The reigning champions will be aiming to defend their crown with a group of rookie contenders, led by Lebbon (15, Suffolk) who beat over 60 other drivers at Blyton Park in October to win the coveted Scholarship and with it a fully-funded season in the championship.
Lebbon went on to make his race debut in the Ginetta Junior Winter Series at Brands Hatch, where he shared the grid with William Aspin (15, Italy). After making his series bow earlier in the year at Snetterton, Aspin gained more experience in Kent and will now enter his first full season.
Two other drivers will progress from the Ginetta Junior Scholarship contest to the grid next year. Tommy Pintos (14, Spain) finished in the final five, while Seb Hopkins (14, Hampshire), son of regular Ginetta racer Jamie Hopkins, reached the top twelve.
William Vincent (15, Surrey) will also be following in the footsteps of a racing father, former single-seater racer Chris Vincent, as he graduates from karting. Josh Miller (14, Kent) meanwhile completes Elite’s entry after showing strong pace during a testing programme with the team in 2019.
Elite Motorsport are on a formidable run of form in the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship, winning the main title in 2019 with James Hedley and the Winter Series with James Taylor. That means they have now won five consecutive drivers’ titles and back-to-back Team’s crowns.
Eddie Ives, team principal: ““I am extremely excited to have secured a fantastic Ginetta Junior line up this early on in the year. This enables us to get the drivers in best possible shape to hit the ground running for the opening rounds in March.
“We want to become the first team to win the title with a rookie driver. It’s going to be hard to do it with a first year driver in such a tough championship, but we have a high level of talent so I’m confident that we can match the competition.”
The Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship is the UK’s longest running and most prestigious Junior series, offering the first step on the motorsport ladder for 14-17 year old racing drivers as they compete on the support bill for the British Touring Car Championship.
