Ashley Gregory battles to top-10 finish at Pembrey

Despite once again showing excellent pace to battle within the leading group, it was a luckless weekend for Ashley Gregory in the latest round of the Mini Challenge Trophy at Pembrey as contact prevented the Excelr8 Motorsport driver achieving her potential, ultimately claiming a highest finish of ninth.

Photo credits: JEP

It was a luckless weekend for Ashley Gregory in the latest round of the Mini Challenge Trophy at Pembrey as contact prevented the Excelr8 Motorsport driver achieving her potential, ultimately claiming a highest finish of ninth.

Gregory arrived at Pembrey off the back of a successful weekend last time out at Snetterton. Three top-7 finishes elevated the Excelr8 Motorsport driver into seventh position in the overall championship standings despite one non-score in the Silverstone season opener. Finishing in second position in race three at Snetterton, Gregory displayed superb racecraft as she missed out on the race victory by less than one tenth of a second.

Gregory was one of only a handful of drivers with previous experience of Pembrey having competed at the track in the Mini Challenge Trophy back in 2024. Securing a highest finish of tenth, Gregory was looking to improve upon this finish while using her knowledge to good effect with limited testing opportunities for the remainder of the field at the Welsh circuit.

After Friday’s short practice sessions were held in mixed conditions, qualifying on Saturday morning took place with a dry track. The majority of the fastest times were set during the first half of the session with the margins remaining extremely tight around the short Pembrey circuit. At the end of the session, Gregory set the eighth fastest time with her quickest lap of a 1:08.384 less than three tenths of a second away from pole position.

Race one at Pembrey took place on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the second fastest times from qualifying, Gregory started from 10th on the grid. It was a busy start throughout the field and at the end of lap one, Gregory was in 11th position. Starting lap two side-by-side with Harry Smith, the Performancetek Racing driver pulled ahead with Gregory settling into 11th spot.

After the race settled into a rhythm, Gregory did a nice job to avoid a spinning Isaac Doble who lost control of the car at the hairpin while making contact with Leo Richardson. Although Gregory was delayed, she moved ahead of Doble as the Excelr8 Motorsport driver climbed into the top-10. After passing a slowing Richardson on lap five, Gregory was now up to ninth and displaying good race pace to rival those ahead.

Smith was now also behind and although he mounted a challenge midway through the race, both Gregory and Smith began to catch the drivers fighting for top-5 positions. Due to the nature of the Pembrey circuit, running side-by-side was costing those ahead significant time and on lap 12 Gregory was the second fastest driver on track.

It was a strong end to the opening race of the weekend for the Excelr8 Motorsport driver with Gregory taking the chequered flag in ninth position, while she opened up a comfortable gap over Smith to secure her sixth top-10 finish of the season.

Photo credits: JEP

Race two at Pembrey took place on Sunday morning and with the top-12 finishers of race one reversed to set the grid, Gregory lined up from fourth position. The Excelr8 Motorsport driver made a good start, before an incident ahead involving Louis Fleet and Joshua Wilby saw Gregory spun while she received damage to the tyre and wheel. As a result, she fell to 18th position at the conclusion of lap one and now she was searching for an interruption to the race in order to catch the tail of the field.

As the drivers began lap three, the race was red flagged after the car of Jorrell Julius had come to a halt on the circuit. With two laps of the race already completed, this meant that the restart order was based upon the current lineup instead of the original grid positions.

The race resumed behind the safety car for a shortened duration of ten minutes with Gregory quickly moving forward. Gaining three positions on the first lap of the restarted race, Gregory was soon inside the top-15. On lap three, she overtook both Lexie Powell and Liona Theobald to climb to 13th, before passing Isaac Doble on the following lap.

Gregory’s pace was strong as she targeted a recovery drive and now she was looking for those ahead to battle in order to secure another top-10 finish. On lap nine, Beanie Reece fell down the order after fighting with both Wilby and Blair Dryburgh with Gregory taking advantage.

This promoted the Excelr8 Motorsport driver to 12th position and she just ran out of time to make a move on her two rivals ahead, therefore taking the chequered flag in 12th position. Although not scoring the result she had hoped for, Gregory still banked valuable championship points following an unfortunate spin at the beginning of the initial start.

Photo credits: JEP

Race three at Pembrey took place on Sunday afternoon with the grid positions based upon the results from Saturday’s qualifying session. Therefore, Gregory lined up from eighth position and was targeting a push towards the podium. As the lights went out, it was a superb start for the Excelr8 Motorsport driver who used her racecraft to move forward as she completed the first lap in fifth position.

Comfortable racing within the lead pack, Gregory was driving confidently in the early stages as she searched for her best result at Pembrey. Although she came under attack from both Henry Foote and Josh Selvadorai, Gregory continued to defend her position well. As the battles for the podium places intensified, this brought Gregory into contention as she ran just two seconds away from the race lead.

After soaking up a sustained spell of pressure, Selvadorai moved ahead on lap eight with Foote drawing level as the drivers began lap nine. Foote moved ahead at the hairpin with Gregory now in seventh position. As Christopher Doble looked to make a move on the following lap, Gregory received damage to the steering which led to an unfortunate retirement.

It was a tough end to the weekend for Gregory who was caught up in a number of incidents not of her own making at Pembrey. Nonetheless, she once again showed excellent pace while battling within the leading group of drivers.

Gregory will be looking to return to the podium when the Mini Challenge Trophy returns alongside the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton on the weekend of 25th/26th July.