British Touring Car Championship driver Paul ONeill made a perfect debut on the penultimate round of this years Pirelli-backed MINI Challenge following his triple podium result at Brands Hatch last weekend.
Dry weather greeted the MINI Challenge crews at the former home of the British Grand Prix as Pirelli, the championships official tyre supplier, supplied the John Cooper Works (JWC) and Club classes with its highly-competitive Pirelli DH slicks.
BTCC ace Paul ONeill claimed the race one victory, with Lee Pattison finishing second. Smith crossed the line third but incurred the wrath of the stewards for his part in a clash with Lee Allen. Smith was excluded from the result and Chris Smiley took the third podium spot. Henry Gilbert claimed the win in the Club Class.
Allen made amends for his misfortunes in race one, and went on to take a win in the second race. ONeill racked up a second podium result, and Lee Pattison finished third. Gilbert once again dominated the Club Class, claiming a second victory.
Race three glory was awarded to Lee Pattison, with Allen crossing the finish line second. Smiley and ONeill played out the fight for third, which eventually went ONeills way. Gilbert started last on the reversed grid but made contact with the rear of Adrian Norman, snapping the Coopers bonnet catch.
I hardly touched Adrian but I caught it at the exact right angle and the bonnet just lifted, said championship leader Gilbert. I tried to carry on peeking through the gap underneath it but the marshalls flagged me in.
Following the weekends race action, Gilbert has tightened his grip on the outright championship title. The ExcelR8 driver came out on top of a race-long battle with team-mate Jono Brown to extend his winning advantage to 26 points with only one race remaining.
Pirelli Tyre UK operations manager, Matthew Corby, said: Brands Hatch GP circuit always provides fantastic race action and this weekend was no exception. Pauls debut in the MINI Challenge was extremely impressive: to feature on the grid for the first time and for him to walk away with three podium results is quite remarkable and shows just how talented Paul is behind the wheel. With four races taking place during the closing round at Donington Park next month, we can expect to see an enthalling title fight between Henry and Jono go down to the wire.
Series promoter Paul Harvey commented: Last weekend was full of drama: we all know the MINI Challenge grid is incredibly competitive but Paul used all of his considerable talent to shine through. His front-wheel-drive, turbo charged experience from BTCC was clearly a major factor in helping the team set his car up.
The final round of the Pirelli-backed series will take place at Donington Park next month, 6-7 October.
