Karting graduate Cameron Roberts, runner-up in last October’s Ginetta Junior Scholarship, will make the move into cars full-time this year in the popular Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship support category after agreeing a deal with race-winning squad Total Control Racing.
Joining Matt Chapman, the previous year’s Scholarship runner-up, at TCR for the eagerly anticipated 20 race campaign, Worcester 15-year-old Roberts is determined to make his mark during his rookie season but is certainly mindful of the level of competition which awaits him.
“I’m really looking forward to my first year in cars, especially after doing as well as we did in the Scholarship – that was a bit of a booster”, said Roberts, “You always want to race against good drivers, you need to try and impress at a young age and get everyone’s attention. The Ginetta is great to drive as well, I thought it would be more like a road car but it’s a real race car.
“We met with Lee [Brookes – TCR team principal] and the team last week to have a look round the workshop and I liked it a lot. It’s a fantastic team to be racing with, TCR is very professional and I know they can get the job done. If I can get into the top five in my first season I’ll be really happy, it’s hard to predict how competitive everything will be though, especially in my first season.”
Roberts started out in karting in 2009 and made swift progress. After finishing 10th overall in the Formula Kart Stars Cadet Championship in 2011 he then topped the points standings in the 2012 Super 1 Cadet Championship – frustratingly, though, he missed out on the coveted title after ‘drop scores’ were applied and ended the campaign in third place.
Moving into the Super 1 Mini Max Championship the following year, where he was sixth overall, Roberts then signed-up for last year’s Ginetta Junior Scholarship during which he made a lasting impression on the judging panel to be runner-up in a process featuring 58 other rivals.
“It’s fantastic to have Cameron in the team and we’re really looking forward to working with him in his first season”, said TCR’s Lee Brookes, “He and Matt [Chapman] will make a cracking young team and although the championship is a tough challenge for any rookie, Cameron was very impressive during the Scholarship so we’ve got high hopes for his development during the year.”
Roberts arrives in the Ginetta Junior Championship as part of the Race Driver Development (RDD) programme, headed by experienced motorsport professional Graeme Glew, which is making its first foray into the category this year through its partnership with the promising teenager.
“We have been managing Cameron's career for over a year and advised him to enter the Ginetta Junior Scholarship, where he was runner-up, and are now delighted to have secured a seat with TCR”, said Glew, “We’ve never been involved in Ginetta Junior before so we are looking forward to working within this new environment, in what looks to be a very healthy and exciting category.”
The opening two rounds of the Ginetta Junior Championship will take place over Easter weekend, 4th/5th April, at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent.
