The Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship kicked off the second half of its 2016 campaign with a pair of thrilling races at Snetterton last weekend, and we’ve crunched the numbers to find the intriguing statistics and milestones that came from the action.
The action kicked off with qualifying on Saturday and it was Will Tregurtha who set the pace, becoming the second driver in consecutive meetings to card his second pole position of the season.
Four drivers recorded their best ever Junior qualifying results in the session – Harry King (3rd), Enzo Fittipaldi (7th), Connor Grady (11th) and Dhyllan Skiba (17th).
Drivers enduring their worst sessions of the year so far meanwhile were Seb Priaulx and Stuart Middleton, both of whom saw their runs of qualifying in the top six in every session come to an end.
That means Tregurtha is the only driver left in the field with that accolade, though Middleton and Dave Wooder join him in posting top ten times in each qualifying so far.
Come the races however it was the Rookies that would shine, with Daniel Harper and King ultimately sharing the victories across the weekend.
Their successes mean it was the first time that two races have been won by Rookies in the same weekend since Sophia Floersch’s memorable double success at Thruxton in May last year.
For King, it was both a first outright race win and a maiden overall podium finish in the championship – accolades also achieved for the first time by the Elite Motorsport team.
King becomes the sixth different race-winner this season and only the second Rookie to take an overall win alongside Harper – who became the third driver to take more than one success so far.
Other than King taking his maiden victory, remarkably no other driver in the field improved on their best ever finishes in the championship across the Snetterton weekend however.
Kyle Hornby did secure his long-awaited first top six finishes of the campaign though, becoming the sixteenth different driver to finish in the top six this season.
An unwanted stat for Tregurtha comes with the fact he became the first driver this season to lead laps in both races on a weekend and not win either race.
Similarly unpleasant reading for Middleton is the fact this is the first time this season he has not finished on the podium at least once during a race weekend.
Tregurtha’s double podium however means the fact remains that there hasn’t been a race so far this year in which either Middleton or Tregurtha hasn’t finished on the podium.
The Rookie podium meanwhile featured Harper, King and Tom Gamble for both races – only the second time this season the same three drivers have featured on the class podium for two consecutive races.
Two drivers reaching milestone races of sorts across the weekend were Charlie Fagg and Grady meanwhile, with each reaching their quarter century of race starts in the main championship.
The 2016 Simpson Race Products is back in action next weekend (13/14 August) with a triple-header meeting at Knockhill in Scotland.
