Ginetta Junior

Palmer Takes Dominant Maiden Win At Rockingham

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Will Palmer has taken his long-awaited maiden win in the Ginetta Junior Championship with a dominant success in Round 16 at Rockingham.

A fantastic start for the front-row starter saw him storm past poleman Jack Mitchell into the lead heading into Deene, where he was challenged on the outside by both Harry Woodhead and Ollie Chadwick.

Palmer just fended off Woodhead to maintain the lead, the newly-crowned champion slotting into second, while Chadwick saw himself hung out to dry on the outside and bundled back to sixth behind Mitchell, Keith Donegan, James Kellett and Jack Rawles.

Chadwick quickly regained a place, following Rawles past Kellett at Tarzan to drop the Round 15 winner down to sixth, while in front, Donegan nipped past Mitchell at the chicane for third.

As the front four edged clear, Chadwick briefly forced his way past Rawles for fifth at Deene on lap three, however the rookie fought back to regain the place at Pif Paf, with Chadwick just managing to fend off Tom Jackson in the aftermath.

As Palmer began to break away at the front, Donegan produced a great move at Deene to snatch second from Woodhead. The Irishman quickly turned his attentions to Palmer in front and his efforts to catch the leader were aided when Palmer ran across the grass at the final chicane as the rain began to fall on lap six.

Palmer coped superbly with the tricky conditions though to storm home for his first victory. Donegan was left to settle for second, while Woodhead had a relatively lonely run to third at the finish.

The battle for fourth went down to the wire, with Jackson passing Rawles, Mitchell and Chadwick in three consecutive laps to take the position, with Chadwick left to settle for fifth ahead of Rookie class winner Mitchell.

Jamie Chadwick enjoyed another strong run to seventh ahead of fellow rookies Kellet, Ryan Hadfield and Ben Pearson, while a tough race for Rawles saw him eventually slip to an eleventh place finish after a spin.

Josh White finished twelfth ahead of series debutants Jonathan Hadfield, William Taylforth and James Webb, with all fifteen starters finishing the race.

Provisional 2013 Ginetta Junior Championship Standings (After Rd.16 of 20):

1. Harry Woodhead (Champion) – 549pts
2. Will Palmer – 381pts
3. Keith Donegan – 379pts
4. Tom Jackson – 308pts
5. James Kellett – 298pts
6. Ollie Chadwick – 287pts
7. Jack Mitchell – 266pts
8. Ben Pearson – 210pts
9. Jack Rawles – 205pts
10. Jamie Chadwick – 184pts

Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2013/133703gij.pdf

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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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