Jack Mitchell heads to Thruxton this weekend aiming to extend his winning streak in the Ginetta Junior Championship to six in a row, though he will have his work cut out as the chasing pack aim to ensure it won’t be a one-man title race this season.
The JHR Developments racer has been the star of the show so far this season, winning both races at Brands Hatch and Donington Park respectively to build a 47 point lead at the top of the championship standings.
The 16 year old has been making a huge impression so far this season in his Airwaves Racing-backed G40J, and is targeting two more wins at Thruxton as he looks to close on Harry Woodhead’s record ten race winning run from last year.
It was expected that Mitchell’s main challengers for the title would be his JHR team-mate Jamie Chadwick and HHC Motorsport’s reigning Rookie Cup and Winter Series champion James Kellett, but so far both haven’t had the start to the season they’d hoped for.
Chadwick will be aiming to bounce back after a nightmare Donington weekend, in which mechanical issues and contact from a rival lost her a lot of ground in the title race. Kellett meanwhile carded his first DNF of the season, leaving him 89 points adrift of Mitchell. Both drivers will be desperate to break Mitchell’s winning streak and start to eat away at his points advantage.
The star team of the season so far has been the new-for-2014 R&J Motorsport, with all three of its drivers, Ryan Hadfield, Jonathan Hadfield and Ben Pearson, currently sitting in the championship top five.
R.Hadfield sits second with four consecutive top four finishes to his name, including two podiums, while Pearson is fifth with one rostrum visit to his name. J.Hadfield meanwhile has been one of the standout rookies with regular top seven finishes, and all three are capable of securing the team’s maiden category victory.
Joining Mitchell and the R&J trio in the top five is the top rookie at the moment, HHC Motorsport’s Lando Norris. After getting roughed up a bit on his car-racing debut at Brands, the 14 year old got his elbows out to take a pair of seconds at Donington, and a maiden car-racing win is on the cards soon.
Amongst the other rookies impressing have been William Taylforth, Jamie Caroline and Dan Zelos. Taylforth has picked up three top seven finishes in four races, while Caroline broke onto the outright podium for the first time.
Zelos meanwhile gained a hugely impressive eighteen places in two races at Donington after missing qualifying, and all three will be confident of challenging for Rookie Cup wins and outright podium finishes at Thruxton.
With a twenty car field set to battle it out around the unique high-speed Thruxton circuit, expect two action-packed races this weekend. Qualifying for the two races takes place on Saturday at 14.20, with Round Five following 16.35, before the live-televised Round Six on Sunday at 12.52.
