Declan Jones maintained his run of rostrums in the G50 class of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup with a third place in the opening race.
The Liverpool-based 17 year old began strongly in testing, however gearbox problems were to hamper his qualifying session.
Fifteenth on the grid for the opening race, a mature drive saw him haul his way up the order, finishing eighth overall and third in class.
In the wet second race, handling problems and a broken windscreen wiper hampered his progress, Jones finishing fifteenth overall and fifth in class.
“It was a hard weekend, but I am glad I came away with a podium,” said the Chicago Soft and The London Perfume Company Limited-backed youngster. “In the first race I had a couple of issues early on, but I just kept chipping away and chipping away and got third on the last lap. That was definitely the upside to the weekend.
“Today was more challenging. I am no slouch in the wet and you only have to look back at Oulton Park to see that. But we had severe handling issues with the car, and through Turn 1 I had a lot of over-steer. The car just didn’t feel balanced. Also the windscreen wiper wasn’t working, so I couldn’t see much for the whole of that race! We got to the end though, and that in itself was quite an achievement.”
Declan has a busy October ahead of him, with the final two Supercup rounds at Silverstone and Brands Hatch, as well as planning to do the French V de V event at Magny Cours at the end of the month.
“I am really looking forward to Silverstone and enjoy racing there,” Declan added. “Last year I was very fast in the Ginetta Juniors, but obviously I had issues in both races and got taken out. However the pace was there and I am sure I can be quick this time too. I will have some sponsors there that weekend and I want to perform to my best, like always. I’ll definitely be after more podiums.”
Declan’s dad and manager, Kelvin Jones added: “The weekend started off well on Friday, but in qualifying, about four or five laps in, the gearbox went. That was frustrating. Today in the second race the car just wasn’t right and through Turn 1, it was stepping into over-steer. The windscreen wiper also stopped working, so that didn’t help either!” Kelvin added. “Still Dec got third in the first race and that was very good. Five podiums from five events this year is something we are very happy with. We will now look forward to Silverstone and getting some more trophies.”
