Ashley Gregory Scores Top 10 Finish at Opening Round of MINI Challenge Trophy UK

Ashley Gregory enjoyed a solid opening round of the 2024 MINI Challenge Trophy UK season at Snetterton and now sits in 10th position in the championship.

Returning to the championship for a second season, Ashley got her weekend off to a great start with a top 15 result in qualifying. The Salford Van Hire, Pecometer, HMS Haulage, Mintech Spares UK, JB Data Engineering, FUCHS UK, Bowker MINI Blackburn, North Coat Ltd and McGowan Transcriptions supported driver showed good pace in the 15 minute session and was feeling confident heading into the first race of the season.

Race one ran in the same conditions as qualifying, dry but warm, and despite having to engage in some close wheel-to-wheel racing Ashley was able to move up two spots and secure a 12th place finish.

Moving onto Sunday and the Gian Luca Photography, GymSafe Security, DJB Business Finance, Maybrook Fleet Care, Whiting and Wilson Jewellers, Crossbar Marketing and Toxic Nation driver enjoyed more hard racing and wheel-to-wheel battles with her rivals to move up one more spot, edging ever closer to the top 10, and scoring more points.

The final race of the day was a much more chaotic affair but despite the carnage around her, Ashley cut her way through the field making up seven places to secure a fantastic top 10 finish in 7th place, securing a valuable haul of championship points which leaves her in 10th place in the standings.

“It's great to open the season with a solid string of results and drives. From qualifying through to the final race, the car was a joy to drive and after a long winter it was so nice to get back to wheel-to-wheel racing.”

“Over the three races, we just kept chipping away at the car's setup which allowed me to keep moving forward each time we went out. It was also our first weekend running with a new engine as well as a new driver coach in Daniel Rowbottom, who was incredibly helpful.”

“I want to say a huge thank you to my team for their hard work as always and to my sponsors who have either come back or come onboard for this year, as without their backing it wouldn’t be possible to be here.”

Round two of the MINI Challenge UK Trophy season will take place on the 18-19th May at Pembrey circuit in Wales and will be live streamed on the BARC YouTube channel.

Qualifying - P14

Race 1 - P12

Race 2 - P10

Race 3 - P7