HILL WINS ON RETURN AS TITLE BATTLE GOES DOWN TO THE FINAL ROUND!
Tollbar Racing’s Jake Hill stole the headlines from Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance title rivals Jake Cook, Sarah Moore and Aaron Williamson at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit Saturday, 3rd October, with a spectacular winning return during round 19.
The 15-year-old Kent racer, who has been on the sidelines due to budget restrictions since his first career win at Croft in North Yorkshire back in mid-June, was instantly on the pace during pre-event testing. After securing a dominant pole position – some eight 10ths of a second clear of closest rival Williamson – he then went on to claim his second car racing victory with a battling performance.
Williamson and Cook finished in second and third places respectively, both of whom having taken turns in the lead, but for Moore the race seriously dented her championship advantage as she was only able to post a 12th place finish having been tapped out of the leading group on the opening lap at Graham Hill Bend.
Heading into tomorrow’s decisive final round of the season, which will be screened live across the UK on ITV4, Moore holds a slender seven point lead over Cook with Williamson a further 15 points adrift. Having provided tremendous action season-long, it’s fitting the title fight is going down to the last race of the year.
Hill wasn’t able to get the clean start he wanted from pole at the beginning of today’s race but as his car snaked off the grid he somehow managed to keep Williamson behind into Paddock Hill Bend with Cook holding third place as per grid order.
Just two corners later though, drama. As the pursuing pack headed through Graham Hill Bend, championship leader Moore was tagged from behind and pitched into a spin onto the grass on the exit of the turn. While Moore managed to recover at the tail of the field, back at the front Hill lost the lead to Williamson.
The top three remained incredibly tightly bunched with the order unchanged for a few laps. On the fifth tour though, Hill tapped the rear of Williamson’s car going into Graham Hill Bend which sent the race leader over the grass. In the ensuing melee, Cook managed to leapfrog both drivers but Hill then hit back to take the lead again through Surtees.
At Sheene Curve, an incensed Williamson mounted an ever-more determined challenge and with a stunning piece of driving he grabbed second place off Cook through Stirling’s Bend. Into lap six, Hill’s lead was eight 10ths of a second but Williamson continued to press on and with Cook keeping a watching brief it was anyone’s guess who would emerge as the race victor.
Williamson posted the fastest lap of the race – a new lap record of 1m50.275 seconds (75.11mph) – and with the top three as close as ever on the penultimate lap, a grandstand finish was in the offing into the eighth and final tour.
Into Paddock Hill Bend for the last time, Williamson produced a superb pass to re-take the lead but Hill challenged into Druids and then again at Graham Hill Bend. Carrying good momentum through Westfield Bend and into Sheene, Hill grabbed the inside line and with one of the moves of the race he took the lead and, with it, the victory.
Williamson finished just three 10ths of a second behind in second place with Cook the same distance adrift in third. Fourth position went to Louise Richardson, just reward after a fantastic drive to end round 19 some 1.7 seconds clear of Alex Austin. Mitchell Hale was sixth ahead of Tom Howard, David Moore, Pippa Coleman and Carl Stirling. Sarah Moore, meanwhile, took 12th place.
Speaking at the end of the race, delighted championship returnee Hill said: “That was one of the best races I’ve ever driven. Aaron (Williamson) and I did make contact a few times but it evened out in the end. The move I did to get the lead back on the last lap was great, I managed to force him to go a bit wide at Westfield and then I got the cut-back for Sheene and did it really well.
“I want to try and win again tomorrow and then doing the Winter Championship is definitely the way we want to go. Next year, the new car will be mega and I want to be a part of that. I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic, it’s where I want to be in 2010.”
Podium finisher and title aspirant Cook commented: “It’s actually one of the times I’m not too bothered not to have won as we’re still in with a good chance of the championship. I could have won today, I had the pace, but I sat in third letting Aaron (Williamson) and Jake (Hill) fight each other.
“I didn’t want any contact, I just wanted to finish and take some good points. The gap between Sarah and I is down to seven points now, I’m happy with that. I’ll be aiming to win tomorrow, if we can do that and Sarah’s third or lower then the championship would be ours.”
The final round of the 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance is timetabled to get underway at 12.25, Sunday, 4th October. Live television coverage will be screened on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4. Hill will start the race from pole position with Williamson alongside on the front row and Cook and Sarah Moore sharing row two.
Provisional 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance Positions (after Rd19):1st Sarah Moore, 428pts; 2nd Jake Cook, 421pts; 3rd Aaron Williamson, 406pts; 4th Alex Austin, 353pts; 5th Chris Swanwick, 306pts; 6th Mitchell Hale, 306pts
