Ginetta Junior Championship Review, Croft Circuit 18-19 July

by admin | Jun 17, 2016 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News

Review of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Croft Circuit, 18-19 July

The Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship visited Croft circuit last weekend, once again supporting the BTCC and racing in front of capacity crowds as well as live TV cameras.

Croft Race Circuit

Address: Croft Circuit, West Lane. Dalton On Tees, North Yorkshire, DL2 2PL

Website: www.croftcircuit.co.uk

Circuit Length: 2.12 miles

In qualifying, Stuart Middleton produced a stunning lap for pole. Not only was he the only driver to break the 1m 40s barrier, but he became the only driver to qualify on pole twice in 2016 in this ultra competitive class. Rookie class leader Daniel Harper impressed once again with seventh, whilst Enzo Fittipaldi, as predicted by team boss Wayne Douglas, continued to improve with 10th on the grid.

In race one, Middleton made no mistakes to take an impressive lights to flag win, crossing the line 8 tenths of a second ahead of his nearest challenger for his fourth win of 2016. This also put the Douglas Motorsport driver back at the head of the title standings. Team mate Harper had another great run, shadowing runner up Seb Priaulx for the duration to take his fourth overall podium of the season. Fittipaldi was embroiled in a hectic race for 10th, eventually crossing the line 13th and sixth of the Rookies.

In race two, Middleton again made the perfect start to lead the pack away, whilst team mate Harper snatched Fittipaldi-Podium-01second from Priaulx on the opening lap to make it a Douglas Motorsport 1-2 at the head of the field.

Harper shadowed his team mate all the way to the flag for a superb result- Middleton increasing his championship lead and his younger team mate taking Rookie Cup honours once again. Fittipaldi finished 12th and fourth Rookie.

Race three, however, was a very different affair, as Douglas Motorsport were about to find out, with both Middleton and Harper being tagged and spun out on the opening lap. Middleton and Priaulx touched with the series leader being eliminated from the race immediately whilst Harper was knocked well down the order. Douglas Motorsport honour was to be upheld however, by the ever improving Fittipaldi who drove superbly to come home home eighth and take his maiden Rookie Cup victory, with the recovering Harper just behind.

Wayne Douglas, Team Principal, Douglas Motorsport “The first two races were exactly what we worked for. Race three? Well, sometimes that’s just motor racing. Overall it was a good weekend for us and I am delighted with Enzo’s first Rookie Cup win and we now lead both the overall championship with Stuart and the Rookie Cup with Daniel.”

Race Preview by Ginetta.com

Will Tregurtha (HHC) arrives at Croft having snatched the championship lead by just a single point at Oulton Park a fortnight ago. The HHC driver became the 13^th different pole sitter in 14 meetings, an advantage he translated into a pair of wins.

As we reach the mid-point of the championship at Croft, Stuart Middleton (Douglas) will be doing everything he can to reclaim the series lead, and having been on the podium seven out of the nine races ran thus far, you can expect to see him running at the sharp end.

Don’t discount Dave Wooder (TCR) and Lewis Brown (HHC) though, the pair have each shone in recent meetings. Wooder took his maiden win at Thruxton whilst Brown celebrated victory at Donington Park and between them, have taken eight overall podiums whilst busy fighting over third in the driver standings.

Fifth overall and leading the Rookie class is Daniel Harper (Douglas). He failed to score any points at Oulton Park due to a pair of retirements, and you can be certain he will be looking to make hay here as he aims to extend his advantage over closest class opponent Tom Gamble (HHC).

Splitting the two rookie rivals are Geri Nicosia (Elite), Cameron Roberts (JHR) and Charlie Fagg (HHC), with the latter celebrating his best result yet at Oulton Park as he made his 2016 podium debut with second place in the opening race, a positive result he compounded with fourth in race two, moving him well up the championship standings.

Behind Harper, the rest of the rookie top five are split by just five points. Gamble leapfrogged Seb Priaulx (JHR) to take second in class after the latter struggled in the races at Oulton although he did claim a front row start following qualifying. With one of the strongest Rookie contingent than ever before, Harry King (Elite) claimed his first rookie podiums of the year with a win and third in class meaning he now sits just one point adrift of Max Bird (TCR) in class.

Elsewhere, JHR will be hoping some strong results at Croft will help Kyle Hornby, Seb Perez and Cameron Roberts’ title bids, whilst Enzo Fittipaldi is hoping for more luck in his Douglas Motorsport prepared car. Completing the grid are Tom Wood (Elite), who has already made a number of Rookie class podium appearances this year, as well as Anthony Ayres (Mectech) and Connor Grady (TCR).

With three races instead of the usual two, it’s set to be another exciting weekend for the teenage racers as their inter-championship battles begin to become even more exciting. Make sure you never miss a minute by following @GinettaCars on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Preview of the weekend’s action:

Race Timetable

Practice

Practice, Friday 18th June

Practice 1:

Practice Session 2:

The Ginetta Junior drivers took to the track for two sessions on Friday. Douglas drivers took a 1-2 in the second session, with Stuart Middleton leading Daniel Harper.

Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 10:25.

Qualifying

Stuart Middleton took his second pole of the season, while Enzo Fittipaldi took 10th position and his best qualifying result of the championship. Daniel Harper starts in P7.

Race 1

Stuart Middleton:

Grid Pos: 1
Finished: 1st
Pts: 36

Daniel Harper:

Grid Pos: 7
Finished: 3rd
Rookie: 2nd
Pts: 26

Enzo Fittipaldi:

Grid Pos: 10
Finished: 13th
Rookie: 6th
Pts: 8

Race 2

Stuart Middleton:

Grid Pos: 1
Finished: 1
Pts: 35

Daniel Harper:

Grid Pos: 3
Finished: 2nd
Rookie: 1st
Pts: 31

Enzo Fittipaldi:

Grid Pos: 13
Finished: 12th
Rookie: 4th
Pts: 3

Race 3

Stuart Middleton:

Grid Pos: 4
Finished: DNF
Pts: 0

Daniel Harper:

Grid Pos: 3
Finished: 9th
Rookie: 2nd
Pts: 12

Enzo Fittipaldi:

Grid Pos: 12
Finished: 8th
Rookie: 1st
Pts: 14

Footage of Race10:

Your Douglas Motorsport Drivers:

Stuart Middleton

Championship Position after Round 12:

1st (324pts)

Daniel Harper

Championship Position after Round 12:

5th (210pts)
1st place Rookie

Enzo Fittipaldi

Championship Position after Round 12:

17th (83pts)
7th place Rookie

Gallery

Countdown to Snetterton

Day(s)

Hour(s)

Minute(s)

Second(s)

Randle Closes in on F3 Championship Lead

by admin | Jun 14, 2016 | F3 News, News

Rounds thirteen and fourteen of the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship took place at Silverstone last weekend, the series once again running alongside the British GT Championship.

Friday saw 4 practice sessions, where both Douglas drivers both finished in the top 3 in 3 out of 4 practice rounds, including a 1-2 in round 2. Thomas Randle finished in the top 3 in all practice sessions, topping the times in round 2.

On Saturday, Thomas Randle topped the timesheets with a last lap effort in qualifying, assuring himself of the all important pole position for race one. Team mate Enaam Ahmed was seventh, just .05 off fourth place in a typically close fought session.

When the lights went out for race one, Randle made no mistakes to lead the pack away and looked to be heading for another British F3 win. Unfortunately, the race was stopped and on the restart he was beaten away by Matheus Leist, dropping to third early on but crossing the line in second. Team mate Ahmed drove well, finishing fifth having battled with a train of cars for the duration.

In an action packed race two, in wet conditions, Randle took another portion of championship points for fourth place with Ahmed right behind in fifth. The race finished under safety car when Quinlan Lall parked in the gravel on the exit of Luffield having made contact with another car.

The third race of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship partnered by Duo weekend at Silverstone was abandoned before any racing action took place due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in Northamptonshire.

Only minutes prior to the field taking to the circuit for the final encounter of the meeting, a large storm passed through the circuit, soaking the track and leaving pools of standing water all across the 3.6-mile layout. The safety car inspected the track but, as conditions continued to worsen, the entire race meeting was abandoned at 17:00.

1.	Matheus Leist	Double R Racing	6 Laps
2.	Thomas Randle	Douglas Motorsport	+4.396s
3.	Tarun Reddy	Fortec Motorsports	+8.374s
4.	Ricky Collard	Carlin	+9.037s
5.	Enaam Ahmed	Douglas Motorsport	+9.405s
6.	Sisa Ngebulana	HHC Motorsport	+11.316s
7.	Toby Sowery	Lanan Racing	+11.740s
8.	Jan Jonck	Sean Walkinshaw Racing	+12.106s
9.	Thomas Maxwell	Sean Walkinshaw Racing	+15.850s
10.	Eugene Denyssen	Sean Walkinshaw Racing	+18.692s

1.	Toby Sowery	Lanan Racing	8 Laps
2.	Lando Norris	Carlin	+1.002s
3.	Matheus Leist	Double R Racing	+1.692s
4.	Thomas Randle	Douglas Motorsport	+2.979s
5.	Enaam Ahmed	Douglas Motorsport	+3.522s
6.	Ben Hingeley	HHC Motorsport	+4.373s
7.	Tarun Reddy	Fortec Motorsports	+5.186s
8.	Enzo Bortoleto	Double R Racing	+6.814s
9.	Jeremy Wahome	Chris Dittmann Racing	+7.499s
10.	Aleksanteri Huovinen	Double R Racing	+8.120s

1.	Collard, R	298pts
2.	Randle, T	279pts
3.	Leist, M	276pts
4.	Sowery, T	259pts
5.	Ahmed, E	222pts
6.	Huovinen, A	177pts
7.	Norris, L	175pts
8.	Maxwell, T	161pts
9.	Bortoleto, E	159pts
10.	Reddy, T	148pts
11.	Ngebulana, S	145pts
12.	Jonck, J	142pts
13.	Lall, Q	119pts
14.	Al Zubair, A	118pts
15.	Hingeley, B	115pts
16.	Herta, C	109pts
17.	Denyssen, E	96pts
18.	Rabindra, A	72pts
19.	Vaidyanathan, A	69pts
20.	Mahadik, K	63pts
21.	Wahome, J	50pts
22.	Hyman, R	15pts
23.	Ismail, O	14pts
24.	Sieljes, P	10pts

Video from britishf3.com

Randle on his Qualifying lap (video by britishf3.com):

Next Round: Spa Francorchamps 8/9 July

Day(s)

Hour(s)

Minute(s)

Second(s)

Douglas Motorsport Continue To Shine- British F3, Oulton Park

by admin | May 31, 2016 | F3 News, News

Douglas Motorsport Continue To Shine- British F3, Oulton Park

Rounds ten, eleven and twelve of the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship took place at Oulton Park in Cheshire last weekend, once again running alongside the British GT Championship.

In Wednesday’s official test Douglas Motorsport drivers Thomas Randle and Enaam Ahmed were both in the top three and once again, the team were confident of strong results. In qualifying, both had issues with traffic and when the chequered flag was waved, Randle was in third with Ahmed in eighth place.

In race one, Randle nailed one of his trademark starts to perfection, almost taking the lead from poleman Ricky Collard on the run to turn one. In the early stages, the pair ran as one, with Colton Herta for company in third. Unfortunately, before Randle could mount an attack, a huge airborne accident for Ameya Vaidyanathan prematurely ended the race. Happily, Vaidyanathan walked away without injury, a testiment to the strength of the current generation of BRDC British F3 cars. Enaam had run in a battle from 3rd to 8th and finished in 8th, but with 4th fastest lap of the race.
When the lights went out for race two, Enaam made a great start to lead the pack away. A sideways moment meant he came under attack from Toby Sowery, the pair making brief contact before the Douglas Motorsport driver pulled clear again, crossing the line almost 6 seconds to the good. Unfortunately though, the officials handed down a penalty for his part in the early race incident, relegating him to second place. Team mate Randle was in a battle throughout finishing in seventh place.

With the grids for the third and final race of the weekend decided by the fastest laps of race two, Thomas and Enaam found themselves starting in third and fourth respectively. Once again Randle made a blinding start to split the Carlin Motorsport cars of Collard and Colton Herta. That’s pretty much the way it stayed for the duration with Randle second, taking yet another healthy haul of championship points. Ahmed rang strongly in fourth throughout unable to displace Herta for third despite a strong early race challenge.

Enaam Ahmed: The (second) race went pretty good for me but I made a mistake defending my position which led to the penalty. I respect the stewards’ decision and I will learn from it so I am sure it won’t happen again. The positive thing is that I set some good lap times and I won on the road by a good margin. I think that showed how much quicker I was than anyone else.”

Thomas Randle: “It is a good way to end the weekend but it was a shame that we couldn’t get on the top step of the podium. To come away with two second places is good though. Ricky drove a faultless race both today and on Saturday. We’ve moved up to 2nd in the championship, although we have lost a little bit of ground on him.I can’t thank the guys at Douglas Motorsport enough and all my supporters back home plus my Mum and Dad. Roll on Silverstone!”

Wayne Douglas, Team Principal, Douglas Motorsport: “A great weekend for the team with cars in the top 2 in every race. It’s a shame Enaam lost his win, but points make prizes. Thomas had his strongest meeting of the year and has now moved into 2nd in championship with Enaam now up to 5th. We now move to Silverstone and Spa which and I am confident we can continue our strong from at both circuits!”

1.	Collard, R	6 Laps
2.	Randle, T	+0.905s
3.	Herta, C	+1.574s
4.	Leist, M	+2.641s
5.	Jonck, J	+3.910s
6.	Bortoleto, E	+4.509s
7.	Sowery, T	+5.237s
8.	Ahmed, E	+5.761s
9.	Maxwell, T	+10.409s
10.	Lall, Q	+11.117s

1.	Sowery, T	14 Laps
2.	Ahmed, E	+0.171s
3.	Bortoleto, E	+0.464s
4.	Leist, M	+0.832s
5.	Jonck, J	+1.319s
6.	Herta, C	+1.924s
7.	Randle, T	+2.628s
8.	Collard, R	+4.520s
9.	Lall, Q	+5.246s
10.	Maxwell, T	+9.663s

1.	Collard, R	18 Laps
2.	Randle, T	+1.854s
3.	Herta, C	+2.802s
4.	Ahmed, E	+12.852s
5.	Leist, M	+13.259s
6.	Bortoleto, E	+16.409s
7.	Sowery, T	+16.862s
8.	Jonck, J	+17.381s
9.	Lall, Q	+18.218s
10.	Ngebulana, S	+25.640s

1.	Collard, R	269pts
2.	Randle, T	232pts
3.	Leist, M	221pts
4.	Sowery, T	219pts
5.	Ahmed, E	187pts
6.	Huovinen, A	161pts
7.	Norris, L	153pts
8.	Bortoleto, E	146pts
9.	Maxwell, T	144pts
10.	Ngebulana, S	128pts

Next Round, Silverstone 11-12 June, Qualifying starts in:

Day(s)

Hour(s)

Minute(s)

Second(s)

MIddleton Wins again for Douglas Motorsport

by admin | May 11, 2016 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News

Douglas Motorsport continued their winning ways last weekend as the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship visited the sweeping curves of the ultra fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

Race finish, Stuart Middleton (GBR) Douglas Motorsport Ginetta Junior leads Will Tregurtha (GBR) HHC Motorsport Ginetta Junior.

Series leader Stuart Middleton qualified second, just .001 off pole position in a typically close fought Ginetta Junior session. Team mates Daniel Harper and Enzo Fittapaldi fared less well, qualifying in 14th and 18th positions respectively. Typically, Middleton grabbed the lead on the opening to set up what was described as one of the best races of the season as Will Tregurtha immediately challenged. The pair, working their way clear of the pack, repeatedly ran side by side through the fastest sections of the track, arriving to the chicane on the last lap door handle to door handle. Middleton held his nerve though, to cross the line just .168 seconds ahead of Tregurtha. In their wake, Harper had uncorked one of his trademark charges and managed to climb as far as seventh, before a spin dropped him back to fifteenth. Crucially though, his fastest lap was less than a tenth away from that of his winning team mate. Fittipaldi had not tested at the high speed track but continued to reduce his lap times, coming home in seventeenth place.

Enzo Fittipaldi (BRA) Douglas Motorsport Ginetta Junior.

In race two, Middleton again led with Tregurtha in pursuit. A safety car bunched up the pack early on though and allowed Dave Wooder to join the leading duo. Middleton was bundled back to third but as he challenged to regain the lead, he was edged wide at Goodwood corner and dropped well back. Finishing in ninth place, Stuart and the team could take some consolation in the fact that he claimed fastest lap, with second fastest being team mate Harper. The young Northern Irishman had damaged his bumper on lap one and finished in eleventh with a hugely improved Fittipaldi right on his bumper in twelveth, having come all the way from the back.

Stuart Middleton, Douglas Motorsport “It’s obviously great to have won again and to be leading the championship still, but we should’ve been challenging again for the win in race two. We had the pace to win the race and I proved that with fastest lap at the end. Oulton is next and another good circuit for us, we had good pace there last year and I was on for third until I had an unfortunate spin. It’s another track I enjoy driving so I’m looking forward to it and aiming to do well..”

Wayne Douglas, Team Principal, Douglas Motorsport “It is always good to get a win, but realistically we should have won two races today. Stuart still leads the championship though, Daniel was as quick as ever but unlucky and I am delighted to see Enzo continue to improve.”

The next rounds of the Ginetta championships take place at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the weekend 4th/5th June

Thruxton Weekend Gallery

Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Randle takes Maiden F3 Win at Rockingham

by admin | May 4, 2016 | News

Rounds seven, eight and nine of the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship took place at Rockingham last weekend.

Douglas Motorsport drivers Thomas Randle and Enaam Ahmed qualified in fourth and seventh respectively after a typically close fought qualifying session, and both were happy they would be in the mix for the three races at what the Corby based equipe could justifiably claim as their home circuit.

In race one, the Australian Randle ran in the lead quartet throughout and crossed the line fourth for another healthy dose of championship points. Team mate Ahmed climbed to sixth. It was race two, however, that would see the Douglas Motorsport pairing make their mark.

An incredible start from Ahmed saw him rocket from third to second at the start of the second race, subsequently grabbing the lead with a fine move down the inside of leader Ameya Vaidyanathan into Deene Hairpin. Unfortunately for him, the red flags called a halt to proceedings almost immediately after Enzo Bortoleto had a big shunt mid grid. On the restart, the Douglas Motorsport driver again nailed a great start but this time the gap closed and in the resultant contact, he lost his front wing and with it, all chances of another F3 win. Team mate Randle was already on a charge though and took up the challenge from fifth on the grid, snatching second almost immediately before replicating Ahmed’s move on Vaidyanathan into the Deene hairpin to grab the lead! From then on, he controlled the gap perfectly to cross the line and take his first British F3 win, 1.3 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.

In race three Randle placed fourth with team mate Ahmed just one place behind in fifth, having carried out some impressive manoeuvres during the race, not least a pass round the outside of Aleksanteri Huovinen at Pif-Paf mid race.

These results have elevated Thomas Randle to fourth in the championship standings, just 26 points off the lead, with Enaam Ahmed in seventh. Crucially though, both have now won races in the series and continue to improve as the season continues.

Thomas Randle: “It is an awesome feeling! I woke up this morning hoping that we could get a win or a podium and I just can’t thank the guys enough at Douglas Motorsport. It is awesome to finally get the monkey off my back and let’s hopefully get some more.”

Wayne Douglas, Team Principal, Douglas Motorsport: “Once again, I am delighted that both of our drivers are on the ultimate pace. Enaam was unlucky in race two, but he will be back at the front again. Thomas drove beautifully to take what I am sure won’t be his last F3 win!”