Chase Fernandez has strengthened his title challenge in the Ginetta Junior Championship with a crucial double win in the penultimate round of the season at Donington Park (07/08 September), as Colin Cronin took a memorable first victory in the series and Ethan Jeff-Hall was crowned the provisional 2024 rookie champion.
Saturday
Fernandez (R Racing) was the fastest driver on both days of testing leading up to the event, and he replicated that performance in a wet qualifying session on Saturday. He secured a double pole position, finishing two tenths of a second ahead of championship leader Ethan Jeff-Hall (R Racing).
Behind the title contenders, Cronin (Fox Motorsport) recorded his best qualifying result of the season in third overall. The top six was rounded out by Henry Joslyn (Preptech UK), Isaac Phelps (Elite Motorsport) and Marcus Saeter (R Racing).
The opening race began with Fernandez leading the field away, with Jeff-Hall tucking under his team-mate’s rear wing in the early stages. He went to make a move for the lead through the Esses on lap four, however dramatic contact between the two sent them both spinning.
In a potentially pivotal moment in the 2024 title battle, Jeff-Hall was able to continue back in seventh as Fernandez’s race ended in the gravel trap. As the safety car came out, Cronin was leading a Ginetta Junior race for the first time ahead of Phelps, Saeter and Archie Clark (Elite Motorsport).
When racing resumed, an attempted move from Ruben Dan (Elite Motorsport) on Clark into the Melbourne Hairpin resulted in contact with the rear of Phelps, ending both their races. Taking full advantage was Jeff-Hall, who stormed through from seventh to third ahead of Joslyn.
Jeff-Hall went on to make it a three-way battle for the win going onto the final lap. Saeter mounted a challenge on Cronin going into the Esses but had to straight-line the chicane, meaning that although he took the chequered flag first, a post-race penalty put him behind first-time race-winner Cronin.
Jeff-Hall finished up third ahead of Joslyn and Clark, while title contender Charlie Hart (Elite Motorsport) fought back from an uncharacteristic 15th in qualifying to round out the top six. Jude Peters (E3 Sport) gained five places over the race to finish seventh.
After slipping back to 16th early on, Alfie Slater (R Racing) battled back to eighth ahead of team-mate Tom Ingram Hill. Ethan Carney (Preptech UK) grabbed the final place in the top ten on the last lap from Felix Livesey (MDD Racing) to complete a drive through from 17th on the grid.
James Ellis (MDD Racing) finished 11th as Holly Miall (Fox Motorsport) picked up her best race finish of the season so far in 12th, while Harry Moss (R Racing), Torrin Byrne (Pace Performance) and Jack Robinson (Fox Motorsport) completed the race finishers.
Sunday
Wet weather once again greeted the field for race two on Sunday morning. Fernandez started from pole position, while a ten-place grid penalty for Jeff-Hall after his race one incident with Fernandez meant that Cronin lined up on the front row.
As Fernandez led away, Joslyn immediately grabbed second at the expense of Cronin to start a thrilling duel for the race win. Joslyn got ahead for the first time into McLeans on lap five, before Fernandez hit back with a great run out of the final corner two laps later.
Joslyn tucked back under the rear wing of Fernandez and dived ahead into the Melbourne hairpin to lead into the final lap. Fernandez challenged into Redgate and made his move stick down the Craner Curves to secure the race victory.
Behind, Jeff-Hall put in a brilliant drive in the wet to charge through the field from 12th on the grid. Picking his way through to fourth place with a few laps to go, he then closed down a two second gap to Cronin and took the final place on the overall podium.
Cronin would also lose out to Phelps on the final lap as they fought for fourth position, both drivers ending up on the rookie class podium, with Clark in hot pursuit across the line. Phelps had enjoyed a thrilling battle with Saeter in the early stages, the latter ending up seventh at the flag.
Elite Motorsport duo Hart and Dan made good progress through the race to take top ten finishes from 13th and 15th on the grid respectively, with Peters coming home tenth. Livesey was in the battle for the top six at one stage before dropping back to 11th ahead of Byrne and Ingram Hill.
The final race of the weekend saw Fernandez and Joslyn lining up on the front row. While Fernandez maintained the lead from pole, a wide moment exiting the Old Hairpin for Joslyn dropped him back to fourth behind Jeff-Hall and Phelps.
That kicked off a familiar duel for the race win, as title rivals Fernandez and Jeff-Hall once again went toe-to-toe. Jeff-Hall grabbed the lead into Melbourne on lap five, before Fernandez got back ahead into Coppice on the next lap, though his lead only lasted a few corners before places changed again.
Their battling allowed Clark to join the battle and he briefly grabbed the lead into Redgate on lap eight, however Fernandez got back ahead on the run down the Craner Curves. As Clark slipped back to fifth over the next couple of laps, it was Jeff-Hall who led the challenge to the leader again.
Fernandez held on though to secure his seventh win of the season and in the process equal the all-time record for the most Ginetta Junior podium finishes. Jeff-Hall followed him home for an R Racing one-two, which confirmed them as the provisional 2024 teams’ champions and Jeff-Hall as the provisional rookie victor.
Clark fought back in the closing laps to complete the overall podium in third, leading a close six-car pack across the line. That group included Saeter, Hart and Dan, who all received time penalties for track limits infringements that dropped them down the order.
Phelps was therefore fourth in the final result ahead of Livesey in a seasons’ best fifth. After a great charge from 19th on the grid to tenth on the road, Slater was promoted to a top six finish ahead of Dan, Peters and Cronin, the latter fighting back after a trip through the Coppice gravel on lap one.
Ellis was another to benefit from the penalties as he ended the weekend with a first ever top ten race finish ahead of Ingram Hill. Saeter ended up 12th in the end ahead of Hart and two other drivers to receive track limits penalties, Joslyn and Moss.
In the Freshmans Cup, a new class this season for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, current Ginetta Junior scholar Peters secured a perfect hat-trick of victories. Ellis and Byrne would join him on the podium in all three races too.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/243605
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The 2024 Ginetta Junior Championship season concludes later this month (28/29 September) with three races on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
