by admin | Nov 8, 2015 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News
From Ginetta.com…
Stuart Middleton kicked off his final race weekend of the year in style at Snetterton today (07/11/2015) as he took a pair of wins in the opening day of the KICK Start Energy Drink Ginetta Junior Winter Series.
Having qualified second, Middleton translated his front row start into his first ever car racing win in race one. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, as a storming start from Billy Monger saw the JHR Developments driver snatch the lead off the line.
By the time the cars had reached Agostini for the first time, Middleton was in the lead as Monger ran wide and dropped down the order to 15th. Pulling out nine seconds over the rest of the field, the outgoing Ginetta Junior Scholar was unassailable for the remainder of the six lap race.
The battle for second saw Will Tregurtha in prime position after lap one, but Charlie Fagg made a move stick on lap two and held onto the place until the flag. It didn’t come easy though, as Tregurtha and pole man Lewis Brown stuck with him for a good three laps, until he was able to break the tow.
With Grady in a comfortable third, rookie driver Harry King continued to impress on his debut. Having started sixth, he took full advantage of an excursion for the two HHC Motorsport drivers ahead to take fourth on lap five.
King did come under pressure from Seb Perez, who started 11thbut drove brilliantly to move into fifth by the penultimate lap. However, the recovering Dave Wooder (who dropped five places on the opening lap) swept past on the final tour, taking with him Max Bird, Lewis Brown and Alex Day.
Seb Priaulx finished his debut race as third placed rookie driver, just ahead of fellow newcomers James Roe Jnr, Jordan Dempsey and Anthony Ayres.
In race two, it was Fagg who got the better start. He streamed into the lead and forced Middleton backwards and into the clutches of Grady and King. However, by lap two, Middleton had reclaimed the lead at Oggies.
With the leader down the road, it was once again the battle for second that dominated the commentary. Fagg held the position for much of the race, but Tregurtha and Monger (who had gained 10 places in the opening four laps) stayed within touching distance, before Tregurtha snatched the position on the penultimate lap.
Grady retained fifth from King and Perez, whilst behind, Nicosia, Day, Priaulx, Dempsey and Wooder had a fantastic fight over eighth. Priaulx consistently picked up positions from lap one to four, before losing out to the recovering Day and Wooder on the final lap.
As the flag fell, Middleton celebrated a second win, whilst King took a consecutive Rookie class victory. Tregurtha – who was strong here during the main series – celebrated his second position, whilst Monger was content in third having also taken the day’s ‘Hard Charger’ award.
Provisional standings are below, with a second qualifying session and further two races set for tomorrow.
1 Stuart Middleton 71
2 Charlie Fagg 52
3 Connor Grady 46
4 Harry King 40
5 William Tregurtha 40
6 Dave Wooder 35
7 Billy Monger 34
8 Sebastian Perez 28
9 Lewis Brown 26
10 Alex Day 25
11 Max Bird 23
12 Geri Nicosia 23
13 Rowan Bailey 17
14 Jordan Dempsey 15
15 Sebastian Priaulx 13
16 James Roe jnr 13
17 Frank Bird 8
17 Anthony Ayres 5
17 Charlie Digby 3
by admin | Nov 7, 2015 | F3 News, News
Harrison Scott claimed a dominant victory in the opening 2015 Duo BRDC F4 Autumn Trophy round at Snetterton, as he came home over 16 seconds from South African Sisa Ngebulana and Sennan Fielding, who was promoted to third post-race following a time penalty handed to Fortec’s Ben Barnicoat.
Scott started from pole position and as the lights went out to get the 10-lap contest underway, he made a clean getaway to lead into the first corner. Hillspeed’s Struan Moore, starting alongside Scott on the front row, lost a place to Barnicoat as Sennan Fielding bogged down and dropped to the back of the field.
In Race 2, having started from pole position, Ben Barnicoat was able to hold off a battling Harrison Scott for the win. Struan Moore finished third for Hillspeed. Scott had closed to within a tenth of a second on the penultimate lap.
After lap three, Barnicoat led Douglas Motorsport’s Scott by over one second and heading on to the final lap, the order looked set but Barnicoat dropped time to Scott and the Douglas driver soon was crawling over the back of the Racing Steps Foundation-backed man. Starting the last circuit, the gap was under two tenths of a second and Scott tried his best to get past but Barnicoat held on to take the win by just 0.361s. Struan Moore came home a distant third with his Hillspeed team-mate Vaidyanathan fourth, ahead of Ngebulana, Al Zubair and Fielding.
The top-three were presented with their trophies on the podium by Duo Chief Executive Alex Moss. Tomorrow sees another qualifying session followed by two races, with the action getting underway at 09:25.
by admin | Sep 6, 2015 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News
Wonderful day for our man Stuart Middleton Racing today at Rockingham Motor Speedway! He qualified third, just two hundredths off pole, and drove superbly to take a strong second with fastest lap in race one, with another impressive runner up spot in race two- and two Rookie wins!
by admin | May 14, 2015 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News
The KICK Start Energy Ginetta Junior Championship visited the ultra fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire last weekend and Douglas Motorsport’s Stuart Middleton was at the sharp end all weekend.
Having tested well, Middleton qualified the Quinton Hazell (QH) backed car on pole position ahead of the usual competitive field. This was the first time in the series’ history that a rookie had taken pole position, with just .036 separating the top three! Unfortunately, when the lights went out, Stuart bogged down slightly and was beaten away. A mid race safety car period stymied his challenge for the lead and in the subsequent hectic three lap charge to the flag, he dropped to third to claim another podium position.
In race two, Middleton was again involved in a thrilling battle at the head of the field, eventually crossing the line to take fourth and another healthy dose of championship points.
Stuart Middleton- We had great pace all weekend and we managed to qualify P1 and get a podium finish. We were informed that I was the first Ginetta Junior scholarship winner to qualify in pole position, this was a great result for me and the team. My ambition now is to take a race win. Big thanks to Douglas Motorsport and to Quinton Hazel.
Wayne Douglas– Team Principal Douglas Motorsport- “It was great to get pole position. Stuart is a novice remember, and has shown winning pace from the beginning of the season. I have no doubt he will be on the top step of the podium before long.”
The next round of the KICK Start Ginetta Junior series is at Oulton Park on June 6th.
Images from Jakob Ebrey
by admin | Apr 14, 2015 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News
Stuart Middleton made his Ginetta Junior debut last weekend at Brands Hatch with Douglas Motorsport. Driving the QH backed car, Middleton was on the ultimate pace all weekend in a grid of 25 cars. In official qualifying, the 15 year old qualified on the front row of the grid, just missing out on pole position by an incredible .083! Having matched the poleman off the line in race one, Stuart found himself boxed out at Paddock Hill Bend and dropped a few places. He recovered to challenge the leaders again however, and crossed the line fourth, right with the leaders. In race two, starting from fourth on the grid, a legacy of his finishing position in race one, The Ginetta Junipr Scholarship winner climbed immediately to second and began to challenge for the lead. Unfortunately contact saw him spin off the track. Despite a slow puncture and some loose bodywork after the contact, Stuart charged up from the back to cross the line in 15th and he left the Kent circuit seventh in the championship standings.
‘We seem to have really good pace,’ says Middleton of his first competitive drive in his Douglas Motorsport Ginetta G40. ‘It’s encouraging to know we’re up there with the fastest cars. I wasn’t really expecting to finish so high up the grid, so we’re all really pleased.’
Marium Ali, Marketing Director for QH: ‘We knew Stuart would be fast after we saw him testing, but his performance in the opening rounds show what a talent he is – and how deserving he is of his scholarship. We are all very proud to see him driving so professionally while bearing the QH flag.’
The next rounds of the KICK Start Energy Ginetta Junior Championship will be held at Donington Park on 18 and 19 April, 2015.
Douglas Motorsport also welcomed former Caterham Chris Ingram to the team at Brands Hatch, the gentleman racer competing in the GT4 Supercup for the first time. Crossing the line sixteenth in race one, Chris’ laptimes fell each time he took to the track and by the third race he finished thirteenth and 3rd in the Am Class after some exciting battles.
