The Ginetta Junior Winter Series takes place at Brands Hatch this weekend.
Tom Edgar, who recently made it to the top 12 in the 2020 Ginetta Junior scholarship, joins Freddie Tomlinson on the Douglas Motorsport team for the end of season finale. This is Tom’s first race weekend in cars in what is a very talented field, 11 cars will compete for the title.
The 2019 Ginetta Junior Championships came to a close at Brands Hatch at the weekend.
Race one saw Lorcan Hanafin finish in 6th with Gus Burton just behind in 7th. It was race 2 when the Douglas Motorsport team came to life! In a race that took place in the dark, Lorcan Hanafin started the race from second on the grid with Gus Burton starting from 23rd and last. After the start, Hanafin stormed into the lead, a lead he kept right up to the finish, despite being challenged after a safety car period created a three lap shootout to the finish. This was Lorcan’s second win of the season.
Also impressive in race two was Bailey Voisin. The rookie took his first rookie podium place. He finished in 8th overall and 3rd in the rookie race. Gus Burton, starting in 23rd was equally impressive. He stormed through the field to finish in 6th place
Race 3 took place on Sunday with Lorcan Hanafin starting in pole position. There was a battle for the lead throughout with the position changing hands a number of times. In the end Hanafin finished in 2nd place. A great finish to what was an impressive season for Hanafin. Bailey Voisin finished in 11th overall ending an impressive weekend for him, finishing 12th in race 1 and 8th in race 2.
Overall, Hanafin finished the season in 4th place with Gus Burton in 7th. Both drivers were right on the pace in the second half of the season and Burton was unfortunate not to come away with a few wins after a very consistent opening to the season. He finished the season with 4 3rd place finishes. Hanafin’s two wins and 3 second places were all achieved in the final 3 rounds of the season. He also had 3 3rd place finishes.
In what was a highly competitive rookie championship (four rookies finished in the top 10 overall), Bailey Voisin finished in an impressive 6th place with Freddie Tomlinson 10th.
The 2019 Ginetta Junior Championships were at Silverstone at the weekend for another 3 exciting races
Race 1 was full of action. Lorcan Hanafin fell back to 13th position after starting in 7th. However, he started to make up places immediately. Meanwhile Gus Burton was in a fight at the front of the field and took the lead on lap 6, a lead which he held for two laps. After dropping to second, Hanafin stormed back through the field and was in third position, just behind Burton. Amazingly, after being in 13th position after the first lap, Lorcan Hanafin had made his way back up through the field and took the lead with three laps to go. He held onto the lead to cross the line in P1. Behind him, Gus Burton had gained a place which meant he finished the race in P2. However a five second tack limits penalty was handed to both Hanafin and Burton, demoting them to 4th and 6th positions respectively. It was a blow to the drivers and the team.
Race 2 began with Gus Burton in 2nd position on the grid and Hanafin in 6th. By lap 4, Hanafin had taken the lead and held the lead for two laps. He and Gus Burton then battled it out for the remainder of the race, swapping positions regularly. When the finish line came it was Hanafin who took 2nd and Burton 3rd. A double podium for Douglas Motorsport.
Race 3 saw more of the same, this time Lorcan Hanafin started from second and Burton from third. Hanafin took the lead immediately and held it for three laps before being ousted by Gus Burton, Gus Held the lead for a short time before dropping back and another fight with Hanafin for position began, ending in a P2 for Hanafin and a P3 for Gus Burton. The top three finishers were separated by a gap of just .071 seconds.
Five second penalties aside, it was a great weekend for Douglas Motorsport. Gus Burton and Lorcan Hanafin were the stars of the show. As well as the podium finishes, other achievements include Burton’s qualifying performance, which saw him placed 3rd for the start of race 1 and 2nd for the start of race 2. Lorcan Hanafin had the fastest lap in races 1 and 2.
The 2019 Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship season comes to an end in two weeks’ time (12/13 October) with three races around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Lorcan Hanafin took his maiden win in the Ginetta Junior Championship in the final race at Knockhill this weekend. In what was a very impressive performance in race three, Hanafin started the race 12th on the grid and crossed the finish line in second place. A 2.8 second penalty for the initial winner saw him drop to second place and handing Hanafin his maiden win.
Qualifying saw Gus Burton secure two 5th place starts for Douglas Motorsport. Race 1 saw Gus cross the line in 3rd but received a 10 second penalty for what was deemed a false start. An unlucky end to what was a great performance from Gus. In race 2 Gus had dropped to thirteenth overall at one stage and spent over 5 lps there before making a charge through the field, eventually finishing 5th. Race 3 and another 5th place start for Gus saw him make up one space to finish in 4th
The 2019 Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship season continues in two weeks’ time (28/29 September) with three races around the Silverstone National circuit.
The Ginetta Junior Championship returned to Thruxton at the weekend (August 17th & 18th) for the penultimate round of races of the 2019 championship.
Douglas Motorsport were in the thick of the action all weekend which resulted in two podium finishes for Lorcan Hanafin. The weekend got off to a great start for Hanafin who qualified in second place for both race 1 and race 2. Gus Burton was behind him on row 2 for race 1 and both drivers had stints at the front of the pack. Ultimately it was Hanafin who came away with a place on the podium, a well deserved result.
Another positive from race 1 was a 7th place finish for Bailey Voisin, his best of the year and only one place away from a rookie podium.
Race 2 saw Lorcan Hanafin start in P2 but an unfortunate incident put Lorcan and a number of other drivers out of the race and brought out the red flag. The restarted race saw Gus Burton finish in 8th, one place ahead of Bailey Voisin who secured another top 10 finish. Freddie Tomlinson came home in 13th place.
Race 3 saw Lorcan Hanafin start in 17th position on the grid. Amazingly he made his way from 17th to be in a battle for 3rd place. It was Gus Burton who took the 3rd place finish with some great overtaking on the final lap and he was followed over the line by Hanafin in 4th place. However, after the race Gud Burton was given a one second penalty for some contact during the race. This handed 3rd place to Hanafin and put Gus back in 5th position. An unfortunate end to a frustrating weekend for Gus Burton who battled it out in every race and was unlucky not to achieve a top 3 finish.
A third consecutive top 10 finish by rookie Bailey Voisin (he placed 10th) was one of the highlights of the weekend for the team. Voisin’s 10th place finish in race 3 was also one place off a rookie podium. Bailey will have a chance of making it up onto the rookie podium by the end of the season if he keeps improving as he is.
The next round of the championship takes place at Knockhill on September 14th and 15th.
A 3rd place finish for Gus Burton and a 5th place finish for Lorcan Hanafin in the first race of the weekend was the highlight for the Douglas Motorsport team
It was Burton’s second podium of the season and a great result considering he started the race from 8th on the grid. Lorcan Hanafin’s 5th place finish was another impressive feat, considering that he started the race in 13th position.
The next race was the re-staging of a previously cancelled race from Croft Circuit, meaning the young drivers would be racing four race over the weekend. The re-scheduled race saw Gus Burton delivered another good performance, a performance that saw him make up 6 places. Starting in 11th place, he came in home in 5th.
The final two races of the weekend saw Gus Burton continue his impressive performance with a 4th place finish in the 1st race while Lorcan Hanafin’s 9th place in the final race was the best result for the team.
