Declan Jones secured his first ever victory in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup in the latest rounds at Silverstone.
The 17 year old secured the G50 class win in Round 24 in his Century Motorsport-run Ginetta, a terrific feat in only his fourth appearance in the car.
Jones overcame a qualifying driveshaft failure that left him at the back of the grid to finish second in class in the opening race, before hounding newly-crowned G50 champion Mark Davies to the finish in the second encounter. Although he finished second on the road, a five second penalty for Davies promoted the Liverpool-based teenager to the win.
“It was an absolutely fantastic weekend for me,” said Declan, who is now seventh in the G50 Cup standings with 192 points, “Yeah, we had the issue in qualifying, but other than that it was all good.
“In the first race I made a strong start and over the first five or so laps got myself to second. I then pushed and pushed and tried to catch Davies. But I just had too much to do early on and after he maintained the gap. We were matching times, which was frustrating, but it was also fantastic too, because over the weekend I was the only person that could do that. It was only us two on the same pace in the G50s. We were something like six tenths quicker than the other guys.
“Then on Sunday to take the win was great. It is a massive confidence boost for me. All through the race I was matching Mark’s times and I was either a bit quicker than him or he was a bit quicker than me. We were within hundredths of each other.
“It was only when a G55 caught me up and he went for a couple of moves that I had to back out of it and I lost a bit of time. That is the only reason Davies managed to pull away from me.
“Overall though, it feels brilliant to get my first victory in the Ginettas and it is a fantastic way to start the end of the year. I have got to say a massive thank you to Century Motorsport – the car was great and very well prepared. A big thanks as well to my sponsors, Chicago Soft and The London Perfume Company Limited, because without them, and of course Century Motorsport, it wouldn’t have been so good a weekend.”
Declan’s dad and manager, Kelvin Jones added: “Declan just keeps getting better and better. We are so pleased and these results are coming at a crucial time as we plan for 2013. It is also worth pointing out this is only Dec’s fourth outing in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup and for him to already be achieving what he has, including of course taking the G50 class win on Sunday, is really remarkable. I am very proud and we will be hoping for more of the same at Brands.”
