Harry Hickton Walks Away Unhurt From Season-Ending Crash At Brands Hatch

Harry Hickton was thankfully able to walk away unharmed following a scary high-speed accident at Brands Hatch this past weekend (4-5 October) that brought his Vertu MINI CHALLENGE JCW season to an abrupt end.

Contact from another driver in the early stages of race two sent the Mannpower Motorsport driver hurtling into the armco barrier exiting Hawthorns, with the subsequent impact sending him into a series of barrel rolls.

The 19-year-old was able to climb out of the wreckage and following a visit to the circuit medical centre for precautionary checks, Hickton was given the all-clear.

It marked the end of challenging season for the Hampshire racer where his front-running pace has often been scuppered by unnecessary bouts of contact from other drivers - costing him the chance to secure big results.

Having tallied his first overall podium of the season last time out at Silverstone, last year’s MINI CHALLENGE Trophy title winner had hoped to add to his silverware collection in Kent - and hopes were high as he finished inside the top four during Friday’s practice sessions.

Maintaining that front-running form throughout qualifying, the second-generation driver had been in contention for a podium in race one before a gearbox issue forced him into the pit lane and out of the race.

Keen to bounce back in race two the following day, Hickton sadly saw his chances of signing off the season on a high end in dramatic fashion as he was pitched into the barrier and then onto his roof.

Harry Hickton: “First and foremost I think it’s important to stress that I’m okay, albeit a little sore, but all in all I’m absolutely fine.

“While I’m physically alright, the emotions are very high at the moment. Like so many times this season we’ve been on the receiving end of contact through no fault of our own and now we’ve paid the ultimate price.

“The car is an absolute write off and I’m now faced with not knowing what the future holds. As a family - and with the help of my incredible partners - we’ve worked hard to get the budget together for each weekend to go racing.

“After Saturday’s DNF, I thought the bad luck was done, and Sunday would be a great day and we could go into the winter on a high note, but somehow it got worse and now we’re left wondering what to do.

“If there’s any positives, it’s that this happened on the final day of the season, so we’ve got six months to try and sort this out. I don’t know where we’re even going to start and where we go from here, but we’ll figure it out.

“It just means I’ll have to work twice as hard again to get on the grid for next year, which will make the taste of champagne even sweeter when we get there. There’s a lot of work to be done and if anyone can help in any way it would mean more than you’ll ever know.”