Scottish driver Charlie Robertson is the new leader of the Ginetta Junior Championship after a perfect race meeting on home soil at Knockhill over the weekend, 25th/26th August – two superb lights-to-flag victories in rounds 13 and 14 significantly boosting the teenager’s title challenge.Having last headed the standings following the Thruxton event at the end of April, the 15-year-old has been massively determined to retake the championship lead since and with six races remaining in the 2012 season the HHC Motorsport star is back on top once more.“It’s been a fantastic weekend and the home crowd has definitely given me a boost”, said an elated Charlie, “Two wins is exactly what we needed and to take the championship lead at my home track is an amazing feeling.”Quickest in two of the three officially timed test runs on Friday, 24th August, and fastest of all for the day, the Whyteleafe-based driver was just 0.067 seconds shy of the top of the timesheets in morning practice on Saturday, 25th August. He then went on to secure pole position for both of the weekend’s races in a rain affected, and red flag interrupted, qualifying session. Setting the fastest time of all on his final lap, a time of 1m04.224 seconds (71.26mph), Charlie’s second best effort was 1m04.309 seconds (71.16mph).Fending off the challenge of Harry Woodhead at the start of Saturday afternoon’s race, round 13, the Investigo and Ria Capital Markets-backed driver scorched into a lead of 1.4 seconds on lap one in the challenging, wet conditions. Increasing his advantage lap after lap, Charlie – who is originally from Aberfoyle – was in a class of his own and went on to win by 3.3 seconds to record his fifth win of the year and, importantly, his first ever car racing victory on Scottish soil. “At the start I was level with Harry [Woodhead] off the line but held him off into the first corner and then controlled the race after that from Sennan [Fielding] who got ahead of him”, explained Charlie, “The car felt really good, I was able to do really consistent lap times and it was great to drive.”Closing to within 12 points of the championship lead after race one, the title challenger surged to the top of the standings in the dry 14th round with a sensational drive. Making a great start, the Caterham School pupil rocketed into a 1.7 second lead as all manner of chaos kicked-off behind following a spin by Fielding. Building an advantage of 2.6 seconds by the start of lap four, Charlie did begin to be closed down by Niall Murray during the second half of the race but the Irishman ran wide while pushing hard so the HHC ace took an unchallenged 2.2 second victory.“It was a good race, I got a really good start and then Sennan [Fielding] had a spin so that helped me out” said Charlie, “I saw Niall [Murray] catching me after that but then he went wide so that helped me as well. It’s been a really good weekend, I’m really happy with how everything has gone.”Rockingham in Northamptonshire will host rounds 15 and 16 of the Ginetta Junior Championship four weeks from now on 22nd/23rd September.2012 Ginetta Junior Championship Driver Standings (after Rd14):1st Charlie Robertson, 369pts
Click here for the Official Charlie Robertson web site - designed and built by Racecar
