Harry Hickton Charges To Maiden MINI CHALLENGE JCW Win At Knockhill

Harry Hickton delivered one of the best performances of his fledgling career in the JCW Class of the Power Maxed MINI CHALLENGE this past weekend (August 8-9) as he surged to a sensational maiden win at Knockhill.

Returning to action following the series’ annual summer break, the 20-year-old - who is now part of the EXCELR8 Driver Development squad - starred in Scotland as he scooped a first-ever pole position before following it up with a win and a third-place finish.

Making the long journey north of the border from Hampshire, Hickton wasted no time in stamping his authority on proceedings as he topped the times in two of the three practice sessions that took place on Friday.

Hickton - who is backed by Millers Oils, Maber Construction, Hysons Chartered Accountants, Vertex VT Consultants, MDH Roofing, Woodstock Plumbing and Heating Supplies, Omnific Civil Engineering, Childsey, Q Barriers and the Pool Lift Company - then upped the ante on Saturday.

Hitting the ground running in qualifying, Hickton punched in a benchmark time of 55.422s early in the session and with a margin of more than three tenths of a second over his nearest challenger, he confidently watched on as the rest of the field failed to get close to his best lap.

Taking his spot at the front of the field for race one, Hickton retained his advantage as the lights went out and was able to quickly build a lead of roughly one second over Max Edmundson.

Maintaining that gap over the course of the 22-lap contest, Hickton never really came under immense pressure and that allowed him to control the pace and cruise to a first-ever win in the JCW Class.

Hickton banked more points in a sodden second race on Sunday morning as he bounced back from a challenging first few laps to take the chequered flag in seventh.

Race three then ultimately proved to be bittersweet for the former MINI CHALLENGE Trophy title winner as despite claiming victory on the road, he was classified in third place after being handed a five-second time penalty.

Starting from pole position, the second generation driver led every lap but was deemed to have made a false start, which was accompanied by five seconds being added to his race time, dropping him to third at the chequered flag.

Harry Hickton: “I’m over the moon to be coming away with my first-ever win in the JCW Class. I’ve been in this championship for 18 months and while we’ve shown glimpses of what we can do, more often than not luck has largely conspired against us.

“Making the switch to EXCELR8 has allowed me to kick on to that next level and as soon as I arrived this weekend I felt at one with the car and the track. To have clinched pole position in the manner we did and convert it into a flawless win was mega.

“Race two was about survival - and thankfully we did just that - before we were somewhat robbed in race three. I’m pretty sure I didn’t move before the lights went out and that I was in my box so I’m not sure what the penalty is for.

“I did my job in the race though and that was to lead every lap and win on the road so there are plenty of positives to take away. This has been a real breakthrough for me and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the final two meetings.”

The penultimate round of the Power Maxed MINI CHALLENGE season takes place on September 26-27 at the Home of British Motor Racing, Silverstone.