Chase Fernandez has ignited his title challenge in the Ginetta Junior Championship with a stunning hat-trick of victories at Snetterton (13-14 July).
Saturday
The weekend’s action began with Alfie Slater impressively securing his maiden pole position in the championship, leading an R Racing one-two-three from Chase Fernandez and Ethan Jeff-Hall on the qualifying timesheets. Henry Joslyn (Preptech UK) and Charlie Hart (Elite Motorsport) rounded out the top five.
Slater got a good launch off the line to lead the field through the opening lap, however at Wilson on lap two he would lose out to both Fernandez and Jeff-Hall. Joslyn was the next to put him under pressure, however an attempted move into the final corner led to Joslyn spinning onto the grass.
As he tried to recover to the circuit he made contact with another car, with the subsequent damage ruling him out of the race and bringing out the safety car soon after. Chase Fernandez and Jeff-Hall were running nose-to-tail heading into the stoppage, with Slater third ahead of Hart.
The main action in the early stages came from a huge multi-car battle over eighth place. Jude Peters (E3 Sport) and Torrin Byrne (Pace Performance) held the spot in the opening couple of laps before both hit drama, with Alfie Davies (Preptech UK) then having a turn at the head of the pack.
James Shotton (Fox Motorsport) was the driver to watch though, storming through from 22nd on the grid to the top ten within three laps. By the time the safety car came out he was up to seventh behind team-mate Colin Cronin and leading Archie Clark (Elite Motorsport) and Davies.
Action resumed for a two-lap shootout to the chequered flag, with Fernandez putting in a controlled performance to lead to the chequered flag for the win. Anglesey hat-trick hero Jeff-Hall followed him home, while a late move for Hart netted him a podium finish from Slater.
A mistake by Marcus Saeter (R Racing) from fifth dropped him into the pack behind, with Shotton briefly grabbing the place on the penultimate lap before being shuffled back through the Brundle / Nelson complex behind Clark, Cronin and Saeter.
As Clark went on to finish fifth, completing an impressive drive from 12th on the grid, Cronin lost out to Saeter and Shotton heading through Coram corner for the final time. Harry Moss (R Racing) impressively gained seven places through the race to finish ninth.
Davies rounded out the top ten from Ruben Dan (Elite Motorsport) and Felix Livesey (MDD Racing). Nickolas Ellis (Elite Motorsport) impressively charged forward 11 places to 13th ahead of team-mate Isaac Phelps, Jack Robinson (Fox Motorsport), Peters and Tom Ingram-Hill (R Racing).
Sunday
Chase Fernandez lined up on pole position for race two based on the second-best times recorded in qualifying. Joslyn was alongside him on the front-row and made the better start to the race, storming around the outside at Riches to take the lead.
His advantage lasted just over a lap before Fernandez slid past into the Bomb Hole on lap two. The top two went on to run nose-to-tail for a number of laps. They were joined by Jeff-Hall in the closing stages though. Had had fought through from fifth on the grid to third.
Joslyn tried to challenge for the lead on the penultimate lap. But, that allowed Jeff-Hall to sweep around the outside at the Wilson hairpin. He went on to try and take the lead at the same corner on the final lap. However, Fernandez fended him off and took the victory.
A one-two race result for R Racing meant the team celebrated the achievement of reaching 150 podium finishes in the Ginetta Junior Championship. Joslyn finished third, with Slater fourth after a last lap move on his team-mate Saeter.
Those two had been trading places with Hart throughout the race. Cronin was hot on their heels too as he came home seventh. An opening lap move for Phelps on Ingram Hill eventually netted him eighth, with Byrne completing the top ten behind.
One of the most exciting battles of the race was a four-way scrap for 11th. It took place in the early laps between Livesey, Clark, Dan and Ethan Carney (Preptech UK). Clark eventually emerged with the position. Carney taking the finish in 12th before a track limits time penalty dropped him to 15th.
Livesey was therefore classified 12th from 17th on the grid ahead of Moss and Davies. Dan had dropped out of the battle after a trip to the pitlane. Robinson put in an impressive drive from 23rd on the grid to finish 17th behind James Ellis (MDD Racing).
Holly Miall (Fox Motorsport) was next up ahead of another driver to make good progress through the race. Ntiyiso Mabunda (Pace Performance) climbed from 24th to 19th. Shotton was left to settle for 20th after an early drama, ahead of Mahlori Mabunda (Pace Performance).
The final race of the weekend began with Fernandez driving away from pole. Joslyn grabbed second off the line from Jeff-Hall. The race was soon halted by red flags though. As a multi-car incident in the midfield ruled out Clark, Byrne and Davies from the rest of the race.
The race restarted with a shorter ten-minute duration and Fernandez wasted no time in leading from the front again. On lap two, however, Jeff-Hall dived down the inside at Riches. Joslyn followed him to demote Fernandez back to third.
The former leader fought back past Joslyn at Agostini later in that lap though. After almost getting ahead of Jeff-Hall at Wilson on lap three, he managed to make a move stick at the same corner on the penultimate lap of the race.
Chase Fernandez maintained that lead to the finish to complete his Snetterton hat-trick. This took his win tally for the season to four. Jeff-Hall was close behind as R Racing extended their all-time championship record run of seven consecutive one-two race finishes.
On this occasion they locked out the podium as Saeter made a last lap move stick on Joslyn for third. Hart and Slater completed the top six, with Livesey battling to a seasons’ best seventh place finish ahead of Cronin. Shotton put in a brilliant drive meanwhile, going from 17th at the restart to ninth.
Carney signed off an impressive weekend with his maiden top ten finish in the championship from Robinson and Ingram Hill. Ruben Dan and Nickolas Ellis each gained six places after the restart to finish 13th and 14th respectively.
Moss ran in the top ten before losing ground in the closing stages to 15th ahead of James Ellis. South African siblings Ntiyiso and Mahlori Mabunda ended with weekend-best results of 17th and 18th respectively.
The Freshman’s Cup, a new class this season for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience. Davies and Robinson enjoyed their first wins of the season. Byrne picked up a victory also, as Peters, James Ellis and Ntiyiso Mabunda joined them in collecting trophies.
Full race results can be found at: www.tsl-timing.com/event/242805
You can watch all three race again on: www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The Ginetta Junior Championship season continues next month (17/18 August). We join the TCR UK Championship event on the Silverstone National circuit.
