{"id":27964,"date":"2025-04-13T17:32:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T16:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/?p=27964"},"modified":"2025-04-13T17:32:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T16:32:42","slug":"leo-purches-rhys-hurd-share-sunday-snetterton-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/2025\/04\/13\/leo-purches-rhys-hurd-share-sunday-snetterton-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"LEO PURCHES, RHYS HURD SHARE SUNDAY SNETTERTON WINS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LEO PURCHES, RHYS HURD SHARE SUNDAY SNETTERTON WINS<\/h2>\n

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Leo Purches and Rhys Hurd grabbed a win apiece in the two Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy races at Snetterton as the 2025 season got underway at the longest circuit on the calendar.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Purches emerged victorious for the first time in race two to put Graves Motorsport on the top step of the podium, with Hurd then scoring victory in race three for a successful end to his first weekend alongside defending champions Westbourne Motorsport.<\/p>\n

The second race of the weekend marked the first reverse grid encounter of the campaign, with the top seven being switched round to put series rookie Harry Smith at the head of the field, and he nailed the start to lead into turn one as Alfie Garford was slow away and almost overhauled by the pack behind.<\/p>\n

However, as the field headed into Palmer for the first time, Alex Keens was tipped into a spin in front of the pack and with a number of cars getting caught up behind and going off track, the action was halted – with Keens, Olivier Algieri, Cameron Wood and Charlie Barre all unable to take the restart.<\/p>\n

Once the race was able to resume, Smith again held onto the lead at the start even though there was more trouble at Palmer, with Luca Marinoni Osborne and Gabe Fairbrother both caught up and dropping to the rear of the field.<\/p>\n

Smith led the way from Garford and James Sherrington with Ashley Gregory and Ronnie Smith dicing for fourth and Jamie Keates sitting just behind in sixth.<\/p>\n

Smith was overhauled by Keates and Purches on the second lap as his car started to slow, with the current Rookie Cup winner eventually retiring back to the pits.<\/p>\n

As Smith and Garford diced for the lead, Sherrington was able to close in behind, putting the top three together when Garford tried to get alongside the leader through Brundle and Nelson but couldn\u2019t make the most stick.<\/p>\n

Garford continued to put pressure on the leader as a train of cars started to build and got ahead of Smith to hit the front – with Sherrington following through as Smith was forced to take a trip across the grass.<\/p>\n

Garford then suddenly slowed on the exit of Nelson which allowed Sherrington to hit the front, with Keates having moved up into second and Smith now in third – with Gregory and Purches right on their tail.<\/p>\n

Sherrington retained the lead into the final lap of the race with Keates trying to get ahead at Agostini, just as Purches cleared Smith for third.<\/p>\n

Keates ran wide on the exit however which also delayed Sherrington, meaning Purches was able to sweep through into the lead of the race – a lead he would hold through to the finish as he became the second driver to score their maiden win this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got involved a lot more than in race one and I can\u2019t believe we\u2019ve done it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a bit hectic but we held back when needed and got the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith would take second spot from Sherrington before the flag – and also clinched the Rookie victory, with Gregory fourth and Henry Foote coming through to take fifth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foote was later handed a three place penalty for gaining an unfair advantage, which promoted Garford into fifth and handed a top six finish to Paul Manning – the oldest man on the grid this season. Keates took seventh ahead of the penalised Foote, with Hurd and a recovering Fairbrother rounding out the top ten.<\/p>\n

The final race of the weekend started with Algieri on pole, with his goal being to try and bounce back from the double DNF in the earlier two races.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Algieri nailed the start to lead turn one for the first time as Keates, Hurd and Fairbrother all jumped ahead of front-row starter Garford heading through Riches and up to Montreal.<\/p>\n

Garford came back at Fairbrother at the hairpin on lap two but couldn\u2019t make a move stick, with the leading five breaking away from Keens behind – who in turn has a gap to a train of cars led by Ronnie Smith.<\/p>\n

The lead swapped at the hairpin on lap three when Keates launched down the inside of team-mate Algieri but it lasted just two corners before Algieri swept through on the exit of Agostini, with Hurd then getting ahead of Keates heading onto the back straight.<\/p>\n

Forced off line, Keates then came under attack from Garford and contact between the pair going into the Bombhole, saw the Wera-backed racer run across the grass and drop down the order – with Fairbrother and Keens taking advantage to jump the pair into third and fourth.<\/p>\n

Algieri\u2019s lead would last until the fourth lap when Hurd and Fairbrother both found a way through as rain started to fall making conditions tricky on the infield.<\/p>\n

Hurd quickly scarpered clear of the battling pack behind but as the field ran through Coram, Keates found himself squeezed between Algieri and a charging Purches whilst dicing for third and suffered a spin, with Luca Marinoni Osborne amongst those to go off in avoidance.<\/p>\n

The safety car was scrambled but with the clock ticking down and no time left in which to restart the action, the red flag was thrown with the result declared as at the end of lap four.<\/p>\n

That gave Hurd victory ahead of Fairbrother and Algieri, with Keens, Purches and Marinoni Osborne rounding out the top six given that Keates wasn\u2019t running at the time of the stoppage.<\/p>\n

Harry and Ronnie Smith followed behind, with Sherrington and Gregory rounding out the top ten.<\/p>\n

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Leo Purches and Rhys Hurd grabbed a win apiece in the two Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy races at Snetterton as the 2025 season got underway at the longest circuit on the calendar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":27967,"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-27964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-cooper"],"yoast_head":"\nLEO PURCHES, RHYS HURD SHARE SUNDAY SNETTERTON WINS - MINI CHALLENGE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/2025\/04\/13\/leo-purches-rhys-hurd-share-sunday-snetterton-wins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEO PURCHES, RHYS HURD SHARE SUNDAY SNETTERTON WINS - 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