ZAMPARELLI EXTENDS POINTS ADVANTAGE WITH SIXTH WIN OF SEASONDino Zamparelli increased his lead in the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship standings to an incredible 83 points at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire yesterday afternoon, Saturday, 17th May, after sealing the sixth win of what is rapidly becoming a dominant campaign.The Muzz Racing driver shows no sign of letting his grip on the championship lead slip and with Dominic Pettit taking valuable points off Zamparelli’s chief title rival Tom Carnaby with a fighting second position today, it’s hard to look beyond the round nine victor to add another win to his tally during tomorrow’s race.Although Josh Hill had secured his third pole position on the bounce earlier in the day, just 0.010 seconds faster than Zamparelli, the young rookie was forced to start round nine from the back of the grid after an accident on his final qualifying lap resulted in him having to use an alternative car for the race.Inheriting pole position, Zamparelli made it count immediately as he led Pettit away from the grid while just behind, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Winner Daniel Lloyd enjoyed a terrific opening lap, rising from sixth to third ahead of Jake Farndon, Carnaby, and Simon Austin.As Zamparelli tried to make a bit of a break from his pursuers on lap two, Lloyd started to put Pettit under pressure as he himself came under scrutiny from Farndon. At the complex on lap three, Lloyd made an unsuccessful attempt to create an opportunity to pass Pettit and the lost momentum resulted in Farndon being able to snatch third.The pair traded places twice more on the lap before the Safety Car boards were shown due to the cars of erstwhile pole-sitter Hill and Sarah Moore having made contact. Hill made a good start initially and climbed into the top 15 with rapid progress from the back of the grid but contact with Moore resulted in a double retirement.Controlling the race well at the re-start on lap six, Zamparelli looked to have the win firmly within his grasp but over the remaining three laps Pettit did put his rival under pressure – particularly during a grandstand finish at the chicane on the final tour when the pair almost overlapped at the entry.Trying to out-brake Zamparelli around the outside, Pettit carried too much speed into the turn and straight-lined the kerbs to actually emerge ahead but he fairly, and quite rightly, ceded the position back to Zamparelli who took the chequered flag just over a 10th of a second ahead of his rival.“I made a bit of a mistake coming out of Church at the end which allowed Dominic to close in but I managed to block the inside up Woodham Hill”, explained the round nine race winner, “He went to the outside, out-braked himself and we both ran over the kerbs but thankfully I came home with the win.“I’m not thinking about the championship at this stage. I go out to win every race so tomorrow I’ll focus fully again and hopefully be back on the top step. It’s not the time to think about the title, there’s a long season still ahead of us.”Carnaby ended the race third for a welcome return to the podium, setting the fastest lap on the penultimate tour with a new record of 1m 35.479 seconds (88.83mph) – some 1.2 seconds quicker than Jordan Williams’ previous best when the Ginetta Juniors last visited Thruxton back in 2006.Farndon finished in fourth position, Alex Austin raced very well from eighth on the grid to finish fifth and Lloyd fought-back from an enforced lap seven spin – which occurred as he was duelling for the final step on the podium – to claim a top six result. Simon Austin was seventh, Aaron Williamson eighth and Alice Powell ninth having scythed her way through the field brilliantly from the last row of the grid to gain a remarkable 11 places in total. Powell was forced to start at the back for similar reasons to Hill after problems of her own.The Ginetta Juniors will be back in action at approximately 12.55 tomorrow, Sunday, 18th May, for the 10th round of the season.In its regular slot on the support bill of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, tomorrow’s nine-lap Ginetta Junior encounter is likely to benefit from live television coverage on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 as part of the BTCC broadcast which begins at 12.30.Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd9)1st Dino Zamparelli, 285pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 202pts; 3rd Josh Hill, 167pts; 4th Daniel Lloyd, 161pts; 5th Jake Farndon, 150pts; 6th Dominic Pettit, 142pts