MALMESBURY racing driver Louis Harvey and fellow driver Oliver Richardson were on the top step of the podium again at Brand Hatch as they won the MSVT Trackday Trophy race in Class C

Harvey’s last visit to Brands Hatch was in October last year when he was part of the KA Enduro which won the Brands Hatch Indy 500.

This weekend was a different challenge as he was back out in the Pro-Am racing Clio on the prestigious Brands Hatch full GP circuit.

Harvey & Richardson went straight into qualifying on Sunday as due to track layout restrictions and the length of the races there was no practice for the full GP circuit.

The drivers didn’t disappoint and were soon on pace and pushing for pole position in class.

Battling with traffic and getting a clean lap Harvey was on a flying final lap when he was impeded by a slower car but still managed to put the racing duo on pole in their class and starting 8th overall.

Richardson took the start and after settling into the race held second place and was putting in quicker and quicker times and chasing the class C leader.

His pace continued to improve as he became more familiar with the circuit until taking the lead.

With Richardson in the lead, the team decided to wait to see what the other drivers would do in terms of the compulsory pit stop and driver changes and left the switch to the last minute.

This was just in case there was an opportunity for a yellow flag driver swap which always works as an advantage as the track slows down for everyone still out.

With Harvey in the driving seat, he knew he needed to be instantly on pace so as not to lose the lead of the race, this was made very challenging as he exited the pits into traffic and with the second place driver in his mirrors.

Harvey kept his cool and worked his way through the traffic and as he hoped was instantly on pace.

However, Harvey always pushing to improve was determined to pull away and with a bit of driver rivalry was looking for the fastest lap as well.

On the final lap, Harvey was well up on his times and the fastest lap and the win looked to be in the bag until a gear change issue dropped him half a second and missed out by less than 300th of a second.

Harvey crossed the line as the winner of the Class C cars and 7th overall from the 40+ strong grid.

As the team loaded the car for the journey home the clutch failed which was very lucky it didn’t break in the race and may have explained the gear change issue Harvey encountered.

Harvey & Richardson are back out in the car again for round 4 on the 11th August for the Snetterton 300 MSVT Trackday trophy race.