Race 2 of the 2005 John Cooper Challenge was held on Sunday at Donington Park. Following a spectacular shunt in Round 1, Stephen's mechanics - Kevin & Alan - were determined to get him back out on the grid for the second race of the weekend. Hours of hard work during Saturday night and Sunday morning saw a rapid transformation in the appearance of Stephen's car. Additional help from Stephen's team mate Gary Kounnis, and Rachel Owen's father (Barry) meant that Stephen's car was all ready for action.

Starting from 5th on the grid, Stephen made a great getaway in his gaffer taped MINI. This time all four wheels stayed firmly planted on the tarmac, and he exited the first corner safely having made his way up to 4th. Once again Craggs had managed to break away from the pack while a mammoth battle between Campbell, Kounnis, Austin, Viney and Jonathan & David Shepherd ensued for the remaining podium positions. In one lap Stephen held 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions as he fought hard against his fiercely competitive rivals. However, on the last few laps of the race a drive shaft problem started to emerge causing Stephen to reduce his pace and drop back to sixth to ensure that he finished the race. Gary Kounnis finished a well deserved second, while David Shepherd finished a fantastic 3rd in only his second ever John Cooper Challenge race.

Dave Philips put in two impressive performances, finishing 13th in race one and 12th in race 2 despite having had to start from the back of the grid in both rounds.

In S Class Sayle once again got a better start than pole man Forster, putting him in the lead for the first few laps of the race. However, Forster managed to close the gap and pass Sayle at the Esses. Loukes passed Speller at the start and held his position to the chequered flag to secure 3rd, leaving Speller and Freddy Nordstrom to fight it out for 4th. Freddy drove a fantastic race to secure 4th in only his second ever John Cooper Challenge race.

Despite having rolled the car less than 24 hours before Sunday's race, Stephen managed to secure 15 Championship points. Stephen would like to thank Alan, Kevin, Gary Kounnis and Barry Owen for all of their hard work in helping get the car fixed and prepared in time for the second race of the weekend.

More door to door MINI action is in store when the John Cooper Challenge heads to Croft on the 7th & 8th May for Rounds 3 and 4.

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