CARNABY CONTINUES MOMENTUM WITH DOMINANT OULTON WINThomas Carnaby dominated round 15 of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship at a gloriously sunny Oulton Park Island Circuit yesterday afternoon, Saturday, 26th July – the Tollbar Racing ace easing to his fourth victory of the season with a substantial 12 second winning margin.Continuing his rich vein of recent form today, Carnaby looked in a class of his own having set the ball rolling perfectly by scorching to pole position for round 15 in searing temperatures with a time of 1m 46.573 seconds (75.19mph). The only driver to lap under the 1m 47 second bracket, the Scunthorpe racer was a full seven 10ths of a second quicker than team-mate Josh Hill in qualifying – an impressive performance at a circuit renowned for its ability to either make or break drivers.In the race itself, Carnaby was never seriously challenged. Leading away from the front of the grid, he maintained his composure at the head of the field throughout while, further behind, several of his major championship rivals encountered misfortune. He was, however, pipped to the bonus point for fastest lap by Tollbar’s Fergus Walkinshaw.“That was a very tough race, it was extremely hot for starters – unbelievably hot as there was no air coming into the car really”, said Carnaby, “Behind me I hadn’t got a clue what was going on. I saw Josh (Hill) spin and George (Richardson) disappeared as well. It was definitely an excellent race for me though.“We were seven 10ths of a second quicker in qualifying so I knew I could do it in the race, it was just a case of getting into that rhythm. You have to be confident and when I saw Josh starting to drop back a bit I thought I could have a go at it. If we can win again tomorrow, we can close Dino (Zamparelli) down in the championship further – maybe even overtake him!”Joining Carnaby on the round 15 podium were Dominic Pettit in second, his fourth runner-up placing of the season, and Hill who recorded the sixth rostrum finish of his maiden year of car racing action. Jake Farndon claimed fourth, having started 11th on the grid, with Aaron Williamson fifth and Daniel Lloyd rounding out the top six.Several drivers were in with a chance of finishing on the podium throughout the eight lap encounter but lots of overtaking, several incidents and some oil on the track all ensured the outcome couldn’t be predicted.As Carnaby led away from pole at the start, Hill maintained second ahead of Richardson but fourth placed starter Zamparelli slipped backwards immediately as Pettit and Walkinshaw moved ahead. Into Cascades for the first time, Lloyd then demoted Zamparelli further with a great move up the inside to take sixth place – after the race it became clear Lloyd had off-set steering which made the pass all the more impressive.On the run down to Knickerbrook Chicane on lap one, Lloyd made a bid for fifth place and managed to take the position from Walkinshaw with a good piece of overtaking but the latter took the position back before the start of lap two.

Entering lap two in ninth position, something clearly seemed to be amiss with series leader Zamparelli and then on lap four it all became clear when his Muzz Racing entered car sprung an oil leak which pitched the Bristol driver into a spin at the Avenue.When the leaders headed for the Avenue on lap five, Carnaby wisely approached with caution after seeing the oil flags and this allowed Hill to close. Zamparelli, meanwhile, pitted at the end of his fourth tour having crawled back to the pits in his stricken car.Lloyd found himself down in 10th place into lap five having been involved in contact with Pettit at Knickerbrook on the previous lap. Passing Walkinshaw into the chicane for fifth with a good move, there wasn’t room for Pettit and Lloyd on the exit – the latter spinning.Second placed Hill also had a spin, this time at the hairpin on the fifth tour, and having recovered in fifth he mounted an excellent fightback. Promoting Richardson into second and Pettit into third, the new second placed runner had his own dose of misfortune on lap six and slipped to seventh position.Scrapping with Lloyd on the final lap over sixth, having already seen Walkinshaw slip down the order from second to ninth with a moment at the hairpin, Richardson ended his race in retirement following contact at the chicane as he and Lloyd ran side-by-side.Seventh place went to Jake Batty – having started down in 14th position – while eighth went the way of the recovering Walkinshaw following Richardson’s demise. Alex Austin took ninth ahead of Sarah Moore who rounded out the top 10.While race victor Carnaby enjoyed a hugely successful afternoon, for championship leader Zamparelli it was a total nightmare. Following round 15, the driver standings see Zamparelli’s lead cut to just 16 points when taking into account Carnaby’s additional bonus point for the race two pole position.Carnaby is, in turn, 94 points clear of third placed Hill who has moved ahead of Lloyd in the championship by just six points.Round 16 of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship is scheduled to take place at 16.20 today, Sunday, 27th July. Carnaby will again start from pole with Hill alongside, Richardson and Zamparelli share row two and Walkinshaw and Williamson make up the third row.Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd15):1st Dino Zamparelli, 395pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 378pts; 3rd Josh Hill, 284pts; 4th Daniel Lloyd, 279pts; 5th Jake Farndon, 258pts; 6th Dominic Pettit, 250pts