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.
