Chloe Hewitt headed to Norfolk for the final rounds of the Mini Challenge open class.
She hoped to snatch third place in the championship over the weekend as she was just 21 points off. She needed to beat rival Andy Montgomery by as many points as possible.
She got off to a good start taking sixth on the grid ahead of Montgomery but she hoped to make up further places in the three races, one later that day and two on Sunday.
The first race was relatively uneventful for Chloe, taking sixth but importantly ahead of Andy Montgomery and so she had closed, a little on his points margin for third place.
The second race went in a similar way as the first for Chloe as she circulated in sixth. Unfortunately this time she found Andy Montgomery was behind her in seventh and so the points difference was much smaller meaning the gap would only close by a few points. Fortunately she had a big margin to his car so although he was closer in terms of points there was no danger of passing her for sixth.
So it would all come down to the final round. Chloe just had to get the best result she could and hope that Montgomery either didn’t score or scored very few points.
She made a great start and managed to move up to a strong fourth in the opening laps. But her early battling had let third place get away. She spent the rest of the race hunting third place down but there wasn’t quite enough time and she crossed the line in fourth just two seconds behind the final podium position.
Her points total before dropped scores was now far ahead of Montgomery but sadly dropped scores must come into play and it left Chloe five points short of third in the championship.
Chloe posted on social media after the final race;
“After thousands of pounds, hundreds of laps, seven rounds, eighteen races, and hundreds of points it all came down to the final round of the Mini Challenge 2017 to decide third place in the Open Class. After my best qualifying of the year of sixth, two sixth places in the races and a fourth in the final race of the season, it came down to the wire between myself and Andy Montgomery. I went into the weekend twenty one points behind and after my best efforts I clawed back sixteen points. This means I finished only five points off of third place in the championship. Gutted I couldn’t bring that trophy home this weekend. But I’m so happy for Andy! We have had some good races this year and I’ve loved every second of it.”
Chloe hopes to continue in the championship next year and her car will be undergoing a full winter strip down and rebuild to try and get it in the best possible shape for her to challenge once again in 2018. By Marc Waller
