Fred Green and Alfie shared the victories at Brands Hatch to continue their title challenges in the Ginetta Junior Championship during the sixth round of the 20th anniversary season this past weekend (23-24 August).
Qualifying
Max Cuthbert (R Racing) got the weekend off to the perfect start, securing his first pole position of the season. He lapped just 0.025s quicker than Green, whose Elite Motorsport team-mate Colin Cronin secured his best qualifying result of the campaign in third.
George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing) was another to improve his seasons’ best in fourth overall ahead of Ethan Carney (Elite Motorsport). Red Bull Junior Team aces Rocco Coronel and Scott Kin Lindblom (both R Racing) were next, with less than four tenths of a second splitting the top seven.
Race One
Cuthbert led away from pole at the start of the opening race, but his advantage was short-lived as Green dived down the inside at Druids. Behind, Coronel quickly dispatched Carney for fifth, with the latter suffering an unfortunate spin at Stirlings on lap two that dropped him to 24th.
Coronel continued his forward momentum in the early stages, passing Proudford-Nalder and Cronin on consecutive laps to move up to third. The top two had already broken clear by that point though, contesting a tense duel for the victory as the race developed.
Tucked up under Green’s rear wing throughout, Cuthbert bided his time before going on the attack on the last lap. He drew alongside on a couple of occasions, but Green produced an exemplary defensive performance to secure the victory, with Cuthbert settling for second.
Coronel went on to complete the podium, whilst a last lap move from Slater (R Racing) secured him fourth at the expense of Cronin. An entertaining five-car battle played out for sixth in the closing stages, with Harry Bartle (Pace Performance) taking the position on the road.
Bartle received a four-position penalty for an incident in the race though, demoting him to tenth. Lindblom therefore completed the top six ahead of Jarrett Clark (R Racing), while Josh Watts climbed from 14th on the grid to a maiden top ten finish in his first race since switching teams to Performance One.
A rollercoaster race for Proudford-Nalder meanwhile ended with him classified ninth. Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport) starred as he rose from 19th on the grid to 11th, with Joshua Henry (Elite Motorsport) also making progress on his way to a seasons’ best 12th place finish. Lewis Goff (ProjectR) signed off an impressive debut race in 13th.
They were all part of a huge battle on the fringes of the top ten, which also included fellow points finishers Raul Zunzarren (MKH Racing), Torrin Byrne (Pace Performance), Felipe Reijs (R Racing), Max Murray (ProjectR) and Emmilio Del Grosso (Elite Motorsport).
Race Two
The second race of the weekend started with Green initially leading away from pole position, while behind Coronel nipped past Cuthbert at Druids for second. Two corners later the positions changed again as Slater launched a stunning move from fourth to first around the outside of Surtees.
Green and Coronel slotted in behind him, while Cuthbert lost further ground to Bartle and Cronin. Bartle went on the offensive on lap two, diving down the inside of Coronel into Westfield, with the championship leader getting shuffled behind Cuthbert and Cronin too in the process.
The race action was halted with a red flag soon after though, following an incident between Murray and Katrina EE (Tim Gray Motorsport) exiting Sheene Curve. Murray was extricated from his car and taken to hospital for care, while EE was cleared by the circuit medical staff.
The race result was taken back to the end of lap one. Slater therefore earned his third win of the season ahead of Green and Coronel. Bartle secured his best result of the year in fourth ahead of Cronin, Cuthbert, Lindblom and Carney, who had risen from 12th on the grid to eighth in one lap.
Proudford-Nalder and Clark completed the overall top ten from Byrne, Henry, Noah Young (Performance One), Watts and Del Grosso, while Lake secured the final points-paying position in 16th overall.
Race Three
The grid for the final race of the weekend was set by the race two result, which led to Slater and Green heading the field through the opening lap. Coronel started third, but a move around the outside at Westfield secured Bartle the place, with Proudford-Nalder following him through as he rose from ninth on the grid to fourth.
The top three were able to break away as Proudford-Nalder held off Coronel early on. His defence lasted until lap three when Coronel dived down the inside at Surtees, with Proudford-Nalder ending up off circuit and dropping back to ninth.
At the front of the field, Green slipped down the inside of Slater at Paddock Hill Bend on lap four. That move didn’t hold though, as an incident for Carney at Hawthorn led to a red flag stoppage. The race was restarted with the order from the last completed lap, putting Slater on pole.
Green immediately regained his advantage off the restart though, forcing his way down the inside going into Druids. Bartle attempted to pass Slater around the outside at Clearways, but that opened the door for Coronel to get down the inside and slight contact pitched Bartle into the Paddock Hill gravel.
Green faced a last lap challenge from Slater, but he fended him off through Surtees and went on to secure his fourth win of the season. Slater ran wide in the process, allowing Coronel through to second place at the finish to help maintain his healthy lead at the top of the standings.
Lindblom made it three consecutive R Racing cars as he came home fourth ahead of Cronin and Byrne. After a first lap moment dropped him to 11th, Cuthbert fought back to seventh at the finish, whilst Proudford-Nalder recovered to eighth after his trip off track.
Behind Clark, Goff completed his impressive debut weekend in the championship with a great drive from 19th on the original start to a maiden top ten finish. Del Grosso was next up, with Henry completing a hat-trick of 12th place results for the weekend.
Watts, Zunzarren and Young were once again in the thick of the action as they completed the top 15 ahead of Reijs, while Lake was on the fringes of the top ten before a moment over the grass lost him ground. Matthew Chiwara (Tim Gray Motorsport), Andrew Robinson (E3 Sport) and Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) secured points finishes to end their weekend.
In the Freshmans Cup, a class for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, Lake took his ninth consecutive win in the opening race before Young scored a double victory on Sunday. Both of them secured podium hat-tricks, as Robinson and Cameron also took home trophies.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/253405
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The next round of the 2025 Ginetta Junior Championship season takes place next month (06/07 September), as the series returns to Croft in North Yorkshire for the first time in three years.
