2013 British GT4 vice-champion Declan Jones came close to putting his Whitley Neill Gin branded- Ginetta G55 on the podium in the opening round of the 2017 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup at Brands Hatch last weekend (April 1-2).

Declan, who is making a full-time return this year with Century Motorsport, thanks to backing from Halewood Wines & Spirits, put his eye-catching jet-black liveried machine sixth on the grid on Saturday, his best lap only three tenths off a place on the second row.

Declan then managed to finish eighth in the opening race, despite dropping to tenth at the start when he couldn’t engage second gear.

He had then just got up to fourth in the second race, when two laps from the end a battle with a rival competitor ended with the 21-year-old punted into the pit wall. The race was red-flagged as a result.

On Sunday, after fantastic overnight effort by Century Motorsport to re-build his car for the third and final race of the weekend that was broadcast live on UK television on ITV4, Declan battled his way through from the back to finish fourth only 0.835secs off the final spot on the rostrum.

“It was a real up and down weekend, but we finished it very strong,” Declan said. “I kept my nose clean in the last race, which I needed to do just to collect some points after what happened on Saturday.

“In the first race the initial launch off the line was good, but when I went to pull second gear it didn’t give me it. It cut and then everyone just drives around you and you go backwards, but I was able to pull myself back to eighth.

“The second race was wet and we made a good tyre choice – some people went for slicks, but we opted for wets. We didn’t have any issues with power, although I was struggling a bit with top-end. I was slightly down all weekend in fact, but it was hard to locate the precise issue.

“Then two laps from the end of that second race, I was put into the pit wall and that caused a red-flag because of the position the car ended up in. It needed to be lifted and the shunt caused heavy damage.

“For the final race on Sunday after some great work from Century we started at the back of the Pros. It still wasn’t 100%, but the lads got it absolutely as good as they possibly could in the space of time they had and being it was fixed under an awning and not in a workshop. We got a good start and made up a couple of places and I just worked my way through from there keeping with the pack. It was an eventful race, but I kept it clean and got a strong fourth narrowly missing out on a podium.

“We just need to keep focussed now and keep pushing - onwards and upwards to Donington in two weeks. At the end of the day it is a long year and we want to do well in the Championship - that is the ultimate aim. Today it looked really good on TV and that’s what we want. A big thank-you to the Century-Whitley Neill Gin team for all their hard work, especially after having to re-build the car. The team was fantastic over the weekend.”

Meanwhile, Century Motorsport boss, Nathan Freke felt Declan was unlucky in Saturday’s second race.

“Declan just got turned around, which was a real shame,” said Freke. “It was just bad luck. We lacked a bit of pace early on in the weekend, we had a bit of a power issue, but still the last race was very good to come from the back of the grid to finish fourth.

“It was a shame not to get on the podium. I’m sure he could have done it. He just ran out of laps, but given the second race carnage – the contact and the damage to the car - it was nice to see the car turned around and back at the front of the grid where it belongs.

“The lads really worked hard to get it sorted and it was nice of Dec to pay us back with a decent finish.”