Seb Morris returned to the top step of the Ginetta Junior Championship podium during round six of the season at Thruxton, Sunday, 1st May, following a tremendously close battle with round five winner George Gamble.
Almost a carbon copy of Saturday’s encounter at the demanding 2.35-mile Hampshire track, the two young racers – aged 15 years and 14 years respectively – dominated proceedings with Morris making amends for a rare mistake on day one which brought an end to his faultless winning streak.
Undoubtedly the class of the field all weekend, Morris and Gamble were never separated by more than a second throughout today’s nine lap encounter and the key turning point came on lap seven when Morris steered his Hillspeed-run Ginetta G40 into the lead in the middle of the complex.
Holding on for the final couple of laps, Morris also grabbed the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race – a new Thruxton lap record of 1m30.969 seconds (93.23mph). For TJ Motorsport’s Gamble second place, a mere 0.4 seconds adrift, capped a stunning weekend for the young car racing rookie.
Series leader Morris said: “Winning is always the aim and I try my best to do that each time we go out. I made a mistake at the last chicane on Saturday and that cost me the win but I learnt from that and didn’t make the same mistake twice today.”
Third place once again went the way of privateer racer Max Coates, a similarly impressive drive to that he delivered in round five boosting his standing in the title race by lifting him into third place just 17 points behind second placed Gamble. Morris’ lead though is still extremely comfortable, some 74 points clear after his fifth win from six races.
Second pole-start of season and weekend for Gamble...Lining-up on pole position for round six, which was screened live on ITV4 and the ITV4 HD channel, Gamble made a good getaway and kept Morris behind through Allard as Coates made his presence felt by taking a look up the inside through the first corner himself.
Brad Bailey, team-mate of Gamble, held fourth after getting past Hillspeed’s Struan Moore – both drivers enjoying season best performances this weekend and showing terrific pace – while Myles Collins held on to his top six starting position. The lead sextet then proceeded to break away from the next group, headed by Tollbar’s Tom Howard after a fantastic start from 14th on the grid.
On lap two at the complex, Collins’ front-running challenge came to an end after an unfortunate spin while taking a bit too much kerb and he eventually finished just outside the top 10. This promoted Howard to sixth but he had his hands full with HHC’s Charlie Robertson.
Into the third tour Gamble’s lead was just 0.7 seconds with Morris similarly placed ahead of Coates but as the race wore on the lead duo pumped in some very quick laps to pull a gap over the rest of the field. The fight for fourth intensified as Moore challenged Bailey and behind them, Michael Day came through to seventh past Robertson although the positions switched again on the following lap.
Morris upped the pace, the new record coming on lap six, and while he carried fantastic speed through Goodwood, Village and Church, leader Gamble had the advantage through the chicane at the end of each lap. By this point, Coates was over two seconds adrift but behind him Bailey and Moore were being caught by Robertson at a rapid rate.
Only 0.2 seconds separated Gamble and Morris into the seventh tour and after running nose-to-tail into the complex, the decisive moment came in the middle part of the right-left turn as Morris shot through into the lead with a good pass.
Further round the lap Moore and Robertson ran wide onto the grass through the fast section, delaying both, and the former’s race then worsened when a spin at the chicane was followed by contact – eliminating him from proceedings.
Just half a second clear into lap eight, Morris and Gamble set the stage for another grandstand finish with the leader defending heavily to maintain his advantage. Nothing changed so into the ninth and final tour, Gamble gave it one last push in a repeat of the final lap from Saturday’s round five.
This time holding firm, Morris wouldn’t be denied his return to the top step of the podium and he maintained a lead of 0.4 seconds over the line to take the chequered flag. Second place for Gamble was a tremendous effort and a real turning point in the season for the rookie while Coates took third 4.5 seconds further back.
“Two wins would have been nice but I’ll definitely settle for second, it’s put me right up there in the championship”, said Gamble, “Being the top rookie as well is great. This track is really fast and that definitely suits me, plus the car was great – big thanks to TJ Motorsport.”
Bailey finished an excellent fourth, to match his round five result, with Howard coming through to take a deserved fifth place after a terrific drive just 0.2 seconds ahead of Day for the HHC driver’s best finish of the year. Sennan Fielding was seventh, William Foster eighth and Declan Jones a season-best ninth, from 13th on the grid, ahead of the recovering Robertson.
After three closely compacted weekends to start the 2011 season, the Ginetta Junior Championship now takes a five week break from action with rounds seven and eight of the season set to take place at Oulton Park Island Circuit, Cheshire, over the weekend 4th/5th June.
Provisional 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after Rd6):1st Seb Morris, 211pts; 2nd George Gamble, 137pts; 3rd Max Coates, 120pts; 4th William Foster, 117pts; 5th Tom Howard, 107pts; 6th Charlie Robertson, 89pts
