Dino Zamparelli and Dominic Pettit provided a memorable start to the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent today – Zamparelli shading the round one win by a mere 0.025 seconds in a race hard to beat in terms of drama and edge-of-the-seat excitement.With Pettit having taken the lead on lap nine after a terrific three-car duel into Druids Hairpin, he began to put a little bit of distance between himself and second placed George Richardson, the latter battling with an increasingly quick Zamparelli.As soon as Zamparelli moved into second place at Paddock Hill Bend on lap 11, the stage looked set for a spectacular head-to-head with Pettit. Neither driver disappointed with a wonderful display in front of the British Touring Car Championship team bosses.As the pair headed through McLaren on the penultimate tour almost touching, the final lap offered the prospect of a true grandstand finish. Pettit crossed the line just three 10ths of a second ahead into lap 14 and although running slightly wide into Graham Hill Bend, he managed to stay ahead along Cooper Straight.Into Clearways for the final time though, Zamparelli saw his chance and grabbed it with both hands. Moving to the inside of Pettit, the pair then ran side-by-side all the way to the chequer with Zamparelli taking a literal photo-finish by the narrowest of margins.“I was in sixth place early on and losing pace so I thought to myself I have to try and make up some places”, said the round one victor, “I managed to pick people off one by one and when I got into second I thought I had a good chance of winning the race.“My pit board said there were three laps to go when actually there were only two so on what turned out to be the last lap, I went up the inside of Dominic – he gave me space which was nice – but then I could see he was coming back at me. I just put my foot down and we ran side by side to the line. It was such a good race, I’m so happy to win.”The start of the 14-lap encounter saw George Richardson make a good initial getaway from pole position but fellow front-row starter Alice Powell got better drive overall and headed the field into Paddock Hill Bend.On lap two, Powell was forced wide at Druids and dropped to third with Richardson going through into the lead and Thomas Carnaby moving into second place. Sadly for Powell things only got worse as, on lap five, a spin on the run from Druids saw her lose a huge number of places as she dropped well outside the top 10.Battling hard, a superb recovery saw Powell fight back into ninth position at the end ahead of Nick Ponting who received a 10 second penalty for a jump start. Jake Farndon, who started in 17th place after problems in qualifying, raced impressively early on and on lap six was in eighth place. Just one lap later though, a spin on Cooper Straight put paid to any further progress. He eventually came home down in 15th place behind Sarah Moore, sister of 2007 Ginetta Junior Champion, Nigel.

Back at the front, while Zamparelli and Pettit could hardly be separated, Richardson took a deserved podium in third place while Carnaby was fourth, Fergus Walkinshaw fifth and Jay Southern rounded out the top six. Casey Watson finished in seventh place, one spot ahead of car racing rookie Josh Hill, son of 1996 FIA Formula One World Champion, Damon.Supporting the BTCC for the first time, the Ginetta Junior Championship served up absolutely outstanding action during the opening round today. Not only a superb advert for the Ginetta marque and the quality of the championship itself, the arrival of the Ginetta Juniors is also wonderful news for the BTCC package as a whole.Action resumes at Brands Hatch tomorrow, Sunday, 30th March, with round two scheduled to begin at 12.10. Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4 will be live on air from Brands Hatch from 12.30pm and it’s possible the Ginetta race will receive delayed coverage – please check listings for further details.Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd1)1st Dino Zamparelli, 36pts; 2nd Dominic Pettit, 30pts; 3rd George Richardson, 27pts; 4th Thomas Carnaby, 22pts; 5th Fergus Walkinshaw, 20pts; 6th Jay Southern, 18pts