WILLIAMSON TAKES FIRST WIN AS MOORE INCREASES SERIES LEAD

Aaron Williamson took a very well deserved maiden victory during round six of the Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance at Donington Park  Sunday, 17th May, as Sarah Moore tightened her grip on the points lead with a win of her own in the earlier fifth round.

While Williamson and Moore celebrated their respective successes, for double pole-sitter Jake Hill it was yet again a case of what might have been – several spins in the opening race resulting in a lowly 14th place finish while in the second encounter he was edged out on the line by Williamson by just 0.058 seconds.

Third place in round six behind Williamson and Hill means Moore’s lead in the championship is now up to 21 points over Alex Austin who is just a single point to the good over Jake Cook. Williamson’s victory, meanwhile, pushes him up the driver standings into the top four from seventh place.

“I’ve been after a win for two years now, what a great race in which to win my first one too”, said a delighted Williamson at the end of round six, “The track was getting drier and drier every lap, the tyres were going off and the car was sliding about. On the final lap, Jake (Hill) was really catching me and it was quite nerve-wracking really. That was the closest race finish I’ve ever had!”

At the start of round five, Moore made a good getaway to move ahead of Hill as she held the inside line through Redgate while Williamson also leapfrogged the Tollbar driver and he then fell back one more place as local Nottingham racer Chris Swanwick edged through into third.

Everything changed just a couple of corners later though when the front-running pack shuffled as Moore lost out into McLeans, slipping to fourth place while Williamson assumed the lead ahead of Swanwick and Hill. Swanwick then became the third leader of the race within the space of just one lap by taking first place into Goddards.

While Swanwick and Williamson fought hard over the lead on lap two, a little further behind Hill had a spin going under Starkey’s Bridge to drop him out of contention. First sliding across the grass on the infield, his car shot back across the circuit to the outside and was luckily not collected. He rejoined in 20th place and although suffering a couple more moments, he finished 14th.

On lap four, Moore hit the front once again heading into the chicane just before light rain started to fall to make things even trickier for the young teenage racers. Swanwick moved back ahead into McLeans on lap five and the top two then started to pull clear of third-placed Williamson.

Moore re-took the lead three laps from home as the rain fell heavier and she held on for her third victory on the bounce ahead of podium debutant Swanwick. Five seconds further back, Williamson recorded his second podium of the campaign but better was to follow just a few hours later.

Cook, meanwhile, produced an outstanding last lap. Heading into the final tour in eighth place, the TJ Motorsport racer carved his way through into fifth at the chequered flag, some 10 seconds shy of Austin in fourth position.

While the track was largely damp for round six, a dry line was appearing as the sun came out for its most persistent period all day. The race boiled down to a superb final lap, Hill within the slimmest of margins of claiming his elusive first win of the year after an incredible push over the last two miles.

He led during the early stages after making a better job of his getaway this time and as the race entered its second half he looked to have things in control. By lap six though, Williamson had mounted a determined charge and closed to within just three 10ths of a second.

Pressuring the leader, Williamson dived up the inside at Redgate on lap seven to move ahead momentarily but on the exit Hill hit back and maintained the top spot through Hollywood and down the Craner Curves.

Lap eight produced a turning point though when a spin for backmarker Jake Giddings, as the two leaders prepared to lap him at Redgate, resulted in a delay for Hill who had to run wide in avoidance and thus hand the lead to an ecstatic Williamson.

Into the last lap the lead for the Muzz Racing charger was 1.7 seconds but Hill produced the lap of his short career to close the gap to nothing over the course of the final tour. Almost with the leader through McLeans and Coppice, Hill looked up the inside into the chicane before tucking back in but he had better drive coming out of the corner.

Over the line, the cars traded paintwork but Williamson managed to hold on by just six 100ths of a second with Moore coming home a second adrift in third place for her second podium of the weekend and fourth rostrum in as many races. Cook took a solid fourth place to consolidate third in the standings just ahead of Austin. Jake Rattenbury, meanwhile, was a season’s best sixth.

Rounds seven and eight of the 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance will take place a fortnight from now, 30th/31st May, at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire.

Provisional 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance Positions (after Rd6):1st Sarah Moore, 166pts; 2nd Alex Austin, 145pts; 3rd Jake Cook, 144pts; 4th Aaron Williamson, 115pts; 5th Tom Ingram, 100pts; 6th Thomas Howard, 91pts