Sensational 60th
The Mini 7 Racing Club’s 60th Anniversary proved a roaring success at the Brands Hatch Mini Festival on 22-23 August, with unprecedented levels of spectator appeal for six standout races on-track and unrivalled motorsport history in the paddock…
It was a weekend to remember on so many levels, not least for the circuit action which was quite simply sensational, with full grids and non-stop dicing which left Mini fans in awe and grinning from ear-to-ear!
The Se7en and S-Class packs opened their accounts on Saturday afternoon, with Ross Billison easing to overall victory in the ‘Heritage’ formula that started it all six decades ago, ahead of Spencer Wanstall, Dan Munro and Damien Harrington in a twice-restarted race. Meanwhile, James May edged out Bertie Woollard, Patrick McCarthy and Michael Winkworth in an equally dramatic dice for S-Class honours, itself marking 20 years as the entry-level ‘Scholarship’ formula.
Sunday morning brought more of the same frenetic action, and although Billison broke the tow for his second victory, the scrap for 2nd place eventually fell to Harrington from Munro after Wanstall’s car had popped a driveshaft. In S-Class, it was Woollard’s turn to cross the line ahead from Winkworth and McCarthy after May had dramatically spun out of contention along top straight before gathering it all up to salvage 4th.
Following the absolutely packed grid walk for which all four categories were ‘pride of place’, the final trilogy in the Se7ens and S-Class racecard again produced a humdinger, Billison surviving a hectic duel with Harrington to claim a ‘full house’ of maximum scores, with Munro and Wanstall battling over the final podium spots after Harrington ended up in the Paddock Hill gravel. Of merit too was rookie Ian Penn who ran impressively close to the leaders throughout, and taking a pair of 4th places to his credit.
As for the Miglia and Libre encounters, it was almost a clean sweep for the Owens clan, as Endaf and son Jac took a brace of Miglia and Libre victories apiece respectively in matching luminous yellow machines. Only a sudden loss of drive out of the final bend in Sunday morning’s race 2 prevented Owens senior from challenging winner Joe Ferguson on the run to the line, whilst in Sunday afternoon’s final, Owens junior – in only his second circuit meeting - locked up before nosing gently into the Druids tyrewall when comfortably ahead in class. Meanwhile, a 2nd, 3rd and a 4th for Aaron Smith was enough to elevate him to the top of the points, whilst Ian Curley was more than happy with three podium visits to rise to 2nd overall in the standings. As for Kane Astin who came into Brands atop the charts, he salvaged a good 3rd in the final runout after two non-finishes, whilst Sam Summerhayes was also among the lead battles throughout.
Behind young Owens in Libres, Peter Hills had claimed two runner-up finishes after series leader Huw Turner dropped out of the running, then was delighted to take the class victory in race 3, with Phil Harvey, Julian Proctor and Jabez Dyer also collecting podium trophies.
A number of past M7RC racers were highly revered guests during the course of the weekend too, former Miglia Champion and Chaiman Mike Fry presenting trophies during Sunday’s pitlane ceremonies, whilst Ian Cook along with Viv Church - who both took part in the very first Mini 7 event at Brands in 1966 - presented special one-off ‘Team Trident’ awards to
Ross Billison for the ‘Top Mini 7 Driver on Aggregate’ and to Mike Rayner for the ‘Driver showing the True Clubman Ethos of the Mini 7 Club’.
Further emotional scenes came on Saturday evening, when Peter Vickers – on his birthday – was inducted into the exclusive rollcall of Life Members for all his efforts over the years introducing and assisting new racers, whilst a huge thanks to Ian Fraser and the collective team of volunteers within the Club for coordinating a quite unforgettable 60th Anniversary event, including retro race cars, exclusive merchandise, archive galleries and magazines, social barbecue and ice cream van, and of course the many former members and invited guests who came along to join in the nostalgia. Does any Club do it better?
Brands Hatch 22-23 August 2026 Results
Se7en & S-Class - Round 9
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | R Billison |
| 2 | 73 | S Wanstall |
| 3 | 41 | D Munro |
| 8 | 750 | J May (S) |
Se7en & S-Class - Round 10
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | R Billison |
| 2 | 1 | D Harrington |
| 3 | 41 | D Munro |
| 6 | 736 | B Woollard (S) |
Se7en & S-Class - Round 11
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | R Billison |
| 2 | 41 | D Munro |
| 3 | 73 | S Wanstall |
| 5 | 796 | M Winkworth (S) |
Miglia & Libre - Round 9
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | E Owens |
| 2 | 21 | A Smith |
| 3 | 2 | I Curley |
| 14 | 555 | J Owens (L) |
Miglia & Libre - Round 10
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34 | J Ferguson |
| 2 | 2 | I Curley |
| 3 | 21 | A Smith |
| 15 | 555 | J Owens (L) |
Miglia & Libre - Round 11
| Position | Number | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | E Owens |
| 2 | 2 | I Curley |
| 3 | 11 | K Astin |
| 18 | 126 | P Hills (L |