{"id":28802,"date":"2025-06-08T19:37:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/?p=28802"},"modified":"2025-06-08T19:37:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:37:56","slug":"olivier-algieri-emerges-on-top-in-epic-thruxton-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.minichallenge.co.uk\/2025\/06\/08\/olivier-algieri-emerges-on-top-in-epic-thruxton-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"OLIVIER ALGIERI EMERGES ON TOP IN EPIC THRUXTON FINALE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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OLIVIER ALGIERI EMERGES ON TOP IN EPIC THRUXTON FINALE<\/h3>\n

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Olivier Algieri held off the challenge of Rhys Hurd and Gabe Fairbrother to secure victory in an epic third Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy race of the weekend at Thruxton.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Algieri lined up in second spot on the grid for the start of the finale alongside Fairbrother, with the EXCELR8 man able to retain the lead off the line as Algieri came under attack from Harry Smith.<\/p>\n

Heading up Woodham Hill for the first time, Smith got a run on Fairbrother for the lead and swept ahead, taking Algieri, Ashley Gregory and Hurd with him as the polesitter was demoted back to fifth.<\/p>\n

Algieri grabbed the lead at Goodwood on the second lap as then went on the attack to try and get ahead of Smith, only to lose a spot for Hurd as he moved into the top three.<\/p>\n

Smith then launched a bid for the lead at the end of the third lap but was delayed on the exit of the chicane and instead found himself overhauled by Hurd and Gregory into turn one.<\/p>\n

They then drew onto the rear of Algieri on the run up to the chicane, with Hurd going to the outside of his team-mate and Gregory going for the inside where she put a wheel on the grass and went into a spin – tagging Algieri before coming to rest on the outside of the circuit, where she was forced to retire when the electrics on the car failed.<\/p>\n

Algieri retained the lead with Hurd and Fairbrother behind after he too cleared Smith, and the lead trio then started to move clear of a huge battle for fourth.<\/p>\n

Algieri was able to hold on at the front as Hurd found himself dealing with a loss of ABS, but the lead eventually changed on lap 14 as Hurd got ahead going into turn one – with Fairbrother following him through.<\/p>\n

Within a lap however, Algieri was back in front as he dived down the inside of Fairbrother into the complex to take second and then grabbed the lead at the final chicane after going wheel-to-wheel with Hurd.<\/p>\n

Even then, the battle was far from over as the penultimate lap saw Fairbrother back in front, but he then slowed with a minor mechanical issue at the start of what would be the final lap – leaving it as Hurd against Algieri for the win.<\/p>\n

Algieri moved back in front at the complex before Hurd edged ahead on the exit of Church but having gone into the chicane side-by-side, it was Algieri who emerged out front to score his second victory of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed that one as it was a great battle,\u201d he said. \u201cI really had to keep my wits about me and see what happened, and there was no chance to relax from start to finish.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to say that when you race your team-mate, you get a little bit of extra room but there was no margin for error at all in the fight with Rhys; it was a fantastic race.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Hurd would take the flag just two-tenths of a second behind in second spot, with Fairbrother able to hold on to take third and the final position on the podium despite his late drama.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no ABS for the whole race, so I knew I just had to try and stay with Olivier and Gabe,\u201d Hurd admitted. \u201cWhen we got to the final five minutes, it was game on and it was all action.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a game of chess to see who came out on top and the win would have been nice, but second is still a strong result.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Whilst the battle for the win would rage throughout, the fight for fourth was even bigger, with as many as a dozen cars involved in the fight to see who would emerge as best of the rest.<\/p>\n

Although various drivers took their turns at the head of the second train, it was was Alex Keens who eventually came out on top as he took the flag in fourth spot to maintain his lead in the championship standings, with his Graves Motorsport team-mate Leo Purches and Westbourne\u2019s James Sherrington rounding out the top six.<\/p>\n

Having been involved in the lead fight early on, Harry Smith would slip back down to end the race in seventh, wth Alfie Garford, Jenson Mason and Monroe Rennard completing the top ten.<\/p>\n

Josh Wilby had held second in the standings going into the race but then ran off track at the complex and dropped to the back of the field before launching a fine recovery drive back through the field; at one stage climbing his way back up into the top six.<\/p>\n

Like Fairbrother however, he hit trouble on the final lap and slipped back to 15th place, which means he also drops to third in the standings.<\/p>\n

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Olivier Algieri held off the challenge of Rhys Hurd and Gabe Fairbrother to secure victory in an epic third Vertu MINI CHALLENGE Trophy race of the weekend at Thruxton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":28804,"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-28802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-cooper"],"yoast_head":"\nOLIVIER ALGIERI EMERGES ON TOP IN EPIC THRUXTON FINALE - 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\/06\/08\/olivier-algieri-emerges-on-top-in-epic-thruxton-finale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OLIVIER ALGIERI EMERGES ON TOP IN EPIC THRUXTON FINALE - 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