Following a thrilling, controversial and truly action-packed 2017 Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship season, we’ve crunched the numbers to see how Tom Gamble emerged as the latest champion in the BTCC support series.
A full breakdown of all the key statistics for the 2017 Ginetta Junior Championship season is below:
Race Wins
8 – Tom Gamble
7 – Sebastian Priaulx, Daniel Harper
1 – Harry King, Tom Wood, Kiern Jewiss, Harry Dyson
Podium Finishes
17 – Gamble
15 – Harper
13 – Priaulx
12 – Jewiss
9 – King, Wood
2 – Dyson
1 – Adam Smalley
Top Six Finishes
22 – Harper
21 – Gamble, Priaulx
20 – Wood
19 – King
18 – Jewiss
12 – Smalley
7 – Dyson
6 – Jordan Collard
5 – Connor Grady
2 – Scott McKenna
1 – Matt Luff, Luke Browning, James Hedley
Top Ten Finishes
25 – Priaulx, Harper
23 – Gamble, Wood
22 – King
21 – Jewiss
19 – Smalley
17 – Collard
16 – Ruben Del Sarte
11 – Grady, Canning
10 – Dyson
8 – Charlie Digby, Browning
5 – Luff
4 – James Hedley
3 – Greg Johnson, Louis Foster
2 – McKenna, Finley Green
1 – Jenson Dineen, Keaton Samra
Seven of the eight drivers to grace the overall podium this year would make the top step, a tally that was ultimately two shy of the series record for most different winners in a season set in 2016, with four of them being new winners (Gamble, Wood, Jewiss and Dyson).
While only one further driver would finish on the podium, no less than fourteen drivers would breach the top six, while remarkably from the 24 drivers to compete this year, only Isa Deen and Emily Linscott would not come away with an overall top ten result.
The efforts of Gamble, Priaulx and Dyson meant that despite missing the final three rounds of the season, JHR Developments were the winningest team with eleven successes, with Douglas Motorsport notching eight, Elite Motorsport got five and a couple for HHC Motorsport.
Priaulx’s pole tally matches the amount Lando Norris recorded in 2014 – Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Pole Positions
8 – Priaulx
6 – Harper
3 – Jewiss
1 – King, Wood, Browning
Top Three Qualifying Results
14 – Priaulx
11 – Harper
10 – Gamble
8 – Jewiss
6 – King
3 – Dyson
2 – Wood, Smalley, Browning
1 – Collard, McKenna
Top Six Qualifying Results
19 – Priaulx, Gamble
18 – Harper
16 – Jewiss
11 – King
9 – Wood
8 – Dyson
7 – Smalley
5 – Collard
3 – Digby
2 – Grady, Browning
1 – McKenna
Qualifying Average
2.55 – Priaulx
3.60 – Harper
3.75 – Gamble
4.95 – Jewiss
6.57 – Dyson
6.60 – Wood
6.65 – King
7.50 – Smalley
8.90 – Collard
9.25 – Grady
10.85 – Browning
11.50 – Digby
12.10 – Del Sarte
12.55 – Canning
13.25 – Luff
Priaulx was the clear qualifying king this season, and the Guerneysman was also the only driver to take a pole position for the second consecutive season, with Harper, Jewiss, King, Wood and Browning all topping qualifying for the first time in the series.
Despite qualifying in the top three on ten occasions, one driver who incredibly didn’t achieve a pole position was Gamble, meaning he is the first Ginetta Junior champion since Sarah Moore in 2009 not to top a qualifying session on their way to the title.
Harper ended the season in style with three double wins in the final five meetings – Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Races Led
15 – Gamble
12 – Harper
11 – Priaulx
5 – Jewiss
3 – King
2 – Dyson
1 – Smalley, Wood
Laps Led
100 – Gamble
67 – Priaulx
63 – Harper
31 – Jewiss
17 – King
3 – Dyson
1 – Smalley, Wood
Miles Led
186.89 – Gamble
127.98 – Priaulx
126.05 – Harper
63.48 – Jewiss
28.38 – King
7.15 – Dyson
2.97 – Smalley, Wood
Fastest Laps
6 – Priaulx, Harper
5 – Wood
4 – Gamble
2 – King
1 – Jewiss, Smalley, Dyson
Of the championship contenders, it was Priaulx who had the best conversion rate as he won seven of the eleven races he led, 63.6%, compared to 58.3% for Harper and 53.3% for Gamble, though remarkably Priaulx would only lead six laps in total after the summer break.
Smalley would unfortunately be the only driver to end the season having led a lap and not taken a race win, meanwhile Wood ends his Junior career with just a single lap led to his name, though he did make it count as it netted him a maiden victory at Snetterton.
Fourteen of the twenty-six races over the season were decided with a winning margin of less than a second, with the closest being Wood’s last gasp 0.076s success at Snetterton, while the most dominant victory came from Gamble at Silverstone to the tune of 8.5 seconds.
Gamble made history with his superb hat-trick of victories over the Silverstone weekend – Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Biggest Points Haul From A Two Race Weekend
72 – Priaulx (Oulton Park)
65 – Gamble (Thruxton), Jewiss (Knockhill)
59 – Priaulx (Brands Indy)
58 – Harper (Knockhill)
56 – Priaulx (Thruxton), Jewiss (Oulton Park)
54 – Dyson (Brands Indy)
52 – King (Brands Indy)
50 – Harper (Thruxton)
Biggest Points Haul From A Three Race Weekend
107 – Gamble (Silverstone)
102 – Harper (Rockingham)
98 – Priaulx (Croft)
96 – Gamble (Donington Park)
92 – Gamble (Rockingham)
91 – Harper (Brands GP)
90 – Jewiss (Croft), Harper (Snetterton)
86 – King (Brands GP)
83 – Gamble (Croft), King (Silverstone)
Gamble’s Silverstone heroics did not only secure him the biggest points haul of the season, but also of championship history, with triple header meetings having been introduced properly for the first time only last season.
Dave Wooder would post the best last year with 100 points, meaning Harper briefly held the record after Rockingham, before Gamble’s treble victory – itself a breakthrough moment in the series – set the bar even higher.
For the historically more traditional double-header meetings, Priaulx’s 72 point tally was just one fastest lap bonus point away from a perfect score – the last of which came back in the 2014 season opener in the hands of Jack Mitchell.
Jewiss finished second overall nine times before taking his maiden race win – Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Rookie Cup Wins
17 – Jewiss
4 – Smalley
3 – Dyson
1 – McKenna, Browning
Rookie Cup Podiums
21 – Jewiss
17 – Smalley
10 – Dyson, Del Sarte
7 – Browning
5 – Canning
3 – Luff
2 – McKenna
1 – Foster, Hedley, Green
Places Gained From Grid Position
69 – Johnson
54 – Del Sarte
53 – King, Wood
48 – Canning
47 – Smalley
44 – Browning
42 – Samra
41 – Grady
40 – Digby
39 – Collard, Dineen, Green
34 – Harper
31 – Luff, Jewiss
30 – Gamble
23 – Dyson
17 – Isa Deen
15 – Emily Linscott
11 – Foster, Hedley
8 – McKenna
5 – Priaulx
Johnson’s leading tally of 69 positions gained over the course of the season would remarkably match the top tally of 2016, though Wood reached it in one less race, with the latter joining King in the accolade of gaining over 100 places in two seasons with 122 and 111 respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, Priaulx’s brilliant qualifying record meant he would gain places from his grid position in just four races, by far the lowest of the full-time drivers, while King, Wood, Johnson and Del Sarte each gained ground on seventeen separate occasions.
There were four instances of drivers gaining ten or more places in a single race, with the standout drive coming from Harper who rose from sixteenth to third at Thruxton. Wood climbed eleven spots at Croft, while the third race at Donington saw both Grady and Jewiss gain double figures.
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That’s all for our statistical round-up of the 2017 Ginetta Junior Championship! If you missed out full season review of the dramatic year, you can read that by clicking here.
