Harry Hickton Focused On Bouncing Back After Frustrating 2025 MINI Opener

Harry Hickton is already setting his sights on the next round of the 2025 Vertu MINI CHALLENGE JCW after enduring a frustrating season-opener at Donington Park this past weekend.

Graduating to the ultra-competitive series on a full-time basis with Mannpower Motorsport this year, last year’s Cooper champion was left to ponder what might have been at the Leicestershire venue as luck alluded him.

Dialling in his car across Thursday’s free practice sessions, the 18-year-old returned to the National layout on Saturday where he hustled his front-wheel-drive machine to the eighth fastest time in qualifying.

Sadly for Hickton - who is backed by Maber Construction, Hysons Chartered Accountants, The Platform Lift Company, Vernham Labels, Woodstock Plumbing and Heating Supplies, MDH Roofing & Son, Vertex VT Consultants, GSF Car Parts and DPH Services - race one would be one to forget.

Finding himself in the thick of the action during the opening exchanges of the contest, an incident at the final chicane left Hickton making contact with the barrier and he was left stranded on the circuit - which brought his outing to a premature end.

Race two would be much more positive for the talented teenager as he showcased his overtaking prowess by scything his way up the order, pulling off a number of eye-catching moves in the process. Come the chequered flag the Hampshire racer had gone from 16th to sixth.

Unfortunately, Hickton was unable to build on that momentum as he suffered a second non-finish of the weekend in the series’ third and final contest.

Harry Hickton: “It’s been a character-building weekend and one that I wouldn’t mind forgetting in a hurry. We showed that we had good pace to build upon in practice but things just didn’t fall our way over the course of the weekend.

“I was pretty pleased to be inside the top ten during qualifying but being in the thick of the action meant that we were caught up in all sorts of shenanigans - and sadly we came off worse than others.

“There are positives to take away though as the pace we showed in race two underlines that we have a package that can run at the very front; we just need to hone in on a few areas to make sure we can do so on a regular basis.

“On the whole it hasn’t been the best start to the season but I’ve learnt a lot and I already can’t wait to get back out at Snetterton. A big thank you to everyone at Mannpower Motorsport for their hard work and of course to my sponsors for their continued support!”

The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE JCW season continues at the Snetterton 300 circuit on May 24-25.