Beanie Reece highlighted Wera Alliance Racing’s charge at Donington Park last weekend, taking a best result of 12th in race three of the Mini Challenge Trophy, as Liona Theobald ran close to her all weekend. Ellena Reece and Lexie Powell also had productive weekends of their own, which culminated in a top-15 finish for both in race three.

Nineteen-year-old Beanie Reece was the star of Wera Alliance Racing’s efforts at Donington Park by securing two top-15 finishes and often finding herself leading the four-car squad’s charge in the races. Liona Theobald matched Reece’s pace all weekend and was the team’s highest-qualifying driver in 16th, while Ellena Reece and Lexie Powell ended their weekends on a positive note by securing a top 15 in race three.

The weekend began on Thursday, with the first two practice sessions of the weekend, which were headlined by wet conditions. Across both sessions, Powell and Ellena Reece traded fastest laps within the team, as they set the 18th- and 19th- fastest times throughout the day, as Beanie and Theobald gathered valuable experience in the treacherous conditions.

On Saturday, racing action resumed with qualifying taking place in the morning on a dry track. In more favorable conditions, Theobald set the 16th-fastest time and was closely followed by Beanie Reece in 17th, while Ellena and Powell qualified 20th and 22nd respectively. Second-fastest laps from qualifying were used to determine the grid for race one, meaning Beanie and Theobald swapped places on the grid, as Ellena was 18th and Powell lined up 22nd on the grid.

Later that day, race one commenced. On the opening lap, Theobald overtook Beanie to take 16th, while Ellena dropped to 20th behind Blair Dryburgh and Louis Fleet. As the leading pair of the team held their positions in the early stages, Ellena was passed by Finley Groom and Powell on lap three as she slipped to 22nd. Two laps later, the Newton-born racer moved herself back up to 20th ahead of Groom and Powell, while Powell was passed by Adam Curtis on lap six.

The rest of the race proved to be a quiet one for most of the Wera Alliance Racing outfit, as Theobald and the Reece sisters maintained their positions as the checkered flag fell, while Powell decisively passed two cars in the closing stages to cross the line 21st.

On Sunday morning, race two took place, in which the results of race one were used to make up the grid, with the reversal of the top nine finishers. It was a clean start for Beanie, who moved up to 16th, as Theobald slid to 19th, directly ahead of Ellena and Powell. However, the race was then halted on the following lap due to a crash for Harry Smith, which required extensive repairs to the tyre barriers at the chicane.

As a result, all four Wera Alliance Racing drivers were promoted up a place in time for the restart with a handful of minutes on the clock. While Beanie maintained 15th in the closing stages, Theobald and Ellena both overtook Dryburgh to move themselves to 17th and 18th on the restart, as Powell followed them closely in 20th as the race drew to a close.

At the start of race three, Beanie overtook Theobald to once again move herself up to 16th, while Theobald was also passed by Fleet and thus dropped to 18th. All four cars then moved up a place following Luca Marinoni Osborne’s off-track excursion on lap two, as Powell moved past Ellena for 19th on lap four. In parallel, Theobald began her quest to regain lost positions, by passing Fleet on lap four and then finding her way past Dryburgh to move herself up to 16th in the second half of the race.

With a handful of minutes left on the clock, Powell and Ellena began to battle for 18th, after passing Fleet, with Powell staying on top after a decisive defence at Goddards with six minutes left on the clock. In the closing stages of the race, drivers in close proximity to the Wera Alliance squad began receiving track limit penalties, but with two laps to go, all four moved up three places following a collision between Josh Selvadorai, Richard Jepp and Henry Foote on the exit of the Melbourne hairpin.

As the checkered flag waved at the end of the following lap, Beanie rounded out a positive weekend in 12th, ahead of Theobald in 13th. Ellena and Powell followed suit in 14th and 15th, after taking advantage of Dryburgh’s five-second penalty for track limits.

Following a clean weekend, Theobald enters the final two rounds 13th in the overall standings on 308 points, as Powell sits on 252 in 16th, as Beanie and Ellena Reece are on 242 and 240, in 18th and 19th respectively. The Wera Alliance Racing quartet will be back in action next weekend at Croft, on September 4–6.

Race report from https://www.racers-behindthehelmet.com/