Charlie Butler-Henderson’s MINI challenge at Snetterton

• Force majeure in qualifying leads to impressive recovery to net top 10 results in third MINI CHALLENGE JCW round
• Technical failure robs Charlie of a chance to shine in race three

Charlie Butler-Henderson experienced a frustrating third round of the MINI CHALLENGE JCW Championship at Snetterton, but he overcame a hefty dose of bad luck to salvage two fighting top 10 finishes from the three races.
MINI UK Brand Ambassador Charlie simply couldn’t catch a break in Norfolk, and had the odds stacked against him from the very start.
The trip to Snetterton promised much for Charlie, having worked at the venue as an instructor previously and secured his CHALLENGE crown at the track back in 2015. Spirits were high, but sadly his luck turned even before qualifying.
Having started the day in blissful sunshine, a huge rainstorm soaked the track just before the JCWs headed out for qualifying, forcing all cars to swiftly switch to wet tyres. Charlie took to the track in appalling conditions, but soon had to pit when his windscreen misted so badly he had zero visibility.
“We had no time to treat the windscreen with anything to prevent misting so as soon as I went out I couldn’t see a thing,” said CB-H. “The set of wet tyres I had also wasn’t great as I had very little grip.”
CB-H did retake the circuit a few minutes later, but never got a chance to set a flying lap as red flags flew for cars off the track. The result was a 29th place start on the 30-car grid.
Knowing he had to make swift inroads in the dry race one, Charlie flew up the order on slick tyres. He pulled off a string of slick passes to scorch up to 10th place by the chequered flag and the comeback was on.
“I really enjoyed the first race, I didn’t want the flag to come out as I was having so much fun,” said Charlie. “I was passing people left, right and centre. Right then it looked like we could salvage something pretty good from the weekend.”

Charlie started P10 on the grid for race two, but again Lady Luck wasn’t on his side. A perfectly judged start put Charlie up to seventh straight away, but again the red flags flew when two cars clashed on the pit straight. That forced a re-grid, which put CB-H back to P10 with all the work to do over again.
“I think everybody woke up for the second race start, so I couldn’t make the same in-roads,” said CB-H. “I got into a huge battle with Henry Neal, and even had to skip over the Nelson/Brundle chicane at one point as we were side-by-side and he was in my blind spot so I couldn’t see him at all.”
The result was another 10th place, which at least yielded solid championship points. But that’s as good as it got for Charlie, as two bolts in his gear selector sheared on the green flag lap for race three, forcing him to park the car and retire before the race had even got going.
As a result Charlie has dropped to fifth in the championship table, but is still within striking distance of top spot should his rivals hit trouble.
“Snetterton was a bit of a disaster, whichever way you look at it,” said CB-H. “I felt a few things let me down and cost me badly. It has really put the pressure on for the rest of the season. But it’s likely that everybody will have weekends like that at some point this year so the championship definitely isn’t out of the question just yet.
“We’re on to Silverstone next, where I have the lap record and I will be going for two wins to get this year back on track.”
Witham Motorsport and Motul are proud sponsors of Charlie in the MINI CHALLENGE JCW Championship.  For updates on Charlie’s progress you can follow him on Facebook