Silverstone, the “Home of British Motorsport,” has been a happy hunting ground for many, and that included LDR Performance Tuning’s Louie Capozzoli, who in his début season, took the 2021 Quaife MINI Challenge UK Trophy Rookie Cup crown at his home circuit.

The Brackley-based driver would make it count and would be in the running for the overall title right up until the final race of the season. The #199 would not place outside of the top three all weekend long – his strongest performance to date.

In qualifying, Louie would be in the mix for pole position for round 15, where the entire 34-strong grid was covered by a mere 1.805 seconds around the 1.640-mile National circuit at Silverstone, in which 26 drivers were split by one second.

He would end up taking third place in the session on a 1:11.051, 0.127 seconds off pole sitter Dominic Wheatley (PerformanceTek Racing) and only 0.017 seconds off the front row, as AReeve Motorsport’s Harry Nunn would take second.

Louie would then go on to take his third overall win of the season at Round 15 by only 0.238 seconds ahead of Matt Hammond in the #888 EXCELR8 car, having initially gotten past Wheatley and Nunn on the second lap.

He would also briefly lose the lead on lap five to Wheatley, but would retake it back at Becketts, before seeing the chequered flag first after 11 laps of racing, finishing 0.238 seconds ahead of Matt Hammond, with fellow Rookie Tom Ovenden from EXCELR8 Motorsport rounding out the top three.

The penultimate race of the 2021 season would see Louie start from pole position after an initial delay, following on from problems for Hammond on the grid. The #199 would hold onto the lead for the first couple of laps, before Charlie Mann would then take the lead on lap three and not look back. Louie kept on pushing to secure another overall race win but would be denied by just 0.193 seconds.

The 17th and final round would be a nailbiter, as Louie was just 15 points adrift in second place overall, with a clear shot at the overall title, despite starting down in ninth. The tension would rise from the very start, as Louie would drop to tenth through Copse before fighting his way back up the field.

He would make it up to third place before the Safety Car was called into action, following an incident involving Morgan Wroot, Jonny Sargeant and Reece Page at Brooklands, thereby neutralizing the race. But from then on, it was a cat and mouse game for those battling at the front when racing got back underway.

Louie would make sure his presence was felt over the course of the last few moments, including the dash out of Luffield for the final time, where he would miss out on the win, which was taken by Tom Ovenden with Nelson King in second, by only 0.093 seconds after 16 laps.

After the dust had settled, Louie would be confirmed as Rookie Cup champion, and was just 12 points of Wheatley for the overall title, a dynamite performance in just his first year of car racing.

“I’m happy to take the Rookie Cup crown, but there is a slight bit of disappointment for not winning the overall title, but I couldn’t be prouder of how I’ve raced this year,” he said.

“It’s even more surprising that this was the result, based on how different things could have been after the first visit to Thruxton.

“I can’t thank everyone at LDR Performance Tuning for their help this year, especially with assisting me to be on the pace, along with my sponsors and parents, who have been so supportive to help me get to where I am now.

“Now it’s time to take some relaxation and then get ready for next year and go that one step further.”