Sarah Moore etched her name into the history books at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit yesterday afternoon, Sunday, 4th October, by becoming the first female champion in the history of the British Touring Car Championship support package.
Clinching the 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance title with her 10th podium of the season during the final race of the year, the 15-year-old from Tockwith in North Yorkshire also became the second Moore to take the crown – her elder brother Nigel having won the championship in 2007.
“It’s been a great year, I’ve enjoyed it so much”, said Sarah, “I’ve had some hard times during the season but that’s what happens in championships, you have to bounce back from disappointing races and fight hard which is what I’ve done and now I’ve won the championship!
“We don’t know what we’re going to do next year just yet, we need to sit down and go through things before we make any decisions. I’m just happy to be the new champion, finishing on the podium was a nice way to end the year too.”
Heading into this afternoon’s 20th round of the campaign with a slender seven point lead over chief rival Jake Cook, the title did look set to go to either one of them but Aaron Williamson was still in a position to have a say in the outcome. His bid ended though on lap five when contact under Safety Car conditions forced an immediate retirement.
So, the fight for the championship became a two-horse race between Moore and Cook but with Moore into the top three before the Safety Car emerged, TJ Motorsport racer Cook knew he needed to pass race leader Jake Hill – the winner of Saturday’s 19th round – to have any hope of taking the required number of points.
Pushing incredibly hard to stay on terms with series returnee Hill, Cook ran wide at Sheene Curve on lap six and the resulting spin dropped him down the order and effectively handed the title to Moore who assumed second position on the road.
For race leader Hill, round 20 proved to be another display of his tremendous speed and he took the chequered flag on lap eight 3.7 seconds clear of Moore to claim his second victory of the weekend and, with it, the fastest lap of 1m50.366 seconds (75.05mph).
Capping off a terrific return to action for the Tollbar Racing driver, Hill’s third win of the year proved beyond any doubt with a full campaign in 2010 he would undoubtedly be a title contender. Even though he was forced to sit-out eight of the final 10 races this year, the Kent teenager still concludes the season just shy of the championship top 10 – a tremendous result.
Commenting on his round 20 win, Hill said: “It’s been a perfect weekend for me, two poles and two wins is the return we’d hoped for – I can’t believe it actually, it’s been amazing. Saturday was good enough but to win again today has topped it off brilliantly.
“I was a bit concerned at the re-start Jake (Cook) might get me but through the quick corners I managed to pull away. He just pushed a bit too hard at Sheene and round he went. I do feel sorry for him the championship should end that way as he’s done such an amazing job this year and over the last few rounds he’s been right on it.”
Hill added: “I wish we could have found the budget to do the full season, we could have been right up there in the championship, but there’s always next year and we’re going to work harder than ever to try and make sure everything is in place and give it all we’ve got.”
Behind the victorious Hill and new champion Moore, third place on the podium went to Tom Howard after a good drive – his fourth rostrum of the season. Increasingly impressive duo Mitchell Hale and Louise Richardson were fourth and fifth respectively while Alex Austin was sixth.
Title aspirant Cook did recover from his spin and fought his way back into the top 10 before the finish. Although a bitterly disappointing end to his championship campaign, Cook can be rightly proud of his season with a superb tally of eight wins, five of which coming back-to-back, two other podiums and eight pole positions.
Following yet another outstanding season of Ginetta Junior Championship action, all at Ginetta Cars are now looking forward to the 2010 championship which will see the introduction of the fabulous new G40 car. Before then though, there is the 2009 Winter Championship which begins on 31st October at Snetterton in Norfolk.
Final 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance Positions:Champion: Sarah Moore, 458pts; 2nd Jake Cook, 432pts; 3rd Aaron Williamson, 406pts; 4th Alex Austin, 371pts; 5th Tom Howard, 331pts; 6th Mitchell Hale, 328pts
