Freddie Slater has now won more Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship races than any other driver in history after continuing his dominant 2023 campaign with a stunning hat-trick of victories at Snetterton (17/18 June).
For the first time it was Reza Seewooruthun who set the pace in qualifying, leading Freddie Slater and Mikey Porter for an R Racing one-two-three. Assetto Racing team-mates Finn Harrison and Chase Fernandez were next up ahead of Elite Motorsport duo Hugo Schwarze and Charlie Hart.
Seewooruthun made a great launch from pole position. They lead the field through Riches for the first time in the opening race. However, Slater tucked in behind him. He didn’t take long to seize the advantage as he dived past into Brundle corner.
From there, the top two ran nose-to-tail for almost the whole race before Seeworuthun made a last lap challenge. A bold move through Brundle into Nelson got him ahead, but Slater hit back heading into Coram to secure his record-equalling victory.
As Seewooruthun made a long-awaited return to the podium, Porter ran third for the first half of the race before a determined Fernandez got ahead to continue his good run of form. A last lap move from Schwarze on Porter got him fourth, having battled through from ninth after a grid penalty.
It proved to be a frustrating final lap for Porter. He was shuffled back to sixth before a five second track limits time penalty cost him two more places. Edu Robinson (R Racing) was one of those to overtake him as he finished in a brilliant seasons’ best fifth place.
Charlie Hart (Elite Motorsport) ultimately rounded out the top six ahead of Henry Joslyn (Preptech UK). Porter and Harrison, the latter having dropped back around mid-distance. Alisha Palmowski (Elite Motorsport) bounced back from a tough qualifying session to complete the top ten.
Palmowski emerged at the head of one of the most exciting battles of the race, leading home Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport), Luca Hopkinson (R Racing) and Tom Spragg (Preptech UK). Freddie Allum (Elite Motorsport) survived an early incident to finish ahead of Fox Motorsport’s Holly Miall and Harry Moss.
Slater started the second race of the weekend from pole position and held the lead for the opening lap. However, next time round Fernandez dived past into Riches. One of the most exciting laps of the season came up soon after, starting with Slater regaining the lead into the Wilson hairpin.
Two corners later Fernandez was back ahead at Agostini. Slater forced his way through again at Oggies with Porter following. The slipstream effect down the back straight cost him dear though. He slipped back to third, with Porter now leading for the first time.
Slater fought back on the next lap however. He passed Fernandez at Agostini and then Porter into Brundle to get back to the front. Porter emerged in second and those two ended up breaking clear of the pack, going on to impressively record another one-two finish for R Racing.
A tough final few laps for Fernandez dropped him out of podium contention. This allowed his Assetto team-mate Harrison to grab third. This position came after a close battle with Schwarze through the race. Hart rounded out the top five ahead of Fernandez, with Douglass taking seventh on the penultimate lap.
Joslyn battled his way to eighth on the road. However, a track limits penalty demoted him to 13th in the revised result. Seewooruthun therefore ended up eighth, having climbed up from 17th on the grid. Palmowski and Hopkinson rounded out the top ten ahead of Robinson and Spragg.
Slater’s win secured him pole position for the final race. He duly converted it into his most dominant victory of the weekend. Initially building a comfortable lead at the front of the field, he then controlled a three-lap restart following a red flag stoppage.
Second place was close-fought throughout. Harrison briefly grabbing the position on lap one before Porter and Fernandez got ahead through the Bomb Hole. After running in formation for a couple of laps, Fernandez made his move into the Wilson hairpin prior to the race stoppage.
After the restart, Hart produced a stunning double move into Wilson to grab second. Fernandez ended up slipping back to ninth during a tough lap. Porter and Seewooruthun fought their way past Hart next time round to complete the podium.
That was R Racing’s second podium lockout of the season so far. Slater and Porter remarkably finished one-two for the fifth time this season. It was a pair of Elite drivers behind, with Hart leading home his team-mate Schwarze, then Douglass and Fernandez.
After spinning back to 16th place on the opening lap of the original start, Joslyn fought back well to ninth ahead of Robinson and Spagg. Despite a two-place post-race penalty putting him to 14th behind Hopkinson and Miall, it was still a best result of the weekend for Felix Livesey (Xentek Motorsport).
Full Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/232405
All three races can be watched back at https://m.youtube.com/@ginettatv/streams
The 2023 Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship season continues next month. 22/23 July will be its first trip to Cadwell Park in 15 years.
