A hard fought fourth place finish was enough to secure Charlie Robertson the 2012 Ginetta Junior Championship, despite title rival Niall Murray taking the victory in the penultimate round of the season at Brands Hatch.
Robertson’s top four finish means that he heads into the final race with a 27 point lead. Despite there being 35 points available for a race win, even if Robertson retires and Murray wins again, the Scotsman won’t be caught thanks to the series ‘dropped scores’ ruling.
Pepe Massot started the race from pole position after a superb performance in qualifying and a great getaway saw him lead into Paddock Hill for the first time. Behind, a great getaway for Murray saw the Irishman leap from fourth on the grid into second, with his Douglas Motorsport team-mate Andrew Watson squeezing into third ahead of a slow-starting Robertson.
Robertson was to lose further ground to Sennan Fielding a lap later, before fighting back ahead a lap later, while behind, a great battle for seventh saw Harry Woodhead emerge with the place ahead of Oliver Chadwick and Keith Donegan.
At the front, Murray was all over the rear bumper of Hillspeed’s Massot and after a couple of failed attempts to gain the lead, the 2010 Ginetta Junior Ireland champion made his move at Druids. Murray got his nose up the inside of the leader, who tried to shut the door, with slight contact between the two sending Massot wide, with Murray and Watson benefitting to take first and second.
Murray broke away at the front and lead the remaining laps to cross the line for his fifth win of the season and first since Oulton Park in June, moving him up to second in the championship, while Massot took the rookie class honours in second.
Watson fended off Robertson behind to take third, with his and Murray’s double podium confirming Douglas Motorsport as the 2012 team’s champions. Robertson took fourth, while Woodhead completed a tremendous drive through the field to finish fifth after passing Fielding late on.
Fielding just fended off his JHR Developments team-mate Chadwick for sixth, with Donegan, Oliver Basey-Fisher and Tom Jackson rounding out the top ten. Elliot Paterson, Finlay Ractliffe and William Palmer completed the finishers, with Aiden Moffat and Freddie Lee proving to be the race’s only retirements.
