Ginetta Junior Championship rookie Jody Fannin took a dominant win during the seventh round of the season at Oulton Park Island Circuit Saturday, 5th June, to head home a fantastic one-two-three finish for the TJ Motorsport team.
Marking the youngster’s second victory of 2010 – his first coming at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit during the previous event – Fannin took the lead of the race from team-mate Louise Richardson on the second lap and from mid-distance he edged further and further clear as the battle for the other podium places intensified.
Richardson, who had earlier scorched to her first Ginetta Junior pole position with a lap of 1m44.821 seconds (76.45mph), fended off the attentions of multiple race winner Jake Hill for second place and the Tollbar driver eventually slipped out of contention for the podium with a last lap spin when challenging Richardson on the outside at Lodge Corner.
This allowed Tom Howard to come through and take the final podium spot by a mere 0.012 seconds ahead of reigning champion Sarah Moore in fourth place – easily her best result of, what has so far been, a very tricky 2010 campaign.
Commenting on his second win, Fannin said: “At the start I hoped to get past Louise into the first corner but I wasn’t able to so I tucked in behind her. I didn’t want to take any risks but (Jake) Hill caught us up so I knew I had to do something. At Druids on the second lap, Louise didn’t defend the line so I stuffed the car up the inside and managed to get the lead – it’s fantastic to win again.”
As today’s eight-lap encounter got underway in cooler conditions than during the sun-baked qualifying session, Richardson led well from pole position and headed down The Avenue with Fannin in pursuit, followed by championship leader Tom Ingram, Hill, David Moore and Howard.
While Hill and Ingram battled, Richardson and Fannin started to break away, and into lap two Hill had moved into third place ahead of David Moore with Ingram pushed back to fifth position. Fannin, knowing the closing Hill would be a tough customer to deal with, made his move to try and wrest the lead from his team-mate and he passed Richardson for first place at Druids.
Into lap three, Hill sensed a late opportunity to try and dive up the inside of Richardson for second at Cascades and made the move stick – thanks, in part, to Richardson’s sensible decision to give her rival more racing room and avoid any contact. At the hairpin though, she hit back to push Hill back to third once again.
As his rivals fought tooth and nail behind, Fannin gladly took the chance to extend his cushion at the front and he took the chequered flag on lap eight some four seconds clear of Richardson. In doing so, he also moved into the championship top six.
On lap five at Old Hall, Hill made another attempt at getting in front of Richardson but as they ran side-by-side through Denton’s he was on the outside and had to back out at Cascades. Meanwhile, Ingram – the most consistent driver in the Ginetta Juniors so far this year – fought back into the top four but a spin at the first corner on lap six dropped him down the order to an eventual finish of 12th.
Looking all set for a Fannin, Richardson and Hill podium, round seven built to a crescendo on the last lap when Hill took second place at Old Hall with the culmination of a move he built-up from the end of the previous lap.
Richardson was straight back on his case though at Cascades and re-took second but into the final turn, Lodge, Hill tried to pass around the outside but was pitched into a spin. Therefore, Richardson finished in second place and Howard was promoted into third – a deserved result.
Sarah Moore raced well to fourth position, ahead of her younger brother David, with Hill recovering into sixth place, Maverick Domene impressing in seventh position and Alex Austin rounding out the top eight.
“I am a bit disappointed not to have taken the win but I had to work hard for second place so I’m happy”, commented Richardson, “At the last corner on the final lap, Jake (Hill) tried to hang on around the outside but it didn’t happen which was a relief! So far, it’s been a brilliant weekend.”
Howard commented: “Going into the last lap I was fifth but I managed to get David Moore at the hairpin and then (Jake) Hill spun at the last corner so I took to the grass – which was a risk – and just managed to get enough drive to get Sarah (Moore) on the line. I’m really happy to be back on the podium and it’s even better to get a TJ one-two-three.”
The eighth round of the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship is scheduled to start at 16.30 tomorrow, Sunday, 6th June, and will be screened live in the UK on Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4. Round seven winner Fannin will start tomorrow’s race from pole position ahead of Richardson, Hill, Ingram, Howard and David Moore.
Provisional 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd7):1st Tom Ingram, 166pts; 2nd Louise Richardson, 151pts; 3rd David Moore, 144pts; 4th Jake Hill, 143pts; 5th Tom Howard, 137pts; =6th Jody Fannin & Chris Swanwick, 128pts
