Harry Hickton will head into the final rounds of the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy in contention for both the Drivers’ Championship and the Graduate Cup after delivering a standout performance at Silverstone this past weekend (21-22 September).
On what proved to be an action-packed penultimate meeting of the year on the support bill of the British Touring Car Championship, the Westbourne Motorsport driver tallied a hat-trick of top ten finishes to ensure he heads to Brands Hatch in November in the mix for title silverware.
Coming off the back of two rollercoaster rounds in the tin top series, Hickton had hoped for a more straightforward outing around the Home of British Motor Racing however that wasn’t to be the case when it came to qualifying on Saturday morning.
Struggling to find the right slipstream, the 18-year-old was wrongfully deemed to have exceeded track limits on a number of occasions which left him towards the back of the grid. However, a successful protest saw one lap reinstated and Hickton elevated to eighth for the start of race one.
Showcasing promising pace from the get-go, Hickton - who is backed by Hysons Chartered Accountants, The Platinum Lift Company, Vernham Labels, Addventure, Woodstock, Hippo Campers and Brandfixx - managed to progress up the order to finish sixth.
Lining up on the front row for the reverse grid contest, Hickton looked on course to clinch second place in race two before he suddenly slowed heading onto the Wellington Straight and dropped down the order.
Despite managing to get the car back running, the teenager took the chequered flag in tenth before then concluding a frustrating outing at the Northamptonshire track with a fourth place finish in race three.
“I’m happy to be seeing the back of Silverstone,” said Hickton. “It’s been an absolutely gutting weekend as the championship lead was within touching distance but yet more bad luck has meant its slipped away.
“We should have come away with a much bigger haul of points but for some reason or another the dice just aren’t rolling our way. In those conditions and with the car that I had under me, I feel like we could have scored another win.
“Going into the finale at Brands Hatch there’s no denying we’ve got a mountain to climb. To overcome 31 points is going to be difficult however while it’s still mathematically possible I’m going to throw everything I’ve got to try make a miracle happen.”
The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy will bring the curtain down on its 2024 season on the 2-3 November, with three races set to play out around the Indy layout of Brands Hatch.
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.
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