More mixed fortune for James Kellett at Rockingham.

SATURDAY RACE 1

It proved an eventful first race at Rockingham Speedway track for James Kellett, with a poor 5th position for James after the free practice however team mate Lando Norris was leading the session, it was hoped that a better qualifying will be the order of the day, and indeed it was, James, again proved that when it matters he can get to the top no matter what is thrown at him, he happily placed his Ginetta in P2 for the first race, but he was only 0.05 away from taking pole.

These very small gaps between each car goes to show how fiercely fought this championship is becoming, and is becoming THEE support race that has to be watched after the main event, they may be classed at young adults or kids, but they are not shy when it comes to showing what they are made of, and it bodes well for the future, for whatever race series these great racers decide to move up into, I feel that James has a great future, with BTCC being the best UK based race series where he could shine, and if moving to WTCC is good enough for Rob Huff, James Thompson and Jason Plato, then it is good enough for James.

But, I digress, James was off to a flyer when there was an incident between him and Norris, where James took a corner too wide sending him into a spin and sending him right back into 17th position, however, James proved how good he is by gradually working his way back through the field and passing each and every driver on his way to gain an excellent 3rd position at the flag, but then unfortunately and unexpectedly was given a 30 second penalty for a false start, it is these sorts of stupid decisions that can give a race series a bad reputation.

The fact that James fought his way back through the field into a podium position shows how good this youngster is, and it is stupid decisions like that, that makes all that hard work seem worthless, but it is not, it is all valuable experience, 

SUNDAY RACE 2

With James Kellett and Jamie Caroline heading the field on this lovely warm day, the engine noise grows into a roar, as the flag drops James pulls slightly forward, and takes first position but as they head to the hairpin they all compress and all mange to get around the first bend, Lando makes up a position and Zelos follows, James has pulled a very small gap on Caroline, and with no incidents as the first lap comes to a close, the guys are really fighting it out for position.

The front two have pulled away from 3rd and James continues to lead,  but Caroline pulls level and fails to pull in front, Esmee Hawkey spins off as the come around to conclude the second lap of eight, Ben Pearson shoves it up inside and takes a position, lap three starts with James still in front, Zelos is 4th and a large incident between Hadfield and Proctor means they both spin and lose out with both back in the last two positions.

The cars are now really spreading out with James still in the lead, Chadwick is 4th and Norris takes second after a mistake by Caroline, as lap four carries on the cars are spreading out, and Norris has taken the fastest lap and is gradually pulling up on James, but he wont be an easy car to pass, these little Ginetta's are great sporty cars that have some real power, these guys really know how to deliver that power extremely well.

Lap five has begun with Flashman spinning, and James still in the lead with team mate Norris behind, further back the racing is getting aggressive with pushing and shoving to get past, lap six continues with the front two still in their respective position and with a large gap back to third, it is looking like a HHC walkover in round 16 at Rockingham.

Senna Proctor was in 9th as he pulls off, after his bonnet starts to lift, James starts the last lap well in front, and he has not put a wheel wrong throughout round 16, the last few corners have more bashing and crashing further back, James comes around the final corner, and takes the chequered flag for another great win for, Lando Norris 2nd, Dan Zelos 3rd, Jamie Caroline 4th, this race was not a very action packed, as we have seen many times this season, but we don't need action, we need James to carry on winning and getting to the championship lead.

However with only four more rounds left in the Ginetta Championship, it is really looking like James will be unable to claw back 80 points just to draw level with Jack Mitchell who is head and shoulders above all the rest, but it has to be said, Jack has not won a race for some while, so you never know, a couple of DNF's and a solid finish for James in the remaining races for 2014, and we may well have a fight for the lead going into the last round.

Well Done James, another great result, itt was a shame that a dubious deciion on Saturday meant that further points were lost, and at this stage of the season, every single point is needed to try and get that championship lead, this years racing has proved yet again, that the Ginetta Juniors have as much talent, grit and determination as far more experienced and older drivers in bigger race series.

Kellett has storming return weekend at Snetterton with a 1st and 2nd.

After the long break from, all racing, on the BTCC calendar, the return at Snetterton was, well and truly required, and awaited, with baited breath, the long break usually means that the teams have significant time, to update the cars, with new tech and upgrades.

But this time, with the Ginetta Juniors, the weekend began in a similar way it finished all those weeks ago, with our man James Kellett winning yet again, a thrilling qualifying saw Lando Norris take pole with James just a sniff behind, to take 2nd place.

As the flag dropped a storming James shot straight into first place, and there he stayed, with Lando training behind for the rest of the race, a fastest lap was also taken by James.

This win makes two wins out of the last three races, however a championship win might just be out of James' grasp  with Jack Mitchell 86 points ahead, after Snetterton race one, this might be too many points, but James will definitely not let that hinder him, into racing for each and every point remaining this season.

Race two at Snetterton saw James on 2nd place grid spot behind Lando again, and with the temperatures soaring, with a massive crowd watching from all area's of the track, the flag was dropped, and James pulled forward to shoot straight into first place yet again, and by the first corner had already made a gap back to 2nd, further back Johnny hadfield had a shunt, but eventually carried on.

The perfect start was made by James, and as the corners past the gap got bigger,  now the first three had pulled a large gap onto 4th place, as the gap between 1st and 2nd shrunk as they came over the start finish line to go into lap two, by the time they got half way around lap two the gap had gotten smaller, with the top three cars only separated by the smallest of margins,, further back a great battle between the Hadfield' was developing.

the spacing back to fourth was getting bigger as the 2nd lap was drawing to a close, with James still in command of the second Snetterton Ginetta Juniors race, the third lap development meant that James dropped back to third in the space of two corners, but grabbed one straight back, a small gap developed between Lando and James, but James has not given up the opportunity of stealing back the lead position.

Lap four begins with James right on the tail of Lando, and Zelos on James' bumper, but none of them are giving anything away to the others, further back Chadwick booted of Sedgewick, and Ryan Hadfield has developed a fault to lose out on a decent finish, as lap five comes to an end, the same three are at the front, with James trying to get past, Mitchel has now joined the leading three, and will push for all his worth to get as many points to continue his significant lead in the championship.

With only a couple of laps left, the braking is being taken later, and more chances are being attempted, James is just not quite close enough to get past as they start the final lap, but James is now pushing, James and his team mate at HHC are tyring to both take first place, Zelos, too has not given up the possibility of taking a higher podium, but as the final lap is now drawing to a close, the top two are still fighting it out to get that 1st place, , James enters the Bomb hole right on his bumper, James slides, and the final corner passes with lando in first over the line with James a brilliant second and Zelos rounding out the podium places.

Although James took a first and second at Snetterton, the gap between him and championship leader Mitchell only dropped by 7 points from 86 gap to 79 gap, although we dont wish anyone any sort of incident, it looks like a couple of DNF's for Mitchell could be James Kellett' only hope of getting to the top of the table, personly i hope that James can achieve this, and wish him and his team HHC more stunning results.

Knockhill is the next round on the 23rd and 24th August.

Ginetta Juniors Race one Oulton Park 2014 - 2nd For James Kellett.

2014 Ginetta Junior Championship
QUALIFYING - ROUND 7 - CLASSIFICATION

1 19 Jack MITCHELL GBR JHR Developments 2:09.396
2 55 Jamie CHADWICK GBR JHR Developments 2:09.541
3 13 James KELLETT GBR HHC Motorsport 2:09.628
4 27 Alex SEDGWICK (R) GBR JHR Developments 2:09
5 44 Ryan HADFIELD GBR R&J Motorsport 2:10.007
6 11 Lando NORRIS (R) GBR HHC Motorsport 2:10.288
7 66 Senna PROCTOR (R) GBR JHR Developments 2:10.422
8 42 Jonathan HADFIELD (R) GBR R&J Motorsport 2:10.487
9 46 Jack RAWLES GBR Tollbar Racing 2:10.535
10 21 William TAYLFORTH (R) GBR HHC Motorsport 2:10.80
12 17 Matt CHAPMAN (R) GBR TCR 2:11.207
13 39 Lewis BROWN (R) GBR Privateer 2:11.227
14 23 Billy MONGER (R) GBR Privateer 2:11.371
15 8 Ben PEARSON GBR R&J Motorsport 2:12.407
16 38 Jamie CAROLINE (R) GBR TCR 2:12.902
17 24 Harry MAILER (R) GBR Hillspeed 2:13.422
18 43 Pedro CARDOSO (R) * GBR Hillspeed 2:14.242
19 25 Flashman FINNERAN (R) GBR Privateer 2:16.059
20 33 Tom BROWN (R) GBR TollBar Racing 2:17.124
Car 43 - times disallowed - track limits

Oulton Park is the venue for round 7 and 8 of the 2014 Ginetta Juniors championship, and after the early summer break, the drivers are back and ready to fight to get control of the championship, Jack Mitchell continues to dominate taking pole in both round 7 & 8, With Jamie Chadwick taking 2nd in qualifying one and Ryan Hadfield 2nd for race two

Jamie Caroline failed to build on his race win at Thruxton with a spin that hindered James Kellet, yet Kellet was able to continue and take third position for both races at Oulton Park, whereas Caroline struggled to get back to the pits and that is where he stayed until the end of the session.

Racing for all his worth Alex Sedgwick produced a great lap taking fourth in Q1 and 7th in Q2, the 4th position meant JHR has three cars in the top four, with James Kellett spoiling a one-two-three first race start, Ryan Hadfield has a commendable 5th for Q1, followed by Lando Norris, 

For Round Eight, Jack Mitchell is on pole, with Hadfield an improved second, James Kellett will line-up third again, with Chadwick fourth followed by Rawles & Jonathan Hadfield. Sedgewick, Norris, Taylforth and Matt Chapman round out the top ten.

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The cars are lining up on a warm track and humid condition's, with the crowd still on a high from a brilliant first round of BTCC which saw Collin Turkington start and finish in first place, followed by team mate Rob Collard and Jason Plato drops from 2nd on the grid to third at the finish.

The drivers for the Ginetta Juniors are all lined up and just waiting for the green light, and off they go , Mitchell gets nudged and Kellett gets up to second, as Sedgewick shoots off into the sand, the top three are starting to pull ahead, as Chadwick take a long line and Nealy lost third, but as the come to the chicane another push from behind does not lose a place, first and second are now pulling away from third, an they finish the first lap, 

over the line and a bonnet starts flapping or a black flag will get waved, off down the hill and a large incident with bots and cars flying in all directions, but the does not hinder first and second, No, a large incident means a safety car, Brown gets punted due to a car malfunction, and two other cars all plough into the siding, Chadwick remains in third, with James still second, but the lead they have on the others will now be lost due to the safety car.

There will be a long delay as the Marshall's attempt to remove the three cars, and all the bits laying around and then rebuild some of the tyres, as the safety car continues Flasherman Finneran (what a great name) pulls off, and another car, #25,  with significant damage drives around, to the pits, the cars are all now bunched up behind the safety car, as the Marshall's continue to get the cars and safety wall sorted as quickly as possible.

The lights are off on the safety car and now onto lap 4, with Johnny Hadfield goes off, immediately, and NO, the safety car has stopped on track, with another car, pulling in front of the others just missing a huge accident, James is still second, and the racers are just ignoring the others and going for it, the race has been extended to nine laps, and back to the race leaders, with the top two now pulling away,a with the safety car just pulling on the side of the track, this will need to be investigated, the guys are really racing hard now, with Caroline's bonnet flapping well, into lap six and the cars are all starting to spread out a bit, hopefully there wont be anymore issues.

James is still right up close to Mitchel, but James is not giving anything away to him, third place is between three drivers, and they are banging each other to get past as Chadwick remains in third, great racing between these youngsters,, as they come to "Shell oils" James is getting closer, and a lunge will be on the cards, maybe at Lodge or Kinckerbrook, James is looking, and is closer than ever, the final lap in nearly over, and James is getting ready to go for a pass, but a small error means James stays too far back to get , with Mitchell 1st, James 2nd and Jamie Caroline 3rd, with James taking fastest lap too, what a great race, and a testament to the guts these youngster have.

Race two will be at the end of the day after the final BTCC race, unfortunately I will be unable to report that.

Jaguar F-Type crashed at Jaguar Simola Hillclimb

Driving schools across the world strive to teach their students methods of fighting negative reactions and replacing these with proper performance driving rules. Nonetheless, what do you do when a driver pushes his car hard and then fails to show any reaction at all?

This is what seems to have happened with the Jaguar F-Type in the adjacent video, which was flipped over during a South African hillclimb event. To set things straight form the beginning, we have to explain we are dealing with a Jaguar F-Type V6 S here, similar to the one we drove last year.

What we can tell you is that this is one tail-happy feline. This shows in the beginning of the clip, where the F-Type exits a left-hander sliding to the point where the right rear side ends up stepping outside the road. The sportscar was being pushed hard during the Jaguar Simola Hillclimb event in Knysna.

The driver does appear to correct the oversteering tendencies of the F-Type, but this is where the logical part of the story ends. From this point on, the wheels of the sports car appear to be kept in a straight position, as if the driver would’ve done absolutely nothing with the steering wheel.

The car obviously continues to go straight and ends up... climbing the landscape on the other side of the road. At first we thought we could’ve been dealing with a case of plow-through understeer, but this wasn’t so. The driver actually failed to do anything with the wheel once the car recovered from the slide.

The F-Type flipped over multiple times, eventually landing back on its wheels. In this violent process, the car also lost a wheel. As it appears, the passive safety aura of the car worked pretty well, as we can see the driver exiting the vehicle after the accident.

UPDATED - NEWS FLASH - FATAL CRASH AT THE START OF 24 HOURS LE MANS

Danish driver Simonsen killed in Le Mans endurance race



Allan Simonsen was participating for the seventh time in the world-famous race
Danish driver Allan Simonsen has died after crashing his car during the Le Mans endurance race in France, the organisers say.

They say the 34-year-old spun off after about 10 minutes of the race in his Aston Martin and hit the safety barriers at the Tertre Rouge bend.

He was taken to the medical centre at the premises but later died of his injuries, the organisers said.

It is believed to be the first death in the 24-hour annual event since 1997.

In a statement on Saturday, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest said: "In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the Circuit Medical Centre where he died soon after due to his injuries."

The organisers expressed their "deepest condolences to the family and those close to Allan Simonsen".

The cause of the crash in western France is being investigated.



Allan Simonsen steers his Aston Martin Vantage number 95 before his accident.

Simonsen was part of the Aston Martin Racing team
Simonsen was participating for the seventh time in the race.

After the crash, the race was stopped for about an hour to repair the barriers.

Simonsen's death is believed to be the first in the race since 1986, when Austrian Jo Gartner died after hitting safety barriers head-on at 260km/h (160mph).

In 1997, French driver Sebastien Enjolras was killed during a pre-qualifying session after his car overturned and burst into flames.
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STATEMENT FROM ASTON MARTIN

Le Mans, 22 June 2013: It is with great shock and sadness that the Aston Martin Racing Team confirms that an accident occurred shortly after the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at around 15:09 hrs CET today (22 June) when the No 95 Vantage GTE driven by Allan Simonsen left the track at Tertre Rouge.

Tragically, and despite the best efforts of the emergency services in attendance, Allan’s injuries proved fatal.

Aston Martin Racing Managing Director, John Gaw, said: “On behalf of all of us at Aston Martin Racing, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the individuals, and families whose friends or loved ones were involved in today's terrible tragedy.”

Aston Martin Racing will not make any further comment until the precise circumstances of the accident have been determined.

Next of kin have been informed.

Following the ACO’s media statement concerning the tragic death of Aston Martin Racing driver Allan Simonsen, and at the specific request of his family, the team will continue to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in tribute to Allan.