Sebastian seems to be a good motor racing name these days, as just a week after Sebastian Vettel's win in Australia, Seb Morris clinched honours in the Ginetta Junior Championship opener. A week after Vettel’s Malaysian Grand Prix win, Morris will be hoping to emulate him at Donington Park.
Two Ginetta Junior Championship wins from two races was the perfect start to Seb Morris’s season at Brands Hatch as the Winter Champion continued where he left off last November. His first race win, in his Hillspeed-run car, came after a fierce struggle with William Foster (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) in a re-started race, while his second victory came later in the weekend when he had to overcome Jake Giddings (FML) for the top of the podium. It was an impressive start to his second season in the Ginetta G40s and one that marked him out as the man to beat in 2011.
Morris comes to Donington Park this weekend with a 15 point lead over Tom Howard (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) who bagged second place in round two after a rocket-ship start from row three of the grid. Howard, another second-year racer, took a third and a second in the opening weekend of the season and will be bang on the pace here, while impressive former karter Charlie Robertson (HHC Motoorsport) lies third after a consistent weekend in Kent.
Giddings, second in the opening round, was in the thick of the lead battle in the second race until he found himself in strife at Paddock Hill Bend, running wide and becoming trapped in the gravel. With a non-finish, and no points, he finds himself with a 40-point deficit to Morris coming to Donington and he will be keen to reduce that to stay in the hunt for the title.
Of those with a season of experience, Max Coates and former Junior Rallycross champion Brad Bailey will be worth watching, while George Gamble (TJ Motorsport), HHC’s Mikey Day and Niall Murray (Beacon Racing) all impressed in their maiden runs in the championship. Indeed, Murray, the inaugural Irish Ginetta Junior Champion, ran well in the first race until a wide line dropped him down the order.
The Ginetta Junior Championship has consistently produced star drivers and great racing: expect the same this weekend as the 14 to 17-year-olds settle in to the world’s fastest classroom.
Free practice for the Ginetta Junior Championship takes place on Saturday April 16th at 09:10 with qualifying taking place at 13:50. Race one runs at 17:25 over 11 laps, while race two on Sunday starts at 12:15 and will be a nine-lapper.
