Bradley Gravett signs off the season with hat-trick at Brands Hatch

Bradley Gravett brought the curtain down on his third season in the Vertu Motors Mini Challenge’s headline class with a hat-trick of top 10 finishes at Brands Hatch, allowing him to cement a top six championship finish for the first time.

Gravett returned to his home circuit - the scene of his first career podium on the shorter Indy layout earlier in the year - looking to rebound from a challenging weekend at Silverstone in the previous event, where a broken gearstick in race one ultimately ended his hopes of running towards the front of the pack.

A solid start to the weekend saw Gravett post the fifth quickest time in Friday practice, and he carried his pace into qualifying to secure seventh on the grid - only half a second away from the front row.

That left the EXCELR8 Motorsport driver in a confident mood going into the opening race, and he would run in sixth place throughout, scoring points for P4 with two guest drivers ahead being unable to score.

Although he would lose a place on the opening lap of race two on Sunday, Gravett was set to score P5 points until the closing stages when he was forced to back off to deal with an issue with the left rear tyre.

Nursing the car to the finish, having somehow managed to stay inside the top 10, Gravett discovered that the tyre had become delaminated, making the fact that he had been able to make the finish of the race even more remarkable.

Again benefitting from having guest drivers ahead on track, Gravett went into the final race of the weekend having moved into the top six in the standings, and he cemented his end-of-season position with a fine run through to fifth place, holding off the challenge of team-mate - and newly-crowned champion - Dan Zelos by just 0.062s on the run to the line.

"Obviously, the aim coming into the weekend was to try and challenge for some trophies to finish the season, and although I didn't quite manage it, I'm really pleased to have secured a top-six championship finish," he said.

"I was pleased with seventh on the grid for the first race, considering how close the times were, and even though we didn't have the ultimate pace in the opening race, we managed to pick up a decent haul of points.

"In the second race, everything was going well, then I started to hear a noise from the left rear. It turns out the tyre had delaminated on the inside, which was unusual and happened with no warning, it got gradually worse over the final laps, and it dropped me down the order.

"To even get a finish had to be viewed as a positive, and to then come through to fifth in the final race and hold off Dan as I did was brilliant. Keeping him at bay on the final lap when it was so close between us was fantastic, and I'd say it was one of the most enjoyable battles I had all season.

"Overall, I can't really be disappointed with the way the season has gone as I've made it onto the podium for the first time in my career and have shown I have the pace to run towards the front of the grid, which is a big step forward from where I was previously.

"Like a number of drivers, it has been a struggle when it comes to budget as the season has gone, so I have to say a massive thank you to all the partners who make it possible for me to be out on track racing.

"We've had our highs and lows over 2023, but I've also learned a huge amount, and I'm confident that what I learnt will benefit me as I move forward with my career into next year and beyond."