Dan Zelos showed his ever-improving racecraft to make up no less than eighteen places in two races in the latest rounds of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park.
An unfortunate gearbox issue that developed during Saturday morning’s practice session meant Zelos missed qualifying as his JHR Developments team fitted a replacement, leaving him twentieth and last on the grid for both races.
Zelos refused to let the stroke of misfortune hold him back though, seizing the opportunity to showcase his potential with a pair of charges through the field.
The 15 year old fought his way through to twelfth place in the opener, setting lap times on a par with the top six in the process, before a great drive in tricky conditions in race two saw him earn a tenth place finish, consolidating his top ten championship position.
“Missing qualifying was immensely frustrating, especially as I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance of the car after practice which meant we were still trying to perfect the set-up. What made it worse was that it was a double-whammy, as not only did we have to begin both races from the back row of the grid, but we had also lost 15 minutes of vital track time that we really needed,” said Zelos.
“The pack spread out quite early in race one, but I made consistent progress all the way through and was pleased to finish 12th. I raised my sights a little higher for race two the next day, and although I knew it would be a tall order, my target was to climb into the top ten this time and I was delighted to achieve that.
“To finish so close to sixth place in both races just went to show what might have been but for the gearbox trouble, and it was really encouraging to make up so much ground. Hopefully at Thruxton we can take another step forward.”
