie Hunt, following in the wheeltracks of his father, 1976 F1 champion James, by racing a striking Alex Brundle-prepared car.
In terms of the cars, variation of the classic Mini brand was provided by Neil McArthur, who piloted a Wolseley Hornet that had previously been raced by Nick Swift’s father Glyn, and the Austin Mini Van that was having its first race outing, with Nick Paddy and double Mini Miglia champion Bill Sollis sharing driving duties.
Pole position for the first race of the weekend was taken by 2017 British Rallycross champion Nathan Heathcote, a driver used to success at the wheel of his Austin Mini Cooper S in recent seasons, while Tom Bell lined up second in his similar car ahead of Morgan.
Heathcote led away, but the battle for second between Bell and Morgan came to an early end after an attempt by the 11-time BTCC race winner to take the position at Graham Hill Bend resulted in heavy door-to-door contact that forced both out. The incident helped Heathcote build an unassailable lead over Smith, who came out on top in an exciting four-way battle for the runner-up spot that also involved Jordan, Endaf Owens and Phil Bullen-Brown. Further back, McArthur’s race ended when his left-front wheel fell off at Clearways in the closing laps.
Bell handed his car over to regular co-driver Joe Ferguson for the second encounter, while Padmore lined up second alongside Heathcote, after taking over from Page. Padmore leapt into the lead at the start from Ferguson, while Heathcote fell back to fourth. Sollis was demonstrating the Mini Van’s potential by battling with Owens over sixth.
Heathcote soon worked his way back to the front and looked set to complete a double victory but, on the penultimate lap, Ferguson made a decisive move at Graham Hill Bend after getting alongside Heathcote on the outside on the climb up Hailwood Hill and into Druids. Third was secured by Morgan, ahead of Smith, who had to take to the Surtees grass on the last tour to avoid a backmarker.
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