Leaver victorious at Brands Hatch (From Enfield Independent)

Max Leaver victorious at Brands Hatch for Max Leaver Racing team

11:31am Monday 24th September 2012 in Sport

Winchmore Hill racing driver Max Leaver moved up to fourth in the Mini Challenge with a winning performance at Brands Hatch.

With three races held over the weekend, Leaver did well in qualifying to put himself third on the grid behind championship rivals Henry Gilbert and Jono Brown.

In the first outing, Leaver started well and was immediately hunting down the front two. However, as his tyres degraded he began to slip off the pace and Ben Gridley managed to pass him to take third.

Leaver remained close behind Gridley and on the final lap he made a move down the inside of the Graham Hill bend to retake the final podium spot.

The second race, held in cooler conditions on Sunday morning, suited the car set up. From a third place start on the grid, Leaver managed to slip past Brown on the eighth lap with a pass on the Paddock Hill bend.

He built up a comfortable advantage and eased to a second place finish behind Gilbert, who had built up an unassailable lead.

The final race of the weekend began with a reverse grid. Leaver started in sixth place alongside Gilbert.

After a poor start, Leaver began to make up places and thanks to an incident involving another car, Gilbert pitted for repairs.

Leaver hunted down Brown and passed him with three laps remaining. He continued to push hard and opened up a six second lead to cross the finish line in first.

The driver is now fourth in the overall championship and has all but secured third in the club class standings.