Ginetta Junior

Mitchell Completes Dream Brands Double

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Jack Mitchell completed his domination of the opening weekend of the 2014 Ginetta Junior Championship with a comfortable victory during Round Two at Brands Hatch.

Mitchell’s efforts were helped by a first lap incident which ended the race-winning hopes of two of his main rivals, James Kellett and Jamie Chadwick.

As the pack headed towards Paddock Hill for the first time, a tight squeeze on the fast-starting Alex Sedgwick from the two ended in Kellett being turned across the front of the Scholarship winner.

Kellett collected Chadwick in the process, with the unfortunate Jamie Caroline having nowhere to go and hitting the back of Chadwick. While Kellett and Sedgwick were able to continue, Caroline and Chadwick were forced into retirement.

By this stage, Mitchell was already in the process of losing his lead, with a quick-starting Ryan Hadfield getting past around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend for the first time.

After a safety car period to aid the retrieval of the stricken Ginetta’s, Mitchell was quick to snatch the lead back out of Clearways on lap seven. Hadfield stayed in second, while Ben Pearson ran third after passing Lando Norris, the latter dropping down the pack after a trip through the gravel.

Pearson was briefly challenging by Dan Zelos for third, but a slight tap on the rear ended up costing Zelos, a loss of momentum allowing Jack Rawles past, while behind, Sedgwick lost ground to Pedro Cardoso and Norris.

As Mitchell streaked away at the front, a spin for Norris at Clearways on lap twelve undid all his hard work, with the unfortunate Sedgwick forced through the gravel in avoidance.

Their excursions gave two more places to a recovering Kellett, the HHC Motorsport man having been able to catch back up to the pack thanks to the safety car interlude. His fight back ended on the next lap though, a spin at Druids putting him back down the order.

Having no such drama was Mitchell, the Airwaves Racing-backed racer cruising home for a three second victory. Hadfield took second, while Pearson made it a R&J Motorsport two-three after holding off a late challenge from Rawles.

Zelos took the Rookie Cup honours in fifth, while Jonathan Hadfield completed a superb race for the R&J team after battling to sixth place, despite losing his bonnet on the opening lap.

William Taylforth, Cardoso and Matt Chapman were next up, while Norris took tenth after his various dramas. His HHC team-mate Kellett ended up fifteenth, while the unlucky Sedgwick was forced into retirement.

Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2014/141303gij.pdf

2014 Ginetta Junior Championship Standings (After Round 2 of 20):

1. Jack Mitchell – JHR Developments – 74pts
2. Ryan Hadfield – R&J Motorsport – 52pts
3. Ben Pearson – R&J Motorsport – 42pts
4. Jonathan Hadfield – R&J Motorsport – 38pts
5. James Kellett – HHC Motorsport – 36pts
6. Jack Rawles – Tollbar Racing – 34pts
7. Lando Norris – HHC Motorsport – 29pts
8. Dan Zelos – JHR Developments – 27pts
9= Jamie Chadwick – JHR Developments – 26pts
9= William Taylforth – JHR Developments – 26pts

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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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