Hopes of a first Ginetta Junior Championship victory of 2015 for Total Control Racing went begging at Oulton Park on Sunday, 7th June, when propshaft failure for pole position starter Dave Wooder prevented the rookie from making the most of his stunning career best qualifying performance.
Setting the pace from the beginning of the weekend in testing and final practice, Wooder confirmed his tremendous form by sealing his first pole position in cars for round seven but halfway round the opening lap he was forced into a bitterly disappointing retirement.
Therefore beginning round eight from the back of the grid, the multiple karting champion more than proved his potential with a tremendous drive through the order from 20th place into ninth position and third in the Rookie Cup. Notably, Wooder did so over the course of just five racing laps prior to the Safety Car being deployed and the contest ultimately ending under those conditions.
“We can’t believe the bad luck Dave had with the propshaft – absolutely gutted for him”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “Up to that point, the weekend had gone fantastically well and Dave was in tremendous form. Topping testing, practice and qualifying tells its own story, he was the quickest driver out there this weekend and was just very, very unlucky.”
Team-mate Cameron Roberts endured similar misfortune, driveshaft failure at the start of the green flag lap for round seven resulting in his car being pushed off the grid behind the barriers. Like fellow TCR racer Wooder, Roberts had produced a strong performance in qualifying and hopes were high of a good result having claimed a top 10 grid slot.
With the mechanical failure leading to a final row start for round eight in 21st position, the teenager battled his way through to 16th place to at least secure some championship points from a weekend which promised so much more.
Matt Chapman, meanwhile, had better fortune and produced two excellent race drives to secure two of his best results of the season. Beginning round seven from fifth on the grid, having qualified just 0.3 seconds shy of the front row, the second year Ginetta Junior racer was unfortunately edged back a couple of places off the start and then down to 10th but he mounted a good recovery.
Back into ninth place on lap three, Chapman then climbed into the top eight a lap later and spent the rest of the contest glued to the rear of Billy Monger’s car. With his rival defending very heavily, leading to a couple of wide moments for Chapman, he was prevented from getting alongside with a clean move despite having more pace.
In round eight, Chapman ended lap one in 10th position but worked his way into seventh by lap four ahead of the appearance of the Safety Car and the subsequent conclusion. Added to his race one finish, the teenager has moved up into 11th in the championship as TCR’s highest placed driver.“Matt did a great job in both races, he was definitely quicker than [Billy] Monger in race one but no matter what he tried the door was slammed shut”, added Brookes, “Like at Thruxton, his pace has been very good this weekend and he’s getting closer and closer to being on that podium.
“As with Dave, we’re gutted Cameron was forced out before race one with a parts failure. It’s always frustrating when these things happen but he showed his pace in qualifying in the top 10 and we’re sure he’ll be just as competitive at Croft in a few weeks.”
Alongside its Ginetta Junior commitments this weekend, TCR also returned to action for the first time since 2013 in the sister Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Oulton Park with the team’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge regular Callum Pointon debuting in one of the monstrous 370bhp Ginetta G55 cars.
Getting to grips with the car quickly in testing, Pointon qualified in the top 10 for the first race on Saturday, 6th June, and after a good start he ended lap one in ninth position. Running with top five pace, he spent the next eight laps close behind the group ahead but an excursion on the 10th tour led to a slip back to 13th position. Before the finish on lap 15, though, he climbed back into 11th.
Prior to the start of race two on Sunday, Pointon’s car had problems with a wiring issue and despite the best efforts of Ginetta technical staff and TCR mechanics they couldn’t fix the problem. Set to start the race from the pitlane, the car did initially pull away but ground to a halt yards later at the pit exit.
“It really has been a frustrating weekend with so many issues, Callum did a good job on his first weekend in the G55 and to qualify in the top 10 was great”, commented Brookes, “He was a bit unfortunate in race one, but the pace was there, and then the wiring problem in race two was a real blow. It’s like that in motor racing sometimes, we’ll pick ourselves back up for Croft.”
North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit, near Darlington, will host rounds nine and 10 of the Ginetta Junior Championship season over the weekend 27th/28th June.Provisional Ginetta Junior Championship Driver Standings (after Rd8): 11th Matt Chapman, 87pts; 15th Cameron Roberts, 42pts; 17th Dave Wooder, 36pts
Provisional Ginetta Junior Championship Team Standings (after Rd8): 4th Total Control Racing, 146pts
