The Vertu MINI CHALLENGE has confirmed a number of regulation changes ahead of the opening rounds of the 2025 season, which take place this month. 

Snetterton provides the setting for the Cooper class curtain-raiser this weekend, with the JCW and JCW Sport classes getting underway at Donington Park on April 26-27.

Ahead of the lights going out, amendments to the regulations across all three classes have been ratified and communicated to all competing teams and drivers. 

Race distances for the ten meetings that are held alongside the British Touring Car Championship – covering the full JCW/JCW Sport season and three events for the Cooper class – will see drivers offered additional track time.

For JCW and JCW Sport entrants, the final race of the weekend will run a duration of 25 minutes at Donington Park, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill.

Over in the Cooper class, the four non-TOCA race meetings will comprise of three 15-minute races. The meetings on the TOCA bill (Thruxton and Donington Park GP) will offer more track time for the final contest. 

For all classes, race one on the Saturdays on the TOCA programme will run to a duration of 20 minutes with an opportunity of five minutes contingency added in the event of a safety car, as with BTCC races. Race two will continue to run to a fixed duration of 20 minutes.

The points-scoring system remains unchanged however an additional six points will be given to the fastest time in qualifying in each class. Furthermore, the fastest race lap in each class will now be worth three points instead of six. 

Dropped scores have been revised too, with every race now being counted in both the JCW and JCW Sport categories, In the Cooper class, drivers will now drop their worst score from the season rather than their two worst scores. 

Entries have also been looked out with teams now limited to running maximum of four cars in any individual class. Should a team wish to run more than four cars, it will need to submit a request in writing to the Championship Organisers. 

Finally, the rules around the reverse grid have been tweaked for the JCW and JCW Sport classes, bringing them inline with the Cooper class. 

As a result, on those weekends where there are three races, the grid for race two will be decided by a random draw that will see anywhere from the top six to top ten overall from the previous race reversed.