With the first weekend of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship complete, George Richardson has taken an early series lead following a superb lights-to-flag victory during round two at a partially damp Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.Having dominated qualifying on Saturday with a double pole-position, Richardson could only manage third place during round one yesterday. Today, however, he managed to convert his round two pole into a terrific start and an unchallenged win to open up a 15 point lead in the driver standings.Behind Richardson, the impressive Alice Powell battled hard for third place to make a deserved trip to the podium while second position went to the outstanding Jay Southern who fought his way through from 11th on the grid.“We decided to gamble and go with the dry set-up today and it paid off”, said Richardson following the race, “On Saturday we went with wet weather settings and it didn’t go so well as the track dried out. Today it was predominantly dry if a bit damp at the start, a little greasy in different places, but other than that it was great. “It was a brilliant race, unfortunately the Safety Car upset me a little bit when it appeared both times but I still managed to hold the lead. I think I handled myself well, I had some great advice from my team and it paid off. I’m really happy to have won.”At the start, while Richardson led away cleanly from Powell, Thomas Carnaby held on to third place ahead of round one winner Dino Zamparelli. Under pressure into Paddock Hill Bend on lap two, Powell held off Carnaby but he soon found a way by.An unfortunate off for Aaron Williamson at Paddock Hill resulted in the Safety Car being deployed on lap two and with racing abated for a few laps while the stricken car was moved to safety, a glance further down the order showed Jake Farndon repeating his heroics of round one by making fantastic inroads in double-quick time.Having started the race a lowly 19th on the grid after a problematic qualifying session, Farndon had climbed into the top 10 by the time the Safety Car emerged. He would eventually finish a highly creditable eighth.The re-start came on lap six, Zamparelli immediately making an impression by taking third place from Powell around the outside at Paddock Hill. Fifth placed Dominic Pettit then came under attack at Clearways from Southern who bagged the position nicely.Powell drifted back to fourth place when Pettit found a way through at Paddock Hill on lap eight but the latter didn’t stay there long, running wide almost as soon as he had gained the position and ending his race in the gravel trap. This brought out the Safety Car for a second time.At the re-start, the complexion of the race would soon change when second-placed Carnaby and pursuer Zamparelli made contact at Surtees. Zamparelli produced a great pass on the inside but it would leave him on the outside for the run through McLaren.With both cars leaning on each other, contact was inevitable really and both ended up off the circuit. Carnaby recovered to eventually finish in seventh place while Zamparelli made his way into the top 12 on the very last lap at the expense of Josh Hill.The third generation racer had a tough debut weekend in Ginetta Juniors, compounded by a spin on the opening lap of today’s race at the corner named after his famous grandfather, Graham Hill. With dad Damon, Britain’s last Formula One World Champion, looking on he eventually finished in 13th place after a good recovery.Back at the front, race leader Richardson continued to press on and at the chequered flag on lap 14 he took victory by 1.2 seconds from Southern with Powell a further half a second shy in third. Nick Ponting did a great job to finish in fourth, having started eighth, while Daniel Lloyd starred too, climbing from 13th on the grid to fifth position at the flag.With its place on the British Touring Car Championship support package, live television coverage on ITV4 and exposure on the ITV1 magazine programme Motorsport UK, 2008 promises to be an exceptional year for the country’s most exciting junior racing series.Rounds three and four of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship will take place next weekend, 5th/6th April, away from the BTCC bill at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. The series will rejoin the touring cars at Rockingham in Northamptonshire on 19th/20th April. 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd2)1st George Richardson, 63pts; 2nd Jay Southern, 48pts; 3rd Dino Zamparelli, 45pts; 4th Thomas Carnaby, 39pts; 5th Alice Powell, 38pts; 6th Casey Watson, 34pts