14/08/2026
🏁 DONINGTON PARK — SEASON FINALE 🏁
MINI CHALLENGE Clubsport | 8th–9th August 2026
What a way to finish the season.
Donington Park delivered our strongest weekend of the year, with our first podium, our best finish of the season, another class podium and, most importantly, P4 in the championship — exactly where we wanted to be heading into the final weekend.
⏱️ QUALIFYING — P8
Qualifying proved difficult as we struggled to get the tyre setup where we needed it. We eventually qualified P8, with a lap time that was actually slower than we had managed during free practice.
It wasn’t the start to the weekend we had hoped for, and we knew we had plenty of work ahead of us when racing got underway on Sunday.
🏁 RACE 1 — P3 🏆
FIRST PODIUM OF THE SEASON!
James made a great start and immediately began moving forward, climbing from P8 to P6 by the end of lap one.
By lap five, after several brilliant laps battling with Simon Sinfield, James finally found a way through with a move on the exit of Coppice and down the Dunlop Straight.
Next in sight was Freddy Hewitt, who unfortunately appeared to be struggling with an issue. James stayed focused on the job ahead and continued to push before Freddy was eventually forced to pull over.
Luck then fell our way as Ian Trundley developed an obvious problem and began struggling for straight-line speed. James closed the gap and, on the final lap, made the pass.
From P8 to P3 and across the line for our FIRST PODIUM OF THE YEAR! 🥉
After all the work that has gone into developing the car and the team this season, that one meant a lot.
🏁 RACE 2 — P2 🥈
OUR BEST FINISH OF THE SEASON!
Starting further up the field certainly helped our chances for Race 2.
Another good start saw us immediately in the fight, although Ian Trundley managed to take a position going into Redgate. James responded quickly and reclaimed the place through Macleans, keeping the car tight to the inside.
Freddy Hewitt was flying behind us and, knowing Freddy was fighting Ollie Wilmott for the championship, James chose not to defend unnecessarily and allowed him through.
Then came a massive moment at Macleans.
Coolant dropped by another car caused James to suddenly lose grip and the MINI snapped sideways. Somehow he caught the slide, but the recovery cost us several positions and dropped us back to P6.
The fightback started immediately.
Adrian Linggi was forced to pull over with an issue, and by lap three James had passed Rob Gaffney. By lap five, we had also made our way back past Simon Sinfield and continued pushing towards the front.
Freddy’s earlier problems then returned and his pace began to drop.
For the closing laps, our attention turned to John Wyatt. With the track temperature taking its toll and the demanding Donington layout punishing the front-left tyre, grip was becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
James made several attempts to find a way through, with Wyatt taking a more defensive line to hold the position.
On the final lap, the battle came to a dramatic conclusion at the Esses. Wyatt ran wide while trying to maintain the position. James reacted by moving to the right-hand side of the track to avoid him, but contact was made with the passenger side of our car, sending Wyatt off into the barrier.
It wasn’t the way either of us wanted the race to end.
The Clerk’s decision was no further action against either driver, with the contact deemed a racing incident.
We crossed the line P2 — our best finish of the season! 🥈
🏁 RACE 3 — P3 OVERALL | P2 IN CLASS 🥉
One final race of the 2026 season… and it certainly wasn’t straightforward!
We made another good start, but almost as soon as James turned into Redgate there was a loud grinding noise coming from underneath the car.
The sudden noise broke concentration and we immediately lost positions heading down through the Craner Curves.
Now P4 on the road, James had a decision to make. He suspected the exhaust system had moved, but with the car still running, he chose to continue and try to maintain race pace.
As the race wore on, the noise became progressively worse.
At this point James was watching for either the meatball flag or a signal from the team on the pit wall telling him to come in.
Neither came…
Even after we spat half of the exhaust towards the pit wall! 😂
Somehow the MINI kept going, James maintained the pace and we brought the car home P3 overall and P2 in class.
One final podium to end the season. 🏆
❤️ FINAL THOUGHTS — WHAT A SEASON
Looking back at where we started, the improvement throughout our second season has been huge.
The car has developed.
The team has developed.
James has developed as a driver.
A massive part of that progression has come from the work we’ve done with Jenson Brickley, who has been training James over the last eight months. The improvements in racecraft, consistency and confidence have shown throughout the season, and Donington was a fitting way to bring everything together.
We also want to say a very special THANK YOU to our families, friends, sponsors, partners, everyone involved with MINI CHALLENGE Clubsport and our small but rapidly growing fan base.
Without all of you supporting us, none of what we’ve achieved as a team would be possible.
We went into the final race weekend with one clear target:
P4 IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
WE GOT IT. ❤️🏁
From the difficult weekends, the development, the setbacks and the lessons learned, to standing on the podium at Donington — we’re incredibly proud of how far this team has come.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our 2026 season.
And one final thing…
WE WILL BE BACK.
Preparations for 2027 have already begun. 👀🔥
A.C Motorsport Ltd GB
MINI CHALLENGE Clubsport
#7 James Dudley
