News | Douglas Motorsport

Hanafin Wins at Knockhill for Douglas Motorsport

by admin | Sep 17, 2019 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News

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.

Double Podiums for Jewiss at Donington, finishes 4th in overall British F3 Championship

by admin | Sep 16, 2019 | F3 News, News

A very strong showing from Douglas Motorsport in the second half of the British F3 championship saw Kiern Jewiss take 4th place overall, missing out on third place by only 12 points.

The final round of races took place at Donington Park at the weekend (September 14th and 15th).

Another impressive performance over the weekend from Jewiss saw him rack up 2 second place finishes and make up a total of 9 places in the reverse grid race. Qualifying in second place for races 1 and 3, Jewiss battled for the win in both races but had to settle for second place. Both races saw a significant gap back to third position, adding to how impressive Jewiss’ performance was.

The reverse grid race saw Jewiss start from 14th on the grid. After lap one he was up to 9th position and by the end of the race after penalties for other cars were take into account he was awarded P5.

Here’s what Kiern Jewiss had to say about races 1 and 3….

Race 1

He was very quick, we were matching each other’s times in the first half of the race. I made a little mistake through the chicane and that’s why the gap stretched out a bit but I managed to come back at him. I was pushing hard enough to try and get some pressure back and try and force him into a mistake, but he drove a perfect race. But I’m happy with some big points.

There’s quite a gap to third, and I think Ayrton would need a DNF but I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and at the end of the day if we finish with two podiums this weekend, from where we started the year to now, we’d be really happy.

Race 3

The second half of the year has been very very strong and I’m happy. We certainly struggled in the first half, with pace but also with luck, I didn’t have much luck and it cost us a lot of points. To come back now on the podium nearly always in race one and three, it shows how much we’ve developed with the car as well. So I’m very happy and hopefully people can see how much we’ve come on throughout the year.

I think I had my nose in front for about a hundred metres but I was on the outside so I couldn’t really hold it. But I gave it a good go while I had the chance but I enjoyed the race. Finishing on the podium is all I could have done in the race so I’m happy.

Kiern Jewiss

Double Podiums

Qualifying in P3 for races 1 and 3, Ulysse De Pauw’s pace further emphasised the continuous improvements made by the Douglas Motorsport team through the championship season.

De Pauw didn’t enjoy the success he probably deserved in the races over the final weekend, finishing 5th in race 1 but falling back a number of places after a 10 second penalty was awarded against him for contact with another car during the race. He finished in 9th in race 2 and recorded his only DNF of the season in race 3 after going wheel to wheel with Ayrton Simmons and coming off worse. Not the best weekend for him after a number of weekends of impressive results but it doesn’t take away from the continuous improvements made throughout the season.

Douglas Motorsport Drivers Jewiss and De Pauw Shine in Donington Park Qualifying.

by admin | Sep 14, 2019 | F3 News, News

Qualifying for the final weekend of the F3 championship season took place earlier today at Donington Park and Douglas Motorsport drivers Kiern Jewiss and Ulysse de Pauw put on great performances to claim P2 and P3 on the grid for the first race respectively. Their grid positions were then replicated for race 3.

I’m glad to get it on the front row, we can race from there. I was worried about the guys in fourth to eighth as it’s very close and it’s very easy to be in that group and it makes the racing very hard. So very happy to be on the front row for both races, it will hopefully keep us out of the danger zone a little bit.

We’re certainly not going to win the championship, that’s for sure, but we can try and push for third but Ayrton [Simmons] had a good qualifying so it’s going to be pretty tough. He will need to have a bad race for us to get anywhere near third, but we’ll keep pushing and try and get another race win this weekend.

Kiern Jewiss

It’s the best qualifying of the season for the last race, so that sounds good! I had a good run, the car was really good and I could do two fast laps, maybe could have done a bit better but P3 to start off with in both races is a good place.

When you start P3 you obviously want to get on the podium but it will all depend on the first lap and the start. It’s going to be so close between us that it will be difficult to overtake I think, so the first lap and the start will be the key.

I’ve improved a lot with myself and my confidence in the car, also the use of the new tyres was a bit of my weak point before, but we are getting there and I’m quite happy with my progress throughout the season.”

Ulysse de Pauw

Ginetta Juniors Battle it out at Thruxton

by admin | Aug 20, 2019 | Ginetta Junior Championship News, News

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.

British F3 Round 8 at Silverstone, and More Podiums for Douglas Motorsport

by admin | Aug 19, 2019 | F3 News, News

Round 7 of the 2019 British F3 championship took place at Silverstone this weekend with three races over the weekend.

All 3 drivers showed great pace during qualifying and resulted in a double pole for Kiern Jewiss, a 4th and a 5th place for Ulysse De Pauw, and an 8th and a 6th for Benjamin Pedersen.

Starting from pole in races 1 and 3, Jewiss finished both in 2nd place, and was pushing for the win in both. Although pleased with the two second place finishes, Kiern was upset to have lost out on the starts. In race 1, the eventual winner Sasakorn Chaimongkol was next to Jewiss on the front row with a new set of tyres. With slightly more grip on that side of the track he was able to overtake Jewiss and stay there until the end despite Kiern’s efforts to pass.

In race 3, and in second position after lap 1, Jewiss was quickest through the corners but slightly behind on the straights which made it impossible to get that first place finish. But, with a double pole which included a track record for British F3 and two second place finishes it was a good weekends work for Jewiss. A gain of 7 places from 15th on the grid in the reverse grid race meant Jewiss came away from Silverstone with a good points tally. He sits 4th in the overall championship table and has closed in on the top two drivers.

Ulysse De Pauw had a strong showing in qualifying and was unlucky not to make the podium over the weekend. He was battling for the podium in races 1 and 3 and made up 5 places in the reverse grid race, rising from 11th on the grid to 6th at the finish. Despite not making the podium Ulysse managed to come away with a good points total to put him in 5th position in the overall championship standings, a position he’ll be fighting to maintain at the final round at Donington Park.

Benjamin Pedersen showed good pace in qualifying but engine failure in race 1 while battling at the front meant a premature end to the day for Benjamin. Wing damage sustained in race 3 put paid to any chance of a good finish but it was race 2 that was the highlight for Benjamin. Starting last on the grid in 17th position, Benjamin managed to gain 7 places to finish in 10 place.

Double Pole for Jewis at Silverstone

by admin | Aug 17, 2019 | F3 News, News

Kiern Jewiss claimed a dramatic late double pole position in a very close qualifying session on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit this morning (Saturday).

Jewiss left it until after the chequered flag had shown to put in his best effort, and jumped to the top of the timesheets with his last effort, with his time of 1m55.845s being the quickest recorded lap by a BRDC British F3 car on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Jewiss’ fasted time put him at P1 for race 1 on Saturday and his second fastest time of the day put him on pole position for race 3 on Sunday.

It was a strong showing for all the Douglas team with Ulysse De Pauw starting from P5 in race 1 and P4 in race 3. Benjamin Pedersen starts from P8 in race 1 and P6 in race3.

“It was a good qualifying session, the car was amazing and the team did a great job. I’m very happy and what a way to do it with a double pole, and hopefully we can convert that into a win later on.

“On the out lap I always get a really good feel for what the car is going to be like when I do start pushing. It felt good so I had a bit of confidence straight away and I was fast. When the rain kind of cooled everything down it gave us one last chance to really go for it.

“I’d like to get another win, it would be nice but I’ll be under a lot of pressure and they’ll be coming at me pretty fast down the straights. The tow will play a big part I think.

“We’ve done a lot of development as the year has gone on, from where we were at the start of the year until now it’s been a good hard journey but now it’s all worthwhile.”

Kiern Jewiss

Double Pole