15th June 2021

Talented Trio Take Ginetta Junior Wins At Snetterton

Callum Voisin, Liam McNeilly and Tom Edgar took a victory apiece during an action-packed second meeting of the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship season at Snetterton (12/13 June).

Talented Trio Take Ginetta Junior Wins At Snetterton

R Racing team-mates Voisin and Edgar each scored their second wins of the season, having shared the spoils in the season opener at Thruxton last month, whist McNeilly (Fox Motorsport) enjoyed a maiden success on a breakthrough weekend in the championship.

After topping the timesheets in free practice on Friday, Edgar produced a repeat performance in qualifying on Saturday morning to secure his maiden pole position. Close behind was McNeilly, who also enjoyed a best ever qualifying performance.

Alongside second for race one, McNeilly scored the race two pole position on second fastest times. It was a great session for R Racing meanwhile with four cars in the top six, including Josh Miller and quickest rookie Voisin who locked out row two for the first two races.

Under the Snetterton sunshine, a fantastic launch off the line at the start of race one promoted McNeilly into the race lead. His time in front was relatively brief though, with Edgar working his way back ahead at Agostini corner before breaking clear at the front.

Will Jenkins (Elite Motorsport) impressively rose from seventh on the grid to second by the end of the opening lap, but he lost out to Voisin on the next tour. By this stage Edgar was nearly three seconds clear at the front, but some blistering pace from Voisin closed the gap to under a second.

There would be no chance to challenge for the lead however as an incident in the pack led to the safety car emerging on circuit, where it unfortunately stayed until the chequered flag. Edgar therefore crossed the line as the on-the-road winner, with Voisin collecting the rookie victory.

Post-race however the result was changed, with Edgar receiving a time penalty after being deemed to have gained an unfair advantage with his lap one move on McNeilly. Voisin was therefore promoted to the race victory.

Aston Millar (R Racing) superbly fought his way through from tenth on the grid to third, but on the last lap of racing he lost a couple of spots. Jenkins and McNeilly therefore picked up maiden overall podium finishes in second and third respectively on the revised result, with Edgar fourth.

Behind them was a thrilling five-way battle for sixth position, with rookie Josh Rowledge (Elite Motorsport) emerging in front for his first top six finish. Assetto Motorsport duo Joe Wheeler and Max Dodds were hot on his heels, the latter picking up a first rookie podium.

Joining them in that group were Miller and Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner Robert de Haan (Richardson Racing), while one of the drives of the race came from Freddie Tomlinson (R Racing) as he climbed from 18th to 11th ahead of Jamie Osborne (Assetto Motorsport).

Seb Hopkins (Elite Motorsport), the points leader heading into the weekend, had been running 12th before unfortunately retiring following an incident. Amongst those gaining a place therefore was James Higgins (Preptech UK) and Harri Reynolds (Assetto Motorsport) in 13th and 14th.

It was a case of déjà vu at the start of race two on Saturday evening, as McNeilly was once again the quickest off the line to lead the field into Riches for the first time. A slow launch for Edgar meanwhile dropped him from second to sixth, with Miller and Voisin leading the charge to McNeilly.

Voisin pushed on and worked his way past both drivers on lap three to take the lead, where he stayed for a number of laps. McNeilly kept the pressure on throughout though and then became a beneficiary of a problem causing Voisin to lose speed in the closing stages.

McNeilly went on to take his first win in the championship, whilst Edgar impressively fought his way back through the lead pack to finish second. Jenkins produced some impressive overtakes once again as he completed a podium double for the day in third.

Voisin crossed the line fourth, but his car failed the post-race scrutineering check and he was disqualified from the result. Millar therefore completed the top four, while Hopkins bounced back from his race one disappointment and a tough qualifying session to climb from 11th to fifth.

Miller finished sixth at the finish ahead of rookie top two Rowledge and de Haan, who enjoyed a fantastic battle through the race. Higgins was going wheel-to-wheel with them for a long spell too, before unfortunately falling back to 17th at the finish.

Wheeler and Dodds rounded out the top ten as part of four Assetto drivers in the next five cars, with team-mates Reynolds and Osborne following home Tomlinson. Max Hall (Elite Motorsport) was next up ahead of Zac Meakin (Raceway Motorsport) and Fergus Chalmers (Preptech UK).

The final race of the weekend was televised live on ITV4, with McNeilly once again leading the field through Riches for the first time. His advantage was short-lived however, with a good run down the Bentley straight giving Edgar the chance to move past through Brundle.

Following a short safety car period, the action resumed with McNeilly piling the pressure on the leader. Edgar soaked it all up though and led the remaining laps to secure the win, a result that ensures he leaves Snetterton as the championship leader.

McNeilly finished second to complete a podium treble for the weekend, an achievement replicated by Jenkins in third after he defended well from Miller in the closing stages. Millar ran fifth throughout, while Rowledge picked up a second rookie class win of the weekend in sixth.

Hopkins was next up ahead of Osborne, who impressively rose five places through the race, and Dodds. The top ten was completed by Voisin, who sensationally fought his way up the order from 27th on the grid, with Tomlinson and Reynolds close behind.

A number of drivers picked up their best results of the weekend in the action-packed finale; Joe Warhurst (Elite Motorsport), Edward Pearson (Richardson Racing), Jack Sherwood (Elite Motorsport) and Adam Brown (Ultimate Speed Racing) in 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th respectively.

Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner Maurice Henry (Fox Motorsport) enjoyed a positive weekend with a hat-trick of points finishes, with Jacob Hodgkiss (Race Car Consultants), Ian Aguilera (R Racing) and Aqil Alibhai (Breakell Racing) also scoring points. Oliver Flashman (Richardson Racing) scored a best finish of 24th meanwhile.

The Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship continues in two weeks’ time with three races around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit (26/27 June).

Full race results for the weekend can be found here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/212303

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