With Lando on pole and Jamie Caroline second, it leaves James to take third position at the start of the start of the race, and hopefully a good start, and favourable overtaking will move him forward. And as the flag fell at the end of race one, Jamie Caroline was the winner, James pulled one space forward to take a well deserved second, Lando dropped right back to ninth, with Jack Mitchell moving up to fourth and Jack Rawles from fifth to third, So with just one race left to the season, it is obvious that Jack Mitchell has taken the crown for Driver Championship, and unless something drastic happens in the final race, its almost certain the JHR Motorsports will take the Team trophy.
RACE TWO - Final Race of The Year
With the track still damp on the inside, and around the GP track, race two should be an interesting one, With Lando Norris, Jamie Caroline and James K taking the first three spots, the lights go green, and Caroline goes into the lead with JK third,Jack Mitchell span before druids, it shoved him straight to the back, and with this the only car not to get around the first lap. Flasherman Finnerman has a flappy bonnet and will come in at the end of lap one.
James Kellet in second is fighting to get past Caroline, with out much success at the present , druids has not more incidents on lap two, with James squirrelling around trying to get past, and trying to avoid the damp patches, the top four are all within a sniff of each other, Zelos, has gotten on the back of JK and as they come around to conclude the second lap, they are all as close as ever.Zelos goes off track at the exit of druids and Lando has a late lunge on Kellett to take second, but Caroline has a small lead.
lap three comes to an end with the racing further back as hard and as aggressive as at the front, with a number of these y0oungsters confirmed to be back next year, it is bound to be a great season, but back to the front, the leading four are pulling away, and James has had a spin at Surtee's it has put him way back, with Caroline having a smaller gap and Zelos trailing back in third, Lando is determined to have a go on lap five as they head to Druids he takes the place and Caroline drops back, but Zelos has caught them back, and Caroline goes back into the lead, and then they are right beside each other at 110mph, and Caroline takes the lead.
the racing is amazing, these guys are not afraid of fighting, Caroline loses first to Lando again, and the top three are all now right back together, as they start lap 6 of 8, there is now a small lead by Lando with Jamie Caroline second and Zelos third, the three leaders are now coming around to complete the sixth lap, with the trio still holding position.
The fighting further back is great, they are all clawing for each place,, Senna Procter Alex Sedgewick both niggling each other for position and Chadwick loses two positions to Senna and A,ex, before taking one back, Jack Rawles and Ryan Hadfield are both fighting each other, not giving an inch, and right on the bumper, this is stunning racing, the final lap has now started with the leading three still in procession, Caroline takes the fastest lap, Lando Norris has a gap on Caroline with Dan Zelos further back, Jamie Chadwick goes off into the gravel, and with only a couple of corners to go, they are still trying to get position.
These kids are not afraid to give it all, and around the final corner Lando Norris punches the air with delight as he takes the final race win of the season, with Jamie Caroline taking second and trailing back Zelos takes third, another brilliant race, from all of the Juniors, and if next year is half as good as this years, it will be thee championship to watch, it was such a shame that JK was unable to finish the last race of the season with a win or big points.
However, it is not as cut and dried as that, when you look at the points awarded for the season as a whole, it is clear that without the lower point finishes, of which there were 6 (16 points awarded or less) for James Kellett, then the race for the title may well have been a lot closer, or even awarded to James, as Jack on had two low point finishes (16 points or less), so, it could well have been a different story albeit for those finishes.
But that's racing, you have to race hard from day one, to the final flag of the season, get ever single point that's going, because at the end of the day, that one point may mean the difference between winning and coming in second, but again, this class, is so full of winners, when most kids are at home playing on play stations, or smoking behind the bike sheds, amongst other things, these guys are out there, racing cars in a professional championship, proving that although they are not fully fledged vote allowing adults, they are just as good as the BTCC drivers, of which this is a support race.
They have shown so much determination, frustration and anger, so many emotions for these young people, emotions that the general public could never imagine, and they still have so much more to learn, so much more to give back, and so many more years of professional driving, each and every single one of the young adults have parents, siblings, family and friends that are so proud of what they have achieved at such a young age, and for most this is just that start, we look forward to seeing them all develop and go on to bigger, better and more focused race series, whether that be the bigger Ginetta's, British Touring Car Championship, One Make Series, Clio Cup, or even onto the World Touring Cars, or even F1, whatever these guys choose as a future career, I am sure that they will all be successful.
Congratulations to all the Drivers, you have provided some of the best racing of the year, your attitudes and determination not to give up, has provided some stunning over taking movements, great wheel to wheel action and some rather funny body destruction moments.
I hope to be at some of the BTCC events next year, I have missed them all this year, which is a real shame, its the first time in years when i have not been to at least one race.
**PHOTOGRAPHY**
John Beardon provides some stunning pictures from the Ginetta Juniors, and the above shot just goes to show how talented this photographer is.
