Unpredictability continues to be the key characteristic of the 2015 Kick Start Energy Ginetta Junior Championship as the paddock heads to Oulton Park this weekend for the fourth meeting of the season.
With four different race-winners, nine separate podium finishers and sixteen drivers gracing the top ten so far in the first six races, as well as three different pole position takers and five fastest lap setters, it’s fair to say guessing who’s going to come out on top in Cheshire is a tough ask.
Despite not featuring in the top eight in the race results last time out at Thruxton, Senna Proctor remains atop the championship standings with an eighteen point advantage over his team-mate Billy Monger, those two being part of a JHR Developments one-two-three at the top of the points.
Proctor, who had taken a race win apiece on the opening weekends of the season at Brands Hatch and Donington Park, could only secure low-key eleventh and ninth place finishes at Thruxton, while fellow Brands winner Monger picked up a fifth and a second for his best points haul of the season so far.
The final driver in the JHR top three lockout is Dan Zelos, who despite only taking his first podium of the season at Thruxton still sits just 28 points shy of Proctor thanks to five consecutive top six finishes, a run unmatched by anyone else on the grid.
For many, a new star was born at Thruxton in Sophia Floersch. A stunning double win, the first successes for a rookie this year, has moved the German up to fourth in the standings, and she’ll be keen to show it wasn’t a one-off with more success at Oulton with HHC Motorsport.
Hoping to bounce back after a tough Thruxton will be Donington race-winner Jonathan Hadfield, likewise his R&J Motorsport team-mate and fellow Donington top three finisher Lewis Brown, who failed to finish either race in Hampshire.
Another driver in the wars at Thruxton was one of the star rookies so far this campaign, Patrik Matthiesen. The Dane will be hoping at Oulton to return to the form that secured him a pair of podium finishes at the Brands season opener.
His HHC stablemate Jamie Caroline meanwhile will be hoping to ignite his championship challenge at a circuit he finished on the podium at twelve months ago, the reigning Winter Series champion still chasing a first win of the year despite having finished fourth or higher on four occasions so far.
Alongside Floersch and Matthiesen, the standout rookies to watch at Oulton are Stuart Middleton, who took pole position and a podium finish at Thruxton, and two-time top six finishers Will Tregurtha and Kyle Hornby, the latter having gained more places from his grid starts (35) than anyone else so far this season.
Total Control Racing’s Matt Chapman and Cameron Roberts each secured seasons’ best seventh place finishes at Thruxton, so will have the top six in their sights in the races in Cheshire, as will their team-mate Dave Wooder who has shown his pace in qualifying with two top six starts so far, but has had luck go against him in the races.
Ben Green broke into the top ten for the first time at Thruxton and he’ll be hoping to repeat that feat at Oulton, as will Geri Nicosia and William Stacey, while JHR duo Rowan Bailey and Seb Perez will be targeting first top ten finishes of the season.
The Ginetta Junior paddock will be on track twice each day over the Oulton Park weekend, with practice (09:05) and qualifying (14:55) on Saturday, before Round Seven (13:40) and Round Eight (16:55) follow on Sunday, the latter set to be televised live on ITV4 and itv.com/itv4.
The championship standings heading into the meeting can be found here.
