Another track another win for Ginetta Junior leader Morris

Knockhill Circuit in Scotland provided the latest test for the teenage stars of the Ginetta Junior Championship today, Saturday, 3rd September, with points leader Seb Morris once again adding to his already substantial cushion with his 10th victory of the year in round 13.On a very strong day for Hillspeed, Morris’ team-mate Struan Moore secured his second podium in as many race meetings with a terrific third place behind TJ Motorsport’s George Gamble – the latter having to mount not one, but two sensational recoveries having originally led on lap one.Getting away from pole position well, albeit under massive pressure from fellow front-row starter Morris on the run to the first corner, Gamble threaded his way neatly through the tricky Leslie’s and Scotsman section but on the approach to the chicane he got slightly out of shape.Handing the lead to Morris, the championship pace-setter didn’t need a second invitation and he proceeded to build a lead of well over three seconds as he looked set to ease to win number 10 of the season. However, a late-race Safety Car period – required after Jake Giddings spun out into the barriers at the exit of Clark’s – did offer some additional spice.Morris though led away well at the re-start and took the chequered flag on lap 17 just over a second clear of Gamble, for whom the Safety Car intervention was most welcome as it enabled him to move from fourth to second in the space of the final two laps.“I just tried to keep my head, not focus on what was going on behind me and instead concentrate on my own lap times – I treated it like a qualifying run really once I got the lead”, said Morris, “I pulled away well and then the Safety Car came out. George really heated his tyres up well before the re-start, I was a bit more conservative, and he did catch me up a bit. But I knew I had it in hand.”After his lap one error, Gamble had to work incredibly hard. Initially slipping behind Morris, he then lost second place to Giddings but applied massive pressure to the FML driver. Then, on lap four into SEAT Curve, Gamble produced a superb pass around the outside to re-take third although it was short lived as he then dropped back outside the top six at Butcher’s.Over the next four laps Gamble worked his way back into the top four and then after the Safety Car period he picked-off Niall Murray at the first corner of the re-start to go third before then grabbing second place into the hairpin on the final lap from Moore.Gamble commented: “The team has got the car spot on this weekend – I think we’ve been quickest in every session and second place is more great points for the championship. I’m really pleased with my comeback, when I hit that kerb I dropped back to sixth or seventh and thought it would be really hard but the Safety Car did help me. With another couple of laps I think we could have got Seb.”Moore, who qualified alongside Giddings on the second row of the grid, battled at the sharp end throughout and took third at the expense of Gamble on lap four before inheriting second two laps later. On course for a career-best finish, only Gamble’s determined recovery and final corner pass prevented him from doing so. Nonetheless, Moore did set a new lap record of 1m02.091 seconds.“It’s a shame not to have held second to the end, it would have been great for the team to have the one-two”, said Moore, “It all came down to the Safety Car but third place is really good, I’m very happy to be on the podium again. It’s all coming together for us, Knockhill is a good drivers’ track and very tough but I’m really enjoying it.”Fourth position went the way of TJ Motorsport’s Sennan Fielding, equalling his previous best of the season with a very competitive drive, while fifth placed Charlie Robertson worked hard to steer his HHC Motorsport car into a top five finish – having qualified an uncharacteristic eighth. The top six was completed by Beacon Racing’s Murray.This weekend also marks the culmination of a campaign in the Scottish Sun daily newspaper, run in conjunction with the Ginetta Junior Championship, to prove youngsters can come straight into car racing without any previous, and often extremely expensive, competitive experience in karts.Christie Doran, the 16-year-old daughter of Scottish Sun journalist Jon Doran, had only undertaken some basic training prior to today’s encounter but she acquitted herself well and improved her pace markedly between testing, qualifying and round 13. Posting a race finish, the JHR Developments driver will be hoping for another step forward tomorrow.Round 14 of the Ginetta Junior Championship will take place at 15.00 tomorrow, Sunday, 4th September, and will be screened live on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 and in High Definition on ITV4 HD. There will also be live streaming online at www.itv.com/touringcarsProvisional 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd13):1st Seb Morris, 419pts; 2nd George Gamble, 301pts; 3rd Charlie Robertson, 285pts; 4th William Foster, 257pts; 5th Tom Howard, 217pts; 6th Max Coates, 211pts win for MORRISKnockhill Circuit in Scotland provided the latest test for the teenage stars of the Ginetta Junior Championship today, Saturday, 3rd September, with points leader Seb Morris once again adding to his already substantial cushion with his 10th victory of the year in round 13.On a very strong day for Hillspeed, Morris’ team-mate Struan Moore secured his second podium in as many race meetings with a terrific third place behind TJ Motorsport’s George Gamble – the latter having to mount not one, but two sensational recoveries having originally led on lap one.Getting away from pole position well, albeit under massive pressure from fellow front-row starter Morris on the run to the first corner, Gamble threaded his way neatly through the tricky Leslie’s and Scotsman section but on the approach to the chicane he got slightly out of shape.Handing the lead to Morris, the championship pace-setter didn’t need a second invitation and he proceeded to build a lead of well over three seconds as he looked set to ease to win number 10 of the season. However, a late-race Safety Car period – required after Jake Giddings spun out into the barriers at the exit of Clark’s – did offer some additional spice.Morris though led away well at the re-start and took the chequered flag on lap 17 just over a second clear of Gamble, for whom the Safety Car intervention was most welcome as it enabled him to move from fourth to second in the space of the final two laps.“I just tried to keep my head, not focus on what was going on behind me and instead concentrate on my own lap times – I treated it like a qualifying run really once I got the lead”, said Morris, “I pulled away well and then the Safety Car came out. George really heated his tyres up well before the re-start, I was a bit more conservative, and he did catch me up a bit. But I knew I had it in hand.”After his lap one error, Gamble had to work incredibly hard. Initially slipping behind Morris, he then lost second place to Giddings but applied massive pressure to the FML driver. Then, on lap four into SEAT Curve, Gamble produced a superb pass around the outside to re-take third although it was short lived as he then dropped back outside the top six at Butcher’s.Over the next four laps Gamble worked his way back into the top four and then after the Safety Car period he picked-off Niall Murray at the first corner of the re-start to go third before then grabbing second place into the hairpin on the final lap from Moore.Gamble commented: “The team has got the car spot on this weekend – I think we’ve been quickest in every session and second place is more great points for the championship. I’m really pleased with my comeback, when I hit that kerb I dropped back to sixth or seventh and thought it would be really hard but the Safety Car did help me. With another couple of laps I think we could have got Seb.”Moore, who qualified alongside Giddings on the second row of the grid, battled at the sharp end throughout and took third at the expense of Gamble on lap four before inheriting second two laps later. On course for a career-best finish, only Gamble’s determined recovery and final corner pass prevented him from doing so. Nonetheless, Moore did set a new lap record of 1m02.091 seconds.“It’s a shame not to have held second to the end, it would have been great for the team to have the one-two”, said Moore, “It all came down to the Safety Car but third place is really good, I’m very happy to be on the podium again. It’s all coming together for us, Knockhill is a good drivers’ track and very tough but I’m really enjoying it.”Fourth position went the way of TJ Motorsport’s Sennan Fielding, equalling his previous best of the season with a very competitive drive, while fifth placed Charlie Robertson worked hard to steer his HHC Motorsport car into a top five finish – having qualified an uncharacteristic eighth. The top six was completed by Beacon Racing’s Murray.This weekend also marks the culmination of a campaign in the Scottish Sun daily newspaper, run in conjunction with the Ginetta Junior Championship, to prove youngsters can come straight into car racing without any previous, and often extremely expensive, competitive experience in karts.Christie Doran, the 16-year-old daughter of Scottish Sun journalist Jon Doran, had only undertaken some basic training prior to today’s encounter but she acquitted herself well and improved her pace markedly between testing, qualifying and round 13. Posting a race finish, the JHR Developments driver will be hoping for another step forward tomorrow.Round 14 of the Ginetta Junior Championship will take place at 15.00 tomorrow, Sunday, 4th September, and will be screened live on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 and in High Definition on ITV4 HD. There will also be live streaming online at itv.com/touringcarsProvisional 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd13):1st Seb Morris, 419pts; 2nd George Gamble, 301pts; 3rd Charlie Robertson, 285pts; 4th William Foster, 257pts; 5th Tom Howard, 217pts; 6th Max Coates, 211pts

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