Matt Chapman saw a strong qualifying performance lead into two challenging races in the opening rounds of the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch.
Chapman started his second season in the category with Total Control Racing in positive fashion in qualifying, lapping within just 0.148 seconds of pole position for a fourth row grid slot.
The 15 year old found himself in the thick of a fierce battle around the bottom of the top ten in the opening race, with him eventually slipping back to thirteenth at the finish.
A slow getaway off the line in race two dropped him back to 18th place, but he fought back superbly to move into the top twelve by mid-distance.
Unfortunately though on lap seven, his team-mate Dave Wooder spun in front of him at Paddock Hill Bend, with Chapman narrowly managing to avoid him as he shot through the gravel trap – the time lost as he recovered leading to a finish of 19th.
“We didn’t get the results we’d hoped for, or deserved, this weekend but things could have been much worse – I only just managed to avoid Dave’s car in race two which was very lucky,” said Chapman.
“We definitely had the pace, we showed that in qualifying, but it was so close between the top drivers and only a few hundredths made a difference.”
Chapman is now looking ahead to the second meeting of the season at Donington Park next weekend and is hoping to convert his pace into front-running results.
He added: “The races didn’t go our way this weekend, and it isn’t the start to the season we wanted, but the car felt good and I’m sure we’ll be back where we should be at Donington in a couple of weeks. I’ll definitely be pushing hard to make up the lost ground and score some big points.”
