Foreboding clouds gave an indication of the type of weather that was to come as the Cadet Honda field headed out for timed qualifying on Saturday although the track remained dry for both subsequent heats and it was Mitchell who led qualifying until falling foul of the track limits rule and had his times annulled, promoting Challenge Four winner Danny Harrison (Chris Rogers Motorsport) and FKS returnee Ewan Bennett (Project One) onto the front row.

However it was Chris Lulham (Ambition Motorsport) who won two highly competitive heat races, edging out Harrison and a charging Mitchell in heat one and Mitchell and Yukinori Ishii (Mechtech Motorsport) in heat two to take pole position for the Final. Mitchell would start alongside Lulham on the front row with Connor McCarthy (Project One) an impressive 3rd ahead of Harrison.

The skies were still dark as the drivers headed out for the Final on slick tyres and Mitchell swiftly moved into a narrow lead over the chasing pack. But as the leaders completed lap two the heavens opened and within a minute the track was drenched. Showing maturity way beyond their years the whole field coped admirably with the conditions with Mitchell opening up a sizable lead before the officials stopped the race, leaving Lulham and eight year-old Jean Sammut (Ambition Motorsport) completing the podium.

Sunday’s qualifying session and opening heat were held in dry conditions before the rains returned again for heat 2 and the Final. Lulham and Ishii set the same time in qualifying with Lulham getting pole position by virtue of having a slightly quicker second fastest lap and the pole sitter proceeded to dominate the first heat with Mitchell and Harrison more than 4s behind at the chequered flag.

Conditions had deteriorated for heat 2 and once again it was Mitchell who shone through the gloom as he won by nearly 6s from Lulham and noted wet weather expert Ishii but Lulham’s heat one victory was enough to give him pole position for the Final.

Sadly for Lulham though he wouldn’t get a chance to take the start for the Final as both he and his teammate Sammut missed the closing time for parc ferme and weren’t permitted to start the race, leaving Mitchell and Ishii on the front row. With the track still wet Mitchell exploited his local knowledge perfectly to lead from start to finish and complete the weekend double by an astonishing 17s. Ishii and Harrison enjoyed a spirited dice for 2nd place, which went to Ishii with everyone else more than half a minute behind the flying Scotsman.