PACE GOES UNREWARDED FOR MAX HALL AT DONINGTON PARK

Max Hall was left to wonder what might have been at Donington Park this past weekend (August 26/27) as his pace went unrewarded in the latest rounds of the Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE Trophy.

On what proved to be a bruising outing around the Leicestershire venue, the 16-year-old showed ultra-competitive speed on the famous Grand Prix circuit but unfortunately went home without any silverware.

The Westbourne Motorsport driver started the weekend on the front foot by coming oh-so close to clinching what would have been a second pole position of the season. In what proved to be a frenetic half hour battle, the teenage racer ended up finishing just 0.021s shy of top spot.

Hall has blasted his way onto provisional pole with ten minutes remaining but a slightly quicker lap time by Tom Ovenden, followed by a rain shower, meant that the Motorsport UK Academy ace had to settle for the outside of the front row.

Unfortunately, Hall would endure a frustrating opening encounter as he was unable to capitalise on the clear road he had ahead of him. Dropping a handful of spots off the start, the Rookie Cup contender found himself in thick of the action for sixth place when contact at the chicane sent him tumbling back to 15th.

Race two proved to be a wet’n wild affair as Hall battled challenging wet conditions to progress up the order. Starting on the ninth row, last year’s Junior Saloon Car Champion delivered a measured performance to move forward and take the chequered flag in tenth.

Hall capped off his weekend under the flightpath of East Midlands airport with another gutsy drive as he again found himself in the midfield fight. Jostling for position on the fringes of the top ten, Hall ended the contest in 12th after a red flag late on brought proceedings to an early finish.

Max Hall: “It’s been a tough weekend and one that we leave wondering what perhaps might have been. To come so close to being on pole position in qualifying was frustrating - had the rain come a little earlier it would have been ours.

“I bogged down at the start of race one and that dropped me into the pack. From there it was just about trying to make our way back up the order, and for a while we were doing that, before contact sent me even further back.

“Races two and three were a challenge; we certainly made the best of it. We’ve got a couple of weeks until we’re next out so it is all about making sure we’re ready for Silverstone; I’m confident that we can be in the mix towards the front there!”

The Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE Trophy season continues in less than a months’ time at the Home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone, on September 16/17.