Sebastien Leusch has been crowned the 2026 Ginetta Junior Winter Series powered by Sunoco Race Fuels champion, sealing the title with a pair of second place finishes across a dramatic day of racing at Snetterton (25 October).
Louis Radcliffe dominated proceedings on Sunday, converting double pole position into his first two race victories to win the rookie title, however it wasn’t enough to stop his R Racing team-mate Leusch becoming overall champion having secured his own maiden race win on Saturday.
Qualifying
After securing his maiden Ginetta Junior pole positions the day before, Radcliffe produced a repeat performance on Sunday morning. His final flying lap secured him top spot on the timesheets by half a tenth of a second from Finlay Lines (Elite Motorsport).
Jacob Ashcroft (Elite Motorsport) was less than two tenths shy of pole in third overall, with Leusch joining him on row two for the opening race of the day. Noah Baglin (R Racing) continued his impressive debut car-racing weekend by lapping fifth fastest.
Race Three
While he was unable to convert pole into victory on Saturday, it was third time lucky for Radcliffe in Sunday’s opening race. After soaking up pressure in the first few laps, the intensity of the battle behind ramped up and he was able to break clear to a maiden car-racing win by over seven seconds.
Ashcroft got past Lines into second on the opening lap, before Leusch moved ahead of them both on lap two to grab the position. As Radcliffe started to edge away, Leusch slipped back to fourth on lap four before picking his way through to second again over the next few laps.
The fight for second between the three title protagonists continued into the dying stages of the race. Ashcroft grabbed second back from Leusch on the penultimate lap, before they switched back again in the early stages of the final tour.
The battle reached a dramatic conclusion at the last corner, as Ashcroft tried to make a move but contact caused him to spin around. While Leusch was able to continue and finish second, Lines lost momentum in the melee and dropped to fifth, as Ashcroft recovered to seventh at the flag.
Baglin picked his way through the late incident to score his maiden overall podium finish. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy member had rekindled an exciting duel with Luca Luen (Elite Motorsport) from Saturday, with the duo switching places multiple times through the race.
Two potential podium contenders had been taken out of contention on lap one, with an incident between Dominic Darling (Performance One) and Ian Danicska (Elite Motorsport) bringing their races to a premature conclusion.
Anesu Maphumulo (R Racing) picked up his best result of the weekend in sixth ahead of Ashcroft, with Rayan Ghandour (R Racing) gaining four positions through the race to eighth. Luuk Taal (Orion SPR) and Barnaby Brewer (MK Racing) fought back from a mid-race tangle to complete the top ten.
Race Four
After a quiet start to the final race of the weekend, the action ignited at the front of the field on lap three as pole-sitter Radcliffe slipped back to third. Leusch moved into the lead and faced a challenge from Lines into Riches on lap four, however contact as he tried to make the move led to Lines spinning.
Leusch survived and was able to continue in the lead from Radcliffe, with Danicska moving up to third ahead of Maphumulo and Ashcroft. Radcliffe didn’t wait long to mount his own challenge for the lead though and managed to work his way ahead next time around.
With his main title rival Lines having dropped back, Leusch knew second place would be enough to secure him the title. That ensured a comfortable run to the chequered flag behind his team-mate Radcliffe, meaning they finished one-two in the final points standings.
The driver on the move in the closing laps was Ashcroft, working his way past Maphumulo, Darling and then on the final lap, Danicska, to secure the final spot on the overall podium. Danicksa scored his best result of the weekend in fourth ahead of Baglin and Darling.
Maphumulo had impressively climbed as high as fourth at one stage before being shuffled back to seventh in the end. Luen and Taal were next up, as Lines recovered from his spin to finish tenth. Julia Angelard (Elite Motorsport) made it a pair of 11th place finishes for the day.
Newly-crowned BRSCC Fiesta Junior rookie champion Brewer signed off his debut Ginetta weekend with a 12th place finish ahead of Ghandour, while Charlie Halewood (Orion SPR) completed the finishers having taken the best result of his car-racing debut with 12th earlier in the day.
Provisional Ginetta Junior Winter Series Championship Standings:
1. Sebastien Leusch – 123pts
2. Louis Radcliffe – 108pts
3. Jacob Ashcroft – 103pts
4. Finlay Lines – 93pts
5. Noah Baglin – 82pts
6. Luca Luen – 68pts
Full session results for the 2026 Ginetta Junior Winter Series powered by Sunoco Race Fuels can be found at TSL Timing.
