Bradley Gravett moved into the top ten in the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE with four solid race finishes from the latest rounds of the season at Snetterton, despite ‘the racing gods not being in his favour’. Bradley headed into the weekend keen to try and bounce back from a disappointing home event at Brands Hatch two weeks earlier, where he had only been able to score points in one of the three races. Snetterton promised to be a hectic meeting with a fourth race added to the schedule to replace the one lost due to poor weather conditions at Donington Park...

Bradley Gravett secured a new personal best for the second weekend in a row as his Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE campaign continued at Snetterton. The EXCELR8 Motorsport driver made the trip to the longest circuit on the calendar, buoyed by a breakthrough weekend on home soil at Brands Hatch, where he picked up his highest-ever race finish with a breakthrough podium. With confidence on a high, Bradley hit the track for Friday testing looking to dial the car in for the unique challenge of the Snetterton circuit, which blends some of the fastest corners and longest straights on the schedule...

Snetterton, the Norfolk-based circuit and one of the most technical tracks on the UK calendar, is about to witness an electrifying display of skill, speed, and determination as Round 3 of the MINI Challenge JCW series approaches. Following an exceptional performance at Brands Hatch Indy last time out, where Bradley Gravett secured his first-ever podium finish, Gravett Racing is feeling positive and eager to continue their momentum at Snetterton. Last time out at Brands Hatch Indy showcased Bradley's remarkable talent and ability to run at the front of the pack. Despite a mechanical failure that resulted in a disappointing retirement...

So Snetterton, round 5 of the QUAIFE MINI Challenge JCW series just happened, and as you know from my pre-race weekend report, was a weekend of anticipated podium finishes. However, this anticipation quickly faded as the weekend unfolded and was replaced with disappointment and dissatisfaction caused by a plethora of mechanical complications the team encountered with my race car, ultimately hindering my ability to perform. Without getting into too much detail on the negatives of my weekend, to summarise Snetterton; we had very little running in Friday practice due to a fueling issue in FP1 and a tyre-related problem in...

So yeah, I blinked, and just like that, I realised it's race week again, and wow, what a feeling that is! So as far as MINI Challenge JCW racing goes this year, I believe the Knockhill to Snetterton turnaround is one of the shortest of all season, or at least it's the shortest we've had so far. With just a ten-ish day turnaround window between the last time out at Knockhill and this weekend at Snetterton, many teams in the paddock feel the pinch regarding race car prep time. I know that with the seven-car strong team we're in, it's...

So round one of the MINI Challenge JCW Championship went remarkably well for us, which is nice considering we were dealt our fair share of bad luck by this point last year in the Cooper class. As you already know, over the testing season, the team has been trying to sort out an ongoing boosting issue with my car that was found and sorted mid-last week, just in time for round one. As I have already said before, it's great this issue was rectified in time for the first round; however, having the problem during the testing season was not...

So, it's finally the first round for the MINI Challenge at Snetterton; actually, I believe it's rounds 1, 2 and 3, I think, but I like to call it round 1; it makes things easier. So, first of all, and most importantly, the car's boosting issue has now been sorted. It's been quite a stressful couple of weeks for the team to find and sort out this issue on the car, but I am pleased to tell you that they have. As you know from my previous emails, the car wasn't picking up its boost pressure correctly, which meant I...

Well, that was one interesting and very busy tyre test, shakedown, test day, and media day all blurred into one! Like with any new racing car, there's always going to be day one, the first time you drive the car, and there's always great anticipation of how both the driver (myself) and the car is going to perform. The biggest takeaway I learnt from the day; the absolute importance of a pre-test setup. As I said in my previous article, dad, myself and the team in mid-April spent a whole day around the car just getting our heads around dynamically...

Wow, it feels like an absolute age since I last drove a racing car; in fact, it will be exactly 156 days and 17 hours, not that anybody's counting... okay, maybe I've been counting a little, but hey, what's wrong with that?! With that aside, it's been one hectic journey for team Gravett over the past six months to get to where we are now, finally, about to get into a MINI John Cooper Works racing car, and wow, are we all excited. We've all been working incredibly hard on my racing programme to 'make this happen', and still, every...

Snetterton, or as I call it, 'Wet'terton… After arriving at a rather cold but sunny Snetterton Thursday morning, I was optimistic that the weather might hold up for the weekend, even though I had been spending the past week glued to the weather app on my phone looking to see if the 100% chance of rain would change… Unfortunately, I think I was being optimistic, to say the least, as these were some of the wettest conditions I have ever driven in, making the damage we thought we didn't have from Thruxton clearly evident. Regardless of the weather, I had...

These MINI races are coming thick and fast, and, if I told you I haven't been feeling like Michael Caine from your favourite Mini film then I'd be lying… although we've not yet blown any doors off, just dented them :) With only four days downtime between Thruxton last weekend and Snetterton this weekend it has been quite a challenge for the team to turn the cars back around and get ready for this Friday's testing. Unfortunately because of how manic the races were at Thruxton, all three cars have had numerous replacement parts fitted. Most of which are suspension...