Stuart Middleton feels “little mistakes” and bad luck is holding him back in his pursuit of the 2016 Ginetta Junior Championship title.
The Douglas Motorsport racer secured a podium double in the first two races at Rockingham, but then saw a mistake in race three demote him to a tenth place finish and lose him ground in the standings.
The opening race was the highlight for Middleton, who produced a sensational move around the outside at Deene on the first lap to rise from fifth to second, before dispatching Lewis Brown to take his sixth win of the season.
Middleton followed that up with a controlled run to second position in Sunday’s opening race, but then saw an attempted repeat of his bold race one move at Deene not come off at the start of the final encounter.
A run wide ended with him making contact with the tyres, but he was able to recover in a distant last and showcased all his raw pace and overtaking attributes as he closed back to the pack and climbed through to tenth at the finish.
Middleton remains firmly in title contention heading into the final five races of the season, with 57 points currently splitting him from leader Will Tregurtha in the standings with 182 left to fight for.
“Winning the first race on Saturday was obviously good, but it’s been a bit of a mixed weekend really,” said Middleton.
“We seem to go one step forward and then three back, we just don’t seem to have the luck at all. Little mistakes here and there are really costing us, we just need to try and stay consistent at Silverstone and Brands Hatch and see what happens there.”
