Challenging season finale for Katia Loggie at Brands Hatch

Katia Loggie experienced a character-building season finale in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy at Brands Hatch, enduring three retirements despite a strong qualifying performance, but she made notable progress throughout the 2024 season, securing a top-20 finish in the overall standings.

Photo credits: JEP

Katia Loggie experienced a character-building season finale in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy at Brands Hatch. The Excelr8 Motorsport driver was caught up in a number of incidents not of her own making and this resulted in three retirements.

Katia had earlier produced an excellent qualifying performance in tough conditions where she set the 17th fastest time, while being just a quarter of a second away from the top-10. Nonetheless, Loggie enjoyed a positive second season in the championship in which she was able to take a step forward in performance and consistently challenging the midfield runners.

Looking to bounce back from a tough penultimate event of the season at Silverstone, Loggie was aiming to make good progress in the season finale at Brands Hatch. Katia opened her campaign with an excellent maiden weekend at Snetterton and has continued to take steps forward in just her second season of circuit racing.

Loggie has regularly challenged those with greater experience in the races as she continued to gain knowledge and experience in close-quarters racing. Prior to Brands Hatch, the Excelr8 Motorsport driver held down a top-20 position in the overall standings, while sitting just outside the top-10 of the Graduates Cup class.

The first competitive session of the weekend was qualifying on Saturday morning which was held in damp conditions. Katia showed good speed throughout the session as she adapted well to the low-grip surface. Consistently challenging for a top-15 result, Loggie ended qualifying in a strong 17th place while securing a top-10 starting spot within the Graduate Cup.

Grid positions for the first race of the weekend were based on the second fastest times from qualifying and this saw Loggie start from 15th position. Conditions were now drier and Katia made a good start and was challenging for positions into Paddock Hill bend.

Misfortune then struck as contact between drivers ahead saw Loggie take avoiding action, however a competitor behind her failed to slow in time. As a result, Katia’s car received contact to the rear and she was pushed into Paddock Hill gravel trap where she was forced to retire from the race.

Photo credits: JEP

Following her unfortunate retirement in race one, Loggie lined up from 22nd position with the grid based on the results of race one. Katia made a clean start and although fell one position on the opening lap, the race was then red flagged as the second lap got underway. Leo Purches had rolled at Paddock Hill bend and therefore his car required recovery.

A full restart followed with Loggie getting away well and moving up to 21st position at the end of the first lap. She was improving her lap times confidently in the early stages of the race and began to catch the group of drivers ahead. After Luca Marinoni-Osborne went off the track at Graham Hill bend, Loggie was inside the top-20 by the conclusion of lap six.

Her strong pace had also seen her catch the PerformanceTek Racing machine of Mick Fitzgerald. Running side-by-side with the Irish driver at the start of lap nine, the drivers made contact on the entry to Paddock Hill bend. As a result, Loggie ended her race in the gravel trap and this an unfortunate result to a promising second race of the weekend.

For the final race of the season, Loggie lined up from 17th position following her strong qualifying performance. It was a busy opening lap for the Excelr8 Motorsport driver who received contact on the exit of Graham Hill bend. Although she was able to rejoin the race in 24th position after hitting the barrier, she brought the car to the attention of the crew at the end of the second lap.

The team worked hard to repair the car and Loggie rejoined the race five laps in arrears. However, she brought her Mini Cooper back to the pit lane shortly after and unfortunately retired from the race. It was a disappointing end to a weekend where Loggie showed tremendous promise following a strong qualifying performance in challenging conditions.

Although it was not the end to the season she was hoping for, Loggie took significant strides forward over the course of 2024. Securing a best finish of the season at Snetterton, Katia also performed well at Croft and was unfortunate not to break into the top-10. Nonetheless, Loggie secured a top-20 finish in the overall standings and developed her racecraft among a highly competitive field of drivers.