Hillspeeds Pepe Massot secured his 11th Rookie Cup victory, and seventh outright podium, of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 20th/21st October, during the final event of the 2012 campaign.Racing to an excellent second place finish overall in round 19 on Saturday afternoon, the talented Spaniard was on course for an outright winwhich would have been the third of his sensational debut season in carsbut contact into Druids as he defended the lead on lap five put him wide.Massot had taken the lead off the start, having qualified on pole position earlier in the day, and despite monumental pressure he drove well to keep the chasing pack behind. Although dropping to third after the contact at the hairpin, Pepe pressed on and took second into Surtees on lap six before finishing the race just 0.7 seconds shy of the winalthough taking a dominant Rookie Class victory.In Sundays final race of the season, round 20, worsening rain made conditions very challenging but Massot found the grip he needed from second on the grid to make a good start and he ran side-by-side with pole-sitter, and eventual champion, Charlie Robertson into Paddock Hill Bend.Slipping to third on the exit after being edged slightly wide, Massot was then put off the road at Hawthorn midway through the opening lap after tangling with race one aggressor Niall Murray and dropped back to eighth position. Mounting a sterling recovery, the 16-year-old worked his way back into fourth part way through lap four where he remained to the finishsecond in the Rookie Cup.For team-mate Freddie Lee, his fifth weekend in the championship was one of mixed fortunes as he retired on lap two of the opening encounter following an unfortunate excursionhaving begun the race in 13th position.Beginning round 20 from 13th place as well, the Ginetta Junior rookie enjoyed a much better outing in very difficult conditions and climbed into the top 12 early on before moving into 10th two laps later. Following a brief Safety Car period, the action resumed over a single lap with Lee taking ninth place at the finish, fourth in the Rookie Cup.Its been a good year and Pepe has driven fantastically in his first season, he really deserved the outright win on Saturday so were very disappointed with what happened there, said team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, Robust driving in both races cost us two wins as far as Im concerned, we had the fastest car and best driver in the conditions but Pepe was hit in both races which wasnt on.Things like that have got to be policed properly otherwise its very bad for the championship and its profile. Even so, Pepe had a very strong weekend and Freddie bounced back very well from his race one disappointment to finish fourth best rookie in race two.Gamble makes sensational racing return on Formula Renault debutAs the Ginetta Junior Championship reached its conclusion, the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Michelin got underway at Brands Hatch over the weekend with Hillspeed fielding two carsone for ex-Ginetta Junior racer George Gamble and a second for Matt Rao.Gamble, making his first competitive outing in six long months and also his maiden race outing in single-seaters, starred across the weekend with some tremendous performancesconcluding his debut an excellent fifth in the driver standings.Only agreeing a deal with the Hathersage squad last Tuesday, the 16-year-old worked his way through the order from 13th on the grid in round one on Saturday and had carved his way into the top 10 by lap six. He then gained two more positions when the two cars dicing directly in front of him tangled, moving Gamble into eighth.Starting Sundays race, which took place in persistent rain, from 12th on the grid the newcomer put together a very mature drive as many of the experienced runners came to grief. Again making good, consistent progress throughout he worked his way into a richly deserved seventh place.Six months out and only three hours at Donington on Thursday morningwhat an absolutely outstanding performance from George this weekend, commented Ollerenshaw, He got quicker all the way through and if we had managed to get the deal together a bit sooner and had time for some proper testing, I think wed have had a strong chance at the Winter Series title.Unfortunately for Rao, who made his category debut during the main season finale at Silverstone two weeks ago, his weekend ended in the second qualifying session on Saturday when an excursion into the barriers caused massive damage to the rear of his FR 2.0 car.Having qualified 11th fastest in the round one session, hopes were high for a consistently strong weekend but a lack of available parts to facilitate the repair in time for the races meant Rao had to sit out Sundays action.Rounds three and four of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Michelin will take place three weeks from now on Saturday, 10th November, at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.