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.’
Middleton Impressive at Brands Hatch Ginetta Opener
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.
