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Harry Hickton chose the perfect time to score his first pole position in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy after topping the time in qualifying for the season finale at Brands Hatch.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hickton goes into the weekend sitting second in the championship standings behind Westbourne Motorsport team-mate Sam Gornall, and secured top spot in the grid for the final race of the weekend with his first flying lap in the session.<\/p>\n A time of 1:00.745s in greasy conditions would prove to be unbeatable as Hickton edged out Gornall at the top, giving him the crucial six bonus points that brings the gap between the pair down to 25 points going into the opening race of the weekend later today.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Silverstone, I\u2019ve been thinking about that session and it\u2019s the perfect time to score my first pole position,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew we needed to get the lap in early and when I saw we\u2019d got P1, I felt confident because I didn\u2019t expect the track to get quicker.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis is the ideal start, and now we can focus on the races.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Gornall would end up a tenth of a second behind in second spot but his second fastest time in the session would be good enough to earn pole for race, meaning he will hold the advantage in his bid to take points back out of Hickton this afternoon.<\/p>\n Hickton will line up on the second row of the grid for race one with the third best time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite happy with that,\u201d Gornall reflected. \u201cComing into the weekend as championship leader, there is some pressure on my shoulders so to qualify first and second is a good result. I now need to maximise it when it comes to the races.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n James Black – fresh from victory at Silverstone last time out – set the third quickest time in the session, but will start race one from the front row thanks to his second best lap.<\/p>\n Black is amongst the drivers looking to try and overhaul the Westbourne duo ahead to try and steal the title for Graves Motorsport.<\/p>\n \u201cThe session was very similar to Donington Park where you had to get the lap in early in the conditions,\u201d he said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t manage to do it there, but this weekend we got the lap we needed to put us in a strong position.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAll the pressure this weekend is on the guys ahead and for me, it\u2019s all to play for with nothing to really lose. It\u2019s going to be feisty\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Luca Marinoni Osborne maintained his recent strong form to take fourth spot on fastest times to ensure the third Westbourne car was also right at the sharp end of the grid, with Alex Solley and Gabe Fairbrother – two more of the title contenders – taking fifth and sixth.<\/p>\n Leo Purches was seventh as he looks to try and keep his Rookie Cup hopes alive against hot favourite Ronnie Smith – who was down in twelfth – with the top ten being completed by title contender Alex Keens, Joshua Wilby and Ben Taylor.<\/p>\n Taylor headed the Directors Cup runners and qualified five spots ahead of title rival Paul Manning, who holds a two point lead in the championship.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_enable_image=”off” background_size=”contain” background_position=”center_left” custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-02-at-11.52.52-2.jpeg” title_text=”WhatsApp Image 2024-11-02 at 11.52.52 (2)” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-02-at-11.52.52-1.jpeg” title_text=”WhatsApp Image 2024-11-02 at 11.52.52 (1)” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-02-at-11.52.51.jpeg” title_text=”WhatsApp Image 2024-11-02 at 11.52.51″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Harry Hickton chose the perfect time to score his first pole position in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy after topping the time in qualifying for the season finale at Brands Hatch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1462,1466],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-cooper"],"yoast_head":"\n