Having taking a win in the opening rounds of the BRDC F3 series last week, Douglas Motorsport carried their rich vein of form onto Brands Hatch for the opening rounds of the 2016 Ginetta championships at the weekend.
Harper excelled in Round 2
As reigning winter series champion, Stuart Middleton was the favourite ahead of the opening rounds of the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior series- and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Starting from pole position in the opening race, Stuart fell back initially, but fought his way into the lead before a robust move from Dave Wooder dropped him to fourth place. He fought back yet again though, and crossed the line in second place, also setting fastest lap. Race two, described by many as the race of the day, was a close fought affair, with Middleton grabbing the lead on the opening lap and soaking up the pressure for the duration to take an impressive win, and with it the lead of the close fought Junior series! In his wake, however, all eyes were on rookie Daniel Harper who was tackling the more experienced drivers with aplomb, incredibly running as high as third at one stage, before contact sent him back down the field. He recovered to take a fine sixth though and won the Rookie class comfortably. Enzo Fittipaldi was unlucky to receive contact on the opening lap, spinning him to the back, in no way reflecting the pace he had shown in free practise at the start of the weekend.
Will Burns Tops the Podium
In the opening round of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup series, Douglas Motorsport’s Will Burns drove superbly to take his debut GT4 win. having finished fourth in race one and third in race two, he didn’t put a foot wrong in a shortened race three to take a popular win- rounding off a hugely successful weekend for the Corby based team. Team mate Chris Ingram drove well to take a podium in the Am class of the Supercup while Mike Newbold progressed well over the weekend and enjoyed his first race weekend as part of the BTCC package.
Stuart Middleton, Douglas Motorsport “ It has been an amazing opening weekend of the championship for me and my team, Douglas Motorsport. We hope to continue our strong form and keep achieving consistent podium finishing results throughout the year.”
Daniel Harper, Douglas Motorsport. “It was a brilliant start to the championship for both me and Douglas Motorsport with some really strong results in the Rookie championship with a third and a win I race two and also with Stuart leading the overall championship. A big thanks to everyone at Douglas Motorsport and to all my family and sponsors.”
Wayne Douglas, Team Principal, Douglas Motorsport: “It has been another strong weekend for the team. Stuart drove beautifully for the win, as we have come to expect. Daniel was a revelation and was unlucky not to join Stuart on the podium, whilst Enzo showed great pace, but luck was not with him this weekend. For Will to take a debut 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup win was the icing on the cake for us too!”
The next rounds of the Ginetta championships take place on April 16/17 at Donington Park, once again supporting the BTCC.
Images from Jakob Ebrey.
