Ollie and Jamie Chadwick had a weekend to forget during the latest rounds of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Oulton Park.
After qualifying third and second in qualifying, championship contender Ollie saw his races plagued by contact and mechanical problems.
Two incidents of contact in race one led to a puncture, with a subsequent pit stop leading to a disappointing twelfth place finish, while an electrical fault and an alternator failure led to a race two retirement, a race which he led briefly on the opening lap.
“It was a hugely disappointing weekend,” said Ollie. “I had hoped to make good progress at Oulton Park, but circumstances beyond my control robbed me of two podiums and have left me an impossible task in the Championship. I’ll prepare for Croft, but during the summer break I’ll need to re-think my future plans.”
Jamie also suffered from mechanical gremlins, with suspected engine problems causing a loss of performance throughout the weekend. Qualifying eighth on the grid for the two races, the Ginetta Scholarship winner battled to seventh and ninth place finishes.
“Like Ollie, I came to Oulton pretty confident that I could get my season back on course,” added Jamie. “It’s not an easy track for newcomers, but I felt pretty comfortable by Saturday qualifying. I was chasing Ollie and, although I was losing a bit of pace, I was surprised by how poor my actual times were. It was only in race one on the Saturday that the team could gauge how far off the pace I was. The new engine didn’t really help in Sunday’s race, so the car is going to Ginetta next week to be checked on their dyno. I’m not where I want to be in the Championship, so I’ll be focusing on improvements for Croft.”
