Stuart Middleton feels it was a case of damage limitation at Oulton Park as he fought back from a difficult qualifying session to take two more Ginetta Junior Championship podium finishes.
The Douglas Motorsport racer headed into the weekend as the series championship leader, but saw his challenge to retain the advantage made tougher after qualifying sixth on the grid.
Middleton fought back well in the opening race though, quickly rising into fourth place before producing a slick move on Seb Perez to grab third position.
The reigning Winter Series champion slipped back a spot at the start of race two, but quickly settled onto the rear of a battle between Perez and Charlie Fagg for second.
As the two in front tangled, Middleton picked his way through to take second place – a position he held into a safety car period that eventually ate up the remainder of the race.
Middleton’s sixth and seventh podium finishes weren’t enough to keep him in the championship lead, but he sits just one point back ahead of the next two rounds at Croft next weekend.
“We did the best we could do this weekend with where we qualified, I’m happy with how the car was and in my driving – we did everything we could to take as many points as possible,” said Middleton.
“We were a bit unlucky in qualifying and that kind of set the tone for the weekend really. It could’ve been better but, at the end of the day, it could have been much worse.”
