Tom Gamble is the new Ginetta Junior Championship points leader after taking his first two race victories in the series at Donington Park last weekend.
Gamble took the wins in the first and last races during the triple-header meeting, with qualifying pace-setter Daniel Harper securing the other victory on offer.
Harper topped the qualifying timesheets by over three tenths of a second, and went on to the lead the opening race through an early safety car periods.
Not long after the restart however, a robust move from Gamble would secure him the lead, with Harper pushed back to fifth briefly before he fought back to third on the same lap.
From there, the top three would not change, with Gamble going on to take his maiden series win, while Kiern Jewiss survived a last lap challenge from Harper to take his first podium finish.
Harry King rose to fourth position in his Elite Motorsport G40, while a late move from Tom Wood earnt him fifth ahead of the points leader heading into the meeting, Sebastian Priaulx.
Harper would take the championship advantage after race two though as he stormed to victory, with a perfect restart after another early safety car period being the key to a dominant win.
Building a lead of five seconds within two laps after the restart, Harper streaked clear to a first win of the season, at the same circuit he took his maiden win at twelve months prior.
The Northern Irishman was aided by a big battle for the other podium positions behind, with Jewiss holding second place initially after the restart, before Wood stole it.
Whilst Jewiss’ race came to an end on the next lap, Wood maintained second to the chequered flag, while Gamble and Scott McKenna traded third for the remainder of the race.
McKenna just missed out on a first outright podium finish, with Gamble making a crucial move on the final lap to get it, with McKenna closely pursued by Harry Dyson and Matt Luff.
Harper’s victory earnt him pole position again for race three, but a slow launch off the line dropped him to third behind Gamble and Wood, starting a race-long fight for the lead.
With Jewiss soon joining in as well from thirteenth on the grid, it was a four car scrap for top honours, with Harper taking the lead on a couple of occasions, but both times Gamble found a way back ahead.
Following a frenetic final few laps, Gamble took his second win of the weekend, with Douglas Motorsport duo Jewiss and Harper completing the podium ahead of Wood and McKenna.
Suffering an unfortunate retirement in that race was Priaulx, which coupled with sixth and seventh place finishes in the opening two races has dropped him from first to fifth in the standings.
Jewiss’ heroics earnt him a pair of Rookie Cup victories across the meeting, with McKenna picking up the other class win, whilst Adam Smalley, Dyson, Luff and Ruben Del Sarte also featured on the podium.
The Ginetta Junior Championship returns to action next month (06/07 May) at the ‘fastest circuit in the UK’ Thruxton.
Full race results for the weekend can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TOCA/2017/171503gij.pdf
