Ashley Gregory battles to double top-10 finish at Silverstone

Ashley Gregory fought through adversity in the latest round of the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy on her way to a pair of top-10 finishes at Silverstone, where she fought technical issues through the course of the event but still maximised her performances in a closely-contested trio of races on the National layout.

Photo credits: JEP

Ashley Gregory fought through adversity in the latest round of the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy on her way to a pair of top-10 finishes at Silverstone. Gregory fought technical issues through the course of the event, however she maximised her performances in a closely-contested trio of races on the National layout. After finishing 13^th in race one, Gregory finished races two and three in tenth position as she avoided a number of incidents which unfolded around her.

Gregory arrived at Silverstone fresh off the news that she had secured her first ever victory in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy. Following the post-event disqualification of Olivier Algieri, Gregory’s second place result in race one at Donington Park was upgraded to a victory. With Algieri’s results from both Croft and Donington Park now removed, Gregory entered the penultimate round of the championship sitting fifth in the overall championship standings.

Gregory entered the season with eyes on the title as she began the campaign as one of the most experienced drivers in the series. Securing a runner-up result in the first race of the season, Gregory left Snetterton firmly in contention for the championship. Technical issues during round two at Brands Hatch resulted in a best finish of seventh, before Ashley tackled the high-speed Thruxton circuit. Gregory excelled by scoring top-5 finishes, including a runner-up result in race two and only a retirement in race three prevented her from leaving Thruxton as the championship leader.

Gregory continued her strong form through the middle portion of the season, including at Croft which had been a successful circuit in the past. Following Algieri’s later disqualification, Gregory was classified in the top-7 in all three races and she achieved her third runner-up result during race two.

However, her breakthrough came at Donington Park where Gregory displayed frontrunning pace throughout the event. After narrowly missing out on pole position, Ashley drove smartly in race one to break away from the group of drivers behind and take the chequered flag in second. Gregory was later promoted to the race victory and her gap to second place driver Rhys Hurd was almost seven seconds.

Although Ashley faced adversity across the remainder of the weekend, including being caught up in an incident not of her own making in race three, she entered the penultimate round of the season 90 points behind championship leader Alex Keens but only 31 points behind second-place driver Gabe Fairbrother.

Photo credits: JEP

The racing at Silverstone was set to be closely contested with the slipstream playing a significant part in both qualifying and the trio of races. Preparation for the event began with Gregory facing challenges in testing due to a series of technical issues which resulted in her only able to complete a limited number of laps on Friday.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and the lap times continued to improve throughout the session as the battle for the most effective slipstream begun. It was a challenging session for Gregrory who set the 16^th fastest time overall, however she was just six tenths of a second away from the pole position time set by Louie Capozzoli to underline the close and competitive nature of the field.

The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Gregory lining up from 13^th on the grid courtesy of her second fastest lap from qualifying. Ashley made a fast start and moved up to 12^th position at the end of lap one, while running side-by-side with Alex Keens as she looked to make up further ground. Gregory successfully cleared Keens on lap two and following a pass on Joshua Wilby, she was inside the top-10.

On lap three, Gregory was shuffled back to 17^th position following contact from another driver, however she was still less than five seconds away from the race lead as the entire field remained extremely close. Gregory was soon regaining lost ground and after overtaking Louis Fleet, she set a series of personal best times. On lap seven, Ashley was back inside the top-15 after Paul Manning fell down the order.

Following the retirement of Luca Marinoni Osborne two laps later, Gregory gained another position before being involved in a great battle with Fleet.

Gregory and the Team Avago racer continued to swap places in the closing stages as they also looked to regain touch with the top-10 drivers. Gregory gained the upper hand on the penultimate lap of the race and moved into 14^th, while mounting a late-race charge on Cameron Wood. Ashley took the chequered flag in 14^th position, just over a tenth of a second behind Wood while crossing the line less than five seconds after race winner Rhys Hurd. Following a post-race penalty assigned to Algieri for the earlier contact, Gregory was promoted to 13^th position in the final classification.

Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with damp conditions at Silverstone providing a further challenge for the drivers. The grid positions were set by the results from race one and following a grid penalty assessed to Cameron Wood, Ashley started from 12^th position. It was a clean start for the majority of the field and Gregory ended lap one in 13^th spot.

On lap two, Gregory was faster than the race leader and was quickly setting top-5 lap times as the slipstream effect remained powerful. Despite falling behind Paul Manning on lap three, Ashley’s pace was competitive as she aimed to move through the field. Following an incident involving Rhys Hurd and Alfie Garford, Gregory was into 12^th position and remained less than five seconds off the race lead.

As the second half of the race unfolded, the leading two drivers began to edge away from the rest of the field. Nonetheless, a place on the podium was still within reach and positions inside the top-10 were changing corner by corner. On lap eight, Gregory was the second fastest driver on track as she remained in 12^th position and was just a quarter of a second away from a top-10 spot.

On lap 10, Manning fell down the order following an off-track moment with Wood capitalising as he overtook four cars included Gregory. Therefore, Ashley remained in 12^th as the final lap got underway with extra championship points still up for grabs. Gregory used her racecraft to good effect as she overtook both Leo Purches and Jenson Mason to take the chequered flag in tenth position in a race where the drivers battled challenging track conditions.

Photo credits: JEP

Race three at Silverstone took place on Sunday afternoon with Gregory starting from 16^th position courtesy of her qualifying result with the track conditions now dry. As the race got underway, the positions in the midfield were closely contested and this resulted in a sizeable incident ahead of Gregory. The race was subsequently red flagged and due to barrier repairs being required and to ensure the safety of all those involved in the incident, race three was rescheduled to the end of the day.

With fewer cars taking the start, Gregory was looking to make progress and following lap one of the restarted race she was up to 13^th position. On lap two, Ashley overtook Louis Fleet and by the conclusion of lap three she remained just four seconds off the race lead. Gregory was now lapping faster than the leading group and after overtaking Paul Manning on lap five, Ashley was into 11^th position.

A small gap had now opened up in front of her and Gregory was looking for the drivers behind to work together in order to bridge the deficit. Indeed, Gregory was able to edge her way closer to the group ahead through the second half of the race and after passing Alfie Garford on lap 11, a personal best time elevated Ashley into the top-10.

Gregory had cut the lead margin to just three seconds and the podium places continued to change hands with every corner. Ashley started the final lap in tenth position and despite her best efforts, she was unable to make any further progress as she ended race three in tenth spot, just three seconds behind race winner Rhys Hurd.

Despite not achieving the results she was aiming for at Silverstone, Gregory fought through adversity to score a pair of top-10 finishes. She completed all three races without significant incident and maximised her performances in mixed conditions. The season finale for the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy is set to take place at Brands Hatch on the weekend of November 1^st/2^nd.