Racecar are currently building a site for Charlie Robertson - certainly a promising talent - PR below:
HHC Motorsport celebrates first Ginetta Junior Championship win and produces poles in Seniors and Juniors thanks to Sykes and Robertson
HHC Motorsport is celebrating a maiden win in the Ginetta Junior Championship at Croft at the weekend, after a stunning performance by Charlie Robertson.
Charlie, aged just 14 ½ years old, became the youngest ever pole-setter, race winner and lap record holder as he scored victory in the second of the weekend’s all-action races.
Having been fastest in free practice, young Charlie guided his HHC Motorsport-run car to pole position in the qualifying session and was confident for the race. After a good start, Charlie braked early for the first corner and was passed around the outside by a quick-starting Tom Howard. George Gamble tried to pass as well at the end of the lap but contact was made between the two cars and Gamble dropped back with damaged steering. Charlie moved himself ahead of Howard to score his first ever car race win and drove within himself over the final few laps to ensure the win was his.
“This has been my ultimate goal as the year has gone on”, said the HHC Motorsport racer, “We’ve been building up to it, we’ve had a few second places, but now we’ve taken the first win so I’m really happy. The car has been really, really good all weekend so a big thank you to the team for that.”
It could have been a double as Charlie was in contention for honours in race one. Rain before the Ginetta Juniors took to the grid made tyre choice difficult and Charlie elected to run on slicks as the road was expected to dry out. As he slithered off the line, he was overtaken by George Gamble and had to defend his second place from a charging Seb Morris. As Charlie fended off the efforts of the championship leader, Gamble eked out a gap but free of Morris’ attentions, Charlie started to close on the race leader. On the last lap the Caterham School pupil made a move around the outside at Tower to take the lead but clipped the kerb at Barcroft and spun through 360 degree. He was able to recover for second but with a hard lesson learnt.
Team-mate Mikey Day was caught in traffic in qualifying and had to fight his way up from mid-grid in the opening race. He started on wet tyres, a safer option when driving off-line in order to overtake, and charged up to an impressive fifth demonstrating great racecraft. Sadly, the road dried out quicker than expected and slipped back to 14th. In race two, he was passed by team-mate Paddy McClughan at the Complex but Paddy went sideways and tagged Mikey’s car, putting both cars into retirement. Paddy had raced well in the opening round after a spin in avoidance of mayhem at the first corner. He was last at the end of lap one but battled his way to an impressive ninth place.
While the HHC fleet of Juniors were at Croft, Richard Sykes, Rick Parfitt and Tiff Needell were racing in the Ginetta Challenge at Brands Hatch in the more powerful HHC-run Ginetta G40s.
Richard led the bulk of race one after putting in a fantastic qualifying performance to grab pole and headed a pack of five cars all vying for the lead. Eventually, the opposition wriggled past but Richard was able to secure third place, illustrating that a maiden win is not far away. In race two, he was again involved in the lead battle and secured fourth place after a very competitive weekend.
Rick had a spin on the opening lap of he first race but recovered well to take 12th place in the G40 race but was sidelined in race two with overheating.
Former Grand Prix racer-turned-TV presenter Tiff drove in just the first race and loved the car’s handling and balance. He stormed up to sixth place in his first G40 race.
HHC Motorsport’s Charlie Kemp said: “This has been a very busy weekend with six cars racing across the country, but it has been a very positive one. In the Challenge, Richard has again proved that a win is imminent and Charlie’s amazing result as UK motor sport’s youngest-ever race winner is a fantastic piece of history, which we are delighted to share. Now that he has had his first win, more cannot be far away and Charlie is proving to be the man to watch in the Ginetta Junior Championship now."
