Ginetta Junior

Team Parker Racing Denied Maiden Junior Win

2 Mins read

Team Parker Racing were denied their first win in the Ginetta Junior Championship to crown off a positive weekend, despite Chris Swanwick crossing the line first during Round 12 at Snetterton.

After celebrating the win, Swanwick had it taken away and was moved down to second place, after being deemed to have made an unfair advtanage at the final corner on the last lap.

Swanwick had just lost the lead to Jake Hill and drew alongside him as they entered the Russell chicane. Slight contact between the two meant Swanwick was unable to make the corner, forcing him to straight-line the chicane. This put him into the lead and he went on to power down the straight and take the chequered flag.

The team appealed the decision, feeling that Swanwick was left no other choice but to go over the chicane after the contact with Hill, but the appeal failed.

This was at the end of a tough but ultimately positive weekend for the team, with both Swanwick and team mate Adam Bonham performing well at the front of the field. The team headed into race one with Bonham second on the grid and Swanwick third, a great performance by the pair in qualifying.

Bonham started well, but soon dropped a spot to Hill. He fought back quickly though, brilliantly reclaiming the place at the Esses on lap one. His race was to be ruined though at Riches on lap two, with Hill spinning while trying to pass him, pushing him off track in the process and forcing Bonham into retirement with broken steering. Swanwick took up second place and went about trying to lead, but contact when trying to move into first dropped him down the order, with the youngster finishing 10th.

Race two saw Swanwick take the teams first ever Ginetta Junior pole and as the race got going, he began to pull away at the front. However luck wasn't on his side, with the safety car coming out and taking away his lead. After a lengthy run behind the safety car, he was unable to shake off the attentions of Hill, resulting on the contact on the final lap. Bonham behind was out of luck again. Qualifying second to make it a Team Parker one-two, he was challenging at the front before spinning at Russell to drop down the order. He spun again at Russell on the final lap and finished a lowly 15th.

Not forgetting the final Team Parker driver Finlay Ratcliffe, one of the youngest competitors in the series at only 14 years of age. The young gun again battled hard in both races, finishing both, despite picking up accident damage in the second race after unavoidably hitting the spinning car of Seb Morris.

Despite the opportunity of better results for the team, with their superb qualifying performances and strong race runs, the team comes away from Snetterton positive, looking forward to the rest of the season. Team manager Tom Ferrier said: “It's great that we've finally got our first pole position and had a win – for a while! As a weekend this is miles better, and now they'll be at the front of the grid for the rest of the year and we'll be able to make more of it. Chris was unlucky with the safety car because he would have gone away from the field.

“Adam was unlucky too – he made a couple of mistakes in the heat of the moment, although the first race was definitely not his fault. Finlay drove well too and got some good lap times.”

Next up for the Team Parker Ginetta Junior team is two rounds at the Silverstone National circuit in two weeks time on August 21/22, where the team will be hoping to continue their good performances.

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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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