George Gamble secured a comfortable victory in Round Fourteen of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship, the TJ Motorsport driver able to pull clear at the front while all sorts of action took place behind him, with incidents and drama on every lap.
Gamble lined up on pole with championship leader Seb Morris alongside him, while missing from third place was Jake Giddings, his FML team unable to repair his car in time after a huge incident in the weekend's earlier race. A strong start from Gamble saw him lead the pack around the first lap, with Morris second and Tom Howard up to third, the latter being awarded a drive-through penalty just after for a drive-through penalty.
Howard put Morris under severe pressure for second and forced the Hillspeed driver into a mistake at Scotsman at lap two, Morris dropping back loads of places. Howard took second, with Niall Murray up to third after passing Sennan Fielding, with Charlie Robertson fifth.
Fielding fought back soon after though, passing Murray across the start-finish line at the beginning of lap four, with the reigning Ginetta Junior Ireland champion then running wide at the chicane to drop behind Robertson and Struan Moore. Ahead, Howard briefly took the race lead, before a mistake himself at the chicane dropped him back to second again.
A three lap safety car followed after a spin for newcomer Christie Doran, with William Foster also going out with an overheating engine. Howard used the period to take his drive through penalty, meaning Gamble was now pursued by Fielding and Robertson at the restart.
Gamble got away well, while there was a change in second with Robertson getting past at Scotsman. This left Fielding under pressure from Moore, with the Hillspeed driver making a move at the Hairpin, resulting in Fielding running into Robertson, dropping both down the order, with Moore emerging in second ahead of Murray and Morris. In the same group looking to benefit from the shenanigans was Brad Bailey, but the TJ Motorsport driver spun himself out of contention at the first corner to drop to the back of the field.
Hillspeed's Morris looked to work his way past Murray for third on lap eleven at the Hairpin, but the Beacon Racing driver defended well, with Fielding and Robertson benefitting from it to sneak up the inside of Morris, dropping him to sixth. HHC Motorsport's Robertson then produced a superb move at the first corner to pass both Fielding and Murray to snatch third.
Joining the back of the group was Myles Collins and a recovering Howard, with Collins getting ahead of Morris at the Hairpin on lap twelve, leaving Morris running alongside Howard on the pit straight. Rubbing between the two allowed Declan Jones to get up with them, the trio then squeezing together and making contact. Jones came out of it ahead, with Howard emerging in front of Morris. A frustrated Howard fought back straight away on Jones, but ran wide at the chicane and dislodged his bonnet, ending his race in the gravel.
Heading onto the final lap, the action continued on the battle for fifth, with Collins getting ahead of Fielding on the run to the first corner, before Jones dived around the outside of both. Jones ran wide though and rejoined the track right ahead of Collins, forcing him to brake hard and with nowhere to go, Fielding had to run off circuit in avoidance, damaging his car.
Avoiding all the chaos was Gamble, the Nottingham-based driver racing clear to take his third win of the season, with Moore making it two podiums in two races in second. Robertson completed the podium in third ahead of Murray and Jones, the latter taking his best result of the season. Morris snuck into sixth in the final few corners ahead of Collins, enjoying a strong run on his first weekend with new team HHC Motorsport. Max Coates was next up, with Fielding nursing him car home to ninth ahead of Bailey, recovering from his off track excursions for tenth. Oliver Chadwick completed the finishers.
