Ginetta Junior

Hillspeed Duo Perform Well Over Tricky Thruxton Weekend

1 Mins read

Hillspeed's Nathan Harrison Continued His Impressive Start To The Season At Thruxton - Photo Credit: Stuart Paice

 

Hillspeed's Ginetta Junior Championship stars Nathan Harrison and Pepe Massot put in some strong performances in wet and windy conditions during Rounds Five and Six of the 2012 season at Thruxton.

Harrison began on the fifth row of the grid for the weekend's opening race after a disappointing qualifying session, but the 15 year old was quickly up to ninth, before moving into eighth at mid-distance. Massot meanwhile started fourth, but slipped to sixth early on.

As the race reached its conclusion, the Hillspeed team-mates were in a three way battle for sixth with then points leader Sennan Fielding. On the final lap, the trio ran almost three abreast into the Club chicane, with Massot holding on to take sixth and Harrison out-dragging Fielding to the finish line to take seventh by a mere 0.088 seconds.

A fully wet track on Sunday meant race two began under the safety car, with Harrison seventh and Massot ninth. Harrison moved into the top five on the first racing lap and despite coming under pressure during the closing stages, held on to take a hard-earned fifth. Massot slipped to eighth early on, but fought back to take seventh, however with a heavily steamed-up windscreen, the Spaniard fell back once again to finish eighth.

Hillspeed Team Principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “We've had exceptionally difficult circumstances this weekend but we're very pleased with the performances of both Nathan and Pepe in incredibly tough conditions. Other than the official test a few weeks ago, this was Nathan's first visit to Thruxton while Pepe hadn't even seen the track before going out into free practice on Saturday!

“Nathan did a fantastic job with two very strong drives, the weather was terrible all weekend and he coped well with the challenges it presented. Pepe too had a strong weekend but he did struggle with visibility in race two as the heated windscreen packed-up, we're not sure if it was caused by a fuse or a relay issue. All in all, it's been a positive weekend and we're now looking forward to Oulton Park where we're aiming to have a third car back out in the championship.”

Avatar photo
4148 posts

About author
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.
Articles
Related posts
British GTBTCCGinetta GT ChampionshipGinetta GT4 SupercupGinetta GT5 ChallengeGinetta Junior

Ginetta announce series restructure with SRO, ending TOCA partnership

2 Mins read
Ginetta set to leave the BTCC/TOCA package in 2023 as they bring three championships under one package alongside the British GT Championship.
FeaturesGinetta JuniorMaurice Henry Column

Maurice Henry Column: Winner!

4 Mins read
Maurice Henry talks about his journey through the 2022 Ginetta Junior championship, including a climb to the top step of the podium at Knockhill.
Ginetta JuniorMaurice Henry Column

Maurice Henry Column: I Have Surprised Myself

4 Mins read
Maurice Henry continues to work his way up the grid in his second season of Ginetta Juniors