TMW - Ginetta Juniors, how to ruin a years hard work in 30 seconds.

I was unable to report on the last round of the Ginetta Juniors race series, due to being elsewhere, and how put out I was to miss a great first race, with James Kellett taking a well-deserved win, from being second on the grid, pole position holder and team mate Lando Norris holding onto the pole by the slimmest of margins, a clever overtaking move by James into Jim Clark S's, meant that James whizzed by, and remained in the lead despite a few digs by Mitchel, this victory is proof that James is definitely a driver to watch for the rest of the season. 

The live races on the Sunday, all shown on ITV4, provide the viewer and race goer with all the races, uninterrupted, and in all their glory, it was this race for the Ginetta Juniors that has caused a lot of controversy. As is the case with all the BTCC main, and, support races, there is never enough room, in the paddock, with the BTCC taking the garages, as they should, and the other teams fitting in around.

It was this "fitting around" that has become an issue, and damaged, possibly beyond repair, James Kellett' entire season, let me explain, the cars were on the track, when James realised that there was something very amiss with the car, the team had earlier in the day replaced a steering rack, and this was not secured fully, this in turn, meant that James was left with a car he had little confidence in, and a lack of precise steering.

NOW, these things happen, and it was an accident, and ordinarily it would have been fixed and he could have re-joined the race without much of a loss in time, yet as he came back into the pits, the BTCC cars were still all in the way, this was not acceptable, and the Ginetta Juniors race should NOT have been started whilst the pits were still in this position, safety, and common sense, would have shown that.

The delay in being able to get the car fixed, meant that James was, once released, so far down the board that any chance of getting back up would be an near impossible feat, but he fought hard and even though the steering rack was not fully secured, he finished the race, in last position, and gained three points, but is now third in the Championship.

NOW, someone should be held accountable for this, well, balls up, the pit lane should have been cleared ready for the start of the next race, the support race should not have been started until all the teams were able to safely get access to the cars in the pits, and something should be put in place to ensure that if this happens again, the driver and team should not be penalised for someone else’s errors, I know, that will never happen.

The team were at fault, and they have single handily destroyed James' chances of a title this year, and no amount of apologetic letters from TOCA and the team will help the fact that James, will have one hell of a battle, to get to the top, he will need to win every race, get pole, and fastest lap, to claw his way back into contention again, it is a very tough ask, and one that James, will do his best to achieve, but at his young age, it will be hard to get his head back in the zone, and not harp back to the crazy situation at Croft.

And, what of the sponsors, they surely can’t be happy either, but they can be assured that in James they have a great racer, that’s prepared to push his way to the top, and take them, with him, they need to support James, in times like these, and reap the rewards of more wins in the rest of the 2014 season, which is why James deserves, to have more sponsors, to enable him, and his team, to actively take on the rest of the field, and lead from the top.

if you are a company, or business that would like to provide James, and his team with some support, than please feel free to contact James, HERE, and he will get back to you, James Kellett, is a name that will become a worldwide name in motorsport, so now is the time to get in on the ground floor, and support one of racing’s brightest hopes.

TMW
Jon Mower