Dan Zelos was denied a popular home victory in the 2019 MINI CHALLENGE season finale at Snetterton last weekend (19/20 October), but the talented young Norfolk ace had already done enough to secure the coveted Rookie Cup and a top three championship finish in the fiercely-disputed single-make series.
Zelos headed to Snetterton – the longest circuit in the country, and one located barely 20 miles down the road from his home in Dereham – still in with a shout of overall MINI CHALLENGE honours, courtesy of three pole positions, two victories and seven further podiums behind the wheel of his distinctive, Evergreen Tyres and CAM Systems-sponsored MINI.
Whilst he knew he was very much the outsider in the three-way title battle in the headlining JCW class, Zelos was determined to put up a fight and he briefly topped the timesheets once again in qualifying, only to miss out on the best of the conditions right at the end of the session when the damp-but-drying track surface was at its fastest.
That restricted the 21-year-old to a frustrated eighth on the grid for the opener amongst the 27 high-calibre protagonists, but he immediately went on the offensive, swiftly settling into a four-way scrap for supremacy as the leading quartet made a break from the chasing pack.
Unfortunately, rear diffuser damage from the early skirmishes slightly stunted Zelos’ straight-line speed, and whilst he relentlessly applied the pressure on James ‘Jiggy’ Gornall in an effort to unseat his ultra-experienced rival from third, his performance disadvantage meant he couldn’t quite prise the door ajar. Fourth at the flag, the race’s second-best lap time – quicker than the winner – went to show what might have been had only he started further up the field.
Belying the difficulty of overtaking around Snetterton’s ‘300’ layout, with his car fully restored to tip-top condition by the MINI UK VIP team, the home hero held his nerve on the opening lap of race two the following day to scythe his way up to second. Not long after, he drew alongside the leader, but a tag sent him into a wild 360-degree spin across the grass. It was only Zelos’ supreme car control that kept him away from the barriers.
