Ashley Gregory claims maiden pole position, leads laps in Brands Hatch season finale

Ashley Gregory ended her Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy campaign on a high by securing her first pole position at Brands Hatch, where she showed exceptional pace, led a number of laps and gained further experience at the head of the field while involved in close battles in all three races.

Photo credits: JEP

Ashley Gregory ended her Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy campaign on a high by securing her first pole position at Brands Hatch. Gregory showed exceptional one-lap pace, before leading a number of laps in race one. Despite retiring from the first contesting and requiring to start race two from the rear of the field, Gregory started on pole for the season finale. Displaying superb racecraft as she contested for positions at the head of the field, Ashley battled hard to finish in fourth position to close out her 2025 campaign.

Gregory arrived at the season finale still with a mathematical chance of claiming the title. Although she was over 100 points away from championship leader Alex Keens, Gregory sat just 41 points behind third-place driver Alfie Garford, while second-placed Gabe Fairbrother was unable to race in the season finale. Therefore, a solid weekend at Brands Hatch would see Ashley end the year in a strong position in the overall standings.

The 2025 campaign has seen Gregory consistently battle at the front of the field while she has taken the fight to the more experienced teams on the grid. Ashley achieved her first victory of the series and Donington Park and with three other podium finishes to her name, Gregory has taken a step forward in performance throughout the campaign. 

Racing on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit for the second time this season, Gregory was looking to draw upon her past experiences of the track. In May, round two of the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy was held in Kent with Gregory battling a series of technical issues throughout the weekend. Nonetheless, she scored 71 points across the three races as she battled to a best result of seventh. 

In addition to competing in free practice for the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy, Gregory also sampled British Truck Racing Championship machinery on Friday as she assessed her options ahead of the 2026 season. It was a positive day in mixed conditions as Ashley reacclimatised ahead of the first competitive session on Saturday.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning with predominantly dry conditions for the grid of 22 drivers at Brands Hatch. Gregory showed excellent speed through the final sector in particular and when the session was red flagged with six minutes remaining, Ashley topped the times on a 56.922. The session was resumed for a revised duration of five minutes and was quickly red flagged once more and with qualifying ended prematurely, Gregory claimed pole position by a margin of three thousandths of a second. 

Photo credits: JEP

The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with the grid positions based upon the second fastest times set in qualifying. As a result, Gregory lined up from second on the grid as she looked to convert her one lap speed in a strong race result. As the lights went out, Ashley got a good start and initially held second position before defending into Druids. Just behind her, contact between Rhys Hurd and Ronnie Smith saw the latter beached in the gravel and this resulted in a red flag with Leo Purches also stopped on the entry to Druids.

Gregory remained in second position and the race restarted for a revised duration for 13 minutes. With both Smith and Purches not taking up their position on the grid, Gregory had a whole empty row behind on the race restart. It was another clean getaway for Ashley who initially maintained second, before race leader Luca Marinoni Osborne made a mistake at Druids. As the Westbourne Motorsport driver ran wide on the exit of the corner, Gregory made her move and claimed the lead.

Hurd followed through into second position and now Gregory was defending from another Westbourne Motorsport prepared machine. At the drivers completed lap three, Hurd drew level utilising the slipstream effect down the main straight and completed a nice move around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend. As Gregory lost time following Hurd’s move, Marinoni Osborne overtook Ashley at Druids with Gregory settling into third position.

As she used the slipstream of those ahead, Gregory closed back in on the race leaders as she set a series of fast sectors. On lap six, Ashley looked to make a move on Marinoni Osborne at Graham Hill Bend but was just unable to complete the pass. As Gregory lost momentum on the exit of the corner, Alfie Garford made contact with the rear of her machine and this caused instant suspension damage with Ashley pulling to the side of the road. It was an unfortunate end to an extremely promising race for Gregory as she added to her tally of laps led in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy. 

Following good work from her team, Gregory was able to take her place on the grid for race two of the weekend which took place on Sunday morning. The conditions had changed and the track was damp with Gregory forced to start from the rear of the field after her race one retirement. It was a clean start throughout the grid and Ashley briefly made it three-wide as she looked to the inside at Druids on lap one.

Gregory ended lap one in 21^st position and despite the challenging track conditions, the positions throughout the field were extremely closely contested. This made overtaking difficult as the drivers were very evenly matched and the lap times were separated by merely tenths of a second. To start lap six, Gregory drew level with newcomer Jacob Baldry and Ashley completed the pass on the Chandler Motorsport driver into Paddock Hill Bend. 

Gregory was now inside the top-20 and her pace in the middle stages of the race was strong. On lap seven, Ashley overtook Murray Richardson before passing Cameron Wood on the following tour. After Ronnie Smith ran wide out of Graham Hill Bend, this enabled Gregory to move into 17^th position. Now there was a small gap to push into ahead of her, Gregory was the fifth fastest driver on track.

In the closing stages of the contest, Gregory had little pressure behind and therefore she could focus on gaining further ground. Setting a personal best time on the final lap of the race, Gregory took the chequered flag in 17^th position, later promoted to 16^th, as Ashley finished less than five seconds away from seventh place to once again underline the close nature of the championship.

Photo credits: JEP

For the season finale on Sunday afternoon, Gregory lined up on pole position courtesy of her excellent performance in qualifying. Standing starts from the inside of the front row can be challenging at Brands Hatch, however Gregory got a good launch and held the lead on the way into Paddock Hill Bend. 

At the end of the first lap, Gregory held a two tenths of a second advantage ahead of Henry Foote with Rhys Hurd in third position. As he looked to claim the lead, Foote made contact with Gregory at Druids on lap two with both cars losing time, while Ashley received steering damage. Gregory fell back to fourth position with Foote rejoining just inside the top-10 as she looked to regain momentum and fight for a podium position.

After getting a good run out of Clearways, Gregory drew level with Alfie Garford into Paddock Hill Bend and she briefly moved into third. However, Leo Purches then mounted an attack and overtook Ashley into Graham Hill Bend. Running side-by-side through Surtees, Gregory re-passed Purches and held third position with Hurd getting away at the head of the field.

After Purches was shuffled back, Garford now gained momentum and looked to the inside of Gregory into Paddock Hill Bend on lap four. After being hung out on the outside of the corner, Ashley fell into the clutches of the next group of drivers and by the end of the lap, Gregory was down to sixth position. 

The race then settled into a rhythm with Gregory holding sixth and after Ronnie Smith suffered suspension damage after hitting a kerb, a small gap had opened up behind. On lap eight, Jenson Mason got sideways at Paddock Hill Bend and Gregory did a nice job to pass Mason while he executed a phenomenal save on the exit of the corner. This moment for Mason delayed both Garford and Luca Marinoni Osborne and with some good racecraft into Surtees, Gregory cleared both drivers on the exit of Clearways.

Starting lap nine in third position, Gregory was looking to hold on to a spot on the rostrum. As the drivers approached Druids, contact behind saw Marinoni Osborne made significant contact with the barrier on the outside of the corner. As a result of the damage, his car came to a halt with the race entering a safety car period. Due to the complex recovery of his car, the race was then red flagged with just under five minutes remaining.

Instead of the race being restarted via a standing start, the race resumed behind the safety car and the green flag was displayed with three minutes left on the clock. Gregory was immediately defending into Paddock Hill Bend and initially this resistance paid off after Olivier Algieri went wide ahead.

Now into second position, Gregory was defending her position well before a slight wide moment coming out of Clearways on lap 15 enabled the group of drivers behind to gain momentum. Ashley was shuffled back to fifth position, however the battle for the runner-up spot continued right until the chequered flag. Holding off Foote in a photo finish, Gregory crossed the line in fifth position before being promoted to fourth in the final classification following a penalty assessed to Steven Chandler. 

Despite not standing on the podium in the season finale, Gregory showed excellent speed at Brands Hatch. Securing her maiden pole position, Ashley gained further experience at the head of the field and was involved in close battles in all three races. After taking significant steps forward across the campaign, Gregory will now be looking ahead to continuing her progress as the 2026 season approaches. 

Photo credits: JEP