The 2026 Ginetta race season reaches its conclusion this weekend (24-25 October) with a bumper grid of teenage talents ready to put on a show in the Ginetta Junior Winter Series powered by Sunoco Race Fuels at Snetterton.
The 18th running of the traditional end-of-season championship sees it return to Norfolk for the first time since 2015, having been contested there on six previous occasions. This one-weekend event will feature a qualifying session and two 20-minute races on each day.
The 2026 Winter Series grid brings together an intriguing mix of established Ginetta Junior racers and newcomers to the category. They will battle it out across the four races to try and add their name to a prestigious roll call of Winter Series champions over the years.
Since its introduction back in 2007, a number of leading drivers have used the Winter Series as a platform into a successful Junior campaign the following year and great careers from there; including the likes of Freddie Slater, Adam Smalley, Seb Morris and Seb Priaulx.
R Racing are the defending Winter Series champions, having tasted success with Jesse Phillips at Silverstone last year. They are the team to beat heading into the event this time around, having won all three championships on offer in the main 2026 Ginetta Junior season.
The Norfolk-based squad have a rich history at their home circuit, having won 12 of the last 13 Ginetta Junior races there. They’re set to run a strong five-car entry featuring returning drivers and new talents, headlined by 2026 podium-finisher Sebastien Leusch.
Leusch will be excited to return to Snetterton after enjoying breakthrough results on his first visit. Securing his maiden overall podium finishes and a rookie class win that weekend, he went on to add more silverware at Donington Park to end the main season in good form.
With a season of experience under his belt, Anesu Maphumulo will be targeting front-running results this weekend. Likewise Louis Radcliffe, who made his car-racing debut at Snetterton to kick off a three-event run that yielded a pair of top ten results.
R Racing’s entry is completed by two newcomers to Ginetta Junior competition. Ferrari Driver Academy member Noah Baglin has a great karting CV, including winning the 2025 FIA Junior World Karting Championship, while Rayan Ghandour has experience in British and international Rotax karting.
Elite Motorsport are another Norfolk squad looking enjoy success at their local track. The newly-crowned drivers’ and teams’ champions in the Ginetta GT Championship will be aiming to add to their four previous Winter Series titles, the last of which came in 2024 with Isaac Phelps.
Leading their challenge for the title will be 2026 race-winner Jacob Ashcroft. The former karting world champion celebrated his breakthrough victory at Croft in the summer, which was part of a great haul of six overall podium finishes across the campaign.
Ian Danicska will hope to pick up his first Junior silverware this weekend, having impressed with a seventh-place finish in his debut race to start a three-event cameo. Finlay Lines was another to immediately break into the top ten on his debut appearance in the Brands Hatch season finale.
Luca Luen will be looking to build on a solid debut appearance during the Ginetta Festival at Croft, while Elite’s five-driver entry is completed by Julia Angelard, an exciting Polish talent who enters cars with a good karting pedigree.
Dominic Darling comes into the event with momentum on his side, after a positive end to the main season with Performance One Motorsport. Narrowly missing out on the Freshman class title, he secured breakthrough overall top six finishes in the penultimate round at Donington Park.
MK Racing picked up their maiden Ginetta Junior podium finish in the Winter Series last year and they’ll be targeting more silverware with debutant Barnaby Brewer. He is one to watch, having taken the Rookie Cup title and an overall race win in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship this year.
The Winter Series entry list is completed by Orion SPR with two finalists from the recent Ginetta Junior Scholarship; Luuk Taal and Charlie Halewood. Dutch racer Taal is a former podium finisher in the Champions of the Future kart series, while Halewood competed in SuperOne this year.
Follow @Ginetta_Motorsport on Instagram for all the latest updates across the weekend, while live timing and results will be available via TSL Timing.
Provisional Timetable:
Saturday 24 October: Qualifying 09:30-09:50; Race One 11:40-12:00; Race Two 14:40-15:00
Sunday 25 October: Qualifying 09:00-09:20; Race Three 11:10-11:30; Race Four 14:10-14:30
