Fresh from his maiden victory at the last meeting at Brands Hatch, Jody Fannin continued his hugely impressive debut season with victory in Round 7 of the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship at Oulton Park, leading home a podium lockout for his TJ Motorsport team.
It was his team mate Louise Richardson who secured pole position in qualifying, her first ever pole position in the series. Fannin sat alongside her on the front row of the grid, with Hillspeed's Tom Ingram and Tollbar's Jake Hill sharing row two.
Richardson made the jump at the start, leading as they went down the Avenue for the first time, with Fannin closely behind, followed by Ingram, Hill and David Moore, who had gained a position around the opening corner.
Richardson and Fannin began to pull away a small advantage, leaving a close battle behind for third place. As they entered lap two, Ingram was pushed down to fifth, with Hill moving into third and Moore into fourth. Back at the front, Fannin saw the chance to take the lead and took it with both hands, wrestling past Richardson at Druids. This pushed Richardson the clutches of Hill, who made his move on lap three, diving up inside her as they entered Cascades. Richardson was not giving up her position without a fight though, forcing her way back past at the next corner, the Hairpin.
A couple of laps later, Hill attempted another move on Richardson, pulling alongside her down the Avenue, but had to back off when pushed to the outside line around Cascades. The fighting for second allowed Fannin to pull away at the front, with the rookie building a good advantage at the front. Behind, championship leader Ingram forced his way into fourth and looked to try and make a move for a podium place, but his hard work was undone when a spin at the beginning of lap six dropped him down the order.
The race built up to an exciting conclusion on the final lap. After gaining a good slipstream coming over the start finish straight, Hill dived past Richardson as they headed into Old Hall for the final time, moving up into second. Once again though, the determined Richardson was not giving up her position that easily, and pushed straight back passed at the next corner Cascades. As they continued around the final lap, Hill was all over Richardson's bumper and built up for a move into the final corner Lodge. Richardson defended the inside line, leaving Hill to attempt a move around the outside, which didn't go to plan, pitching him into a spin.
This was all happening behind Fannin, who crossed the line to win, four seconds clear of Richardson in second. Their team mate Howard became the main beneficiary of Hill's spin, moving into third, to complete the perfect result for their TJ Motorsport team. Behind them, Team Eurotech pair Sarah and David Moore finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Hill recovering from his spin to finish a disappointing sixth. The top ten was completed with Maverick Domene a great seventh, Alex Austin eighth, Max Coates an impressive ninth and Adam Bonham tenth. After his earlier spin, championship leader Ingram finished down in twelfth.
