Ethan Jeff-Hall has established himself as the driver to beat as the Ginetta Junior Championship makes its second trip of the season to Silverstone this weekend (17/18 August).
Following an entertaining three races on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit alongside the British GT Championship back in April, it’s the shorter National layout in use this weekend as the teenage talents prepare to tackle another all-important triple-header.
Jeff-Hall (R Racing) took one of the race wins on the first visit to Silverstone, part of a fantastic start to his rookie season that also featured a victory in the Oulton Park opener. It was during G Fest at Anglesey that his title challenge really kicked into gear though, as he scored a memorable hat-trick of wins.
Those victories are part of a current run of seven consecutive podium results, which has built his championship lead to 38 points at this stage. He’s been an integral part of a dominant spell for the R Racing team too, who have recorded a series-record seven consecutive one-two race finishes.
Chase Fernandez followed up his team-mate’s Anglesey dominance with a brilliant treble victory of his own last time out at Snetterton. Those wins, added to an earlier success at Donington Park, have moved the former Ginetta Junior scholarship winner up to second in the standings.
Marcus Saeter has also contributed to R Racing’s current run of success, picking up a win at Anglesey to add to his maiden victory during the first trip to Silverstone. Team-mate Alfie Slater is one to watch meanwhile as he targets a breakthrough overall podium, having topped qualifying at Snetterton.
It’s not all R Racing at the front of the field by any means though. Elite Motorsport are determined to secure a first drivers’ title since 2020 and have a contender in Charlie Hart, who has remarkably finished every race so far this season inside the top six and picked up eight podiums.
Fellow Elite ace Isaac Phelps is on the periphery of the championship battle too, having made a sensational start to his rookie campaign with a double win at Oulton Park. He’ll need to return to that level of form in the upcoming races to close the gap to the points leaders.
Preptech UK are firmly in the hunt for their first ever Ginetta Junior title too with second year contender Henry Joslyn. After scoring his maiden win at Silverstone, he added two more at Donington Park and has accumulated nine podium finishes so far.
Outside of the title protagonists, there’s a hugely-impressive group of rookie drivers that have the potential to join the fight for overall silverware this weekend. Elite Motorsport’s Archie Clark has been a regular top six finisher, while team-mate Ruben Dan finished a seasons-best fourth at Oulton Park.
Colin Cronin (Fox Motorsport) heads to Silverstone in good form with four consecutive top ten results under his belt. Tom Ingram Hill (R Racing) is another to have shown strong potential this year, while Ethan Carney (Preptech UK) will be aiming to build on a maiden top ten result at Snetterton.
The hotly-contested midfield pack also features second year contenders Harry Moss (R Racing) and Felix Livesey (MDD Racing), who have both secured seasons’ best results of seventh, whilst Nickolas Ellis (Elite Motorsport) has impressed as one of the lead overtakers on the grid this year.
The leading contenders in the Freshmans Cup are also worth keeping an eye on. Current Ginetta Junior scholar Jude Peters (E3 Sport) and Torrin Byrne (Pace Performance) have largely dominated the class this season, but Alfie Davies (Preptech UK) and Jack Robinson (Fox Motorsport) took maiden wins last time out.
A stacked grid also features the ever-improving South African siblings Mahlori and Ntiyiso Mabunda (both Pace Performance), rookie contender James Ellis (MDD Racing) and second year runner Holly Miall (Fox Motorsport).
Follow the action across the weekend on social media, @GinettaCars.
Timetable:
Saturday 17 August: Qualifying 09:55; Race One 15:05
Sunday 18 August: Race Two 10:00; Race Three 14:10
All three races will be streamed live on Ginetta’s YouTube channel, while live timing and results will be available via TSL Timing.
