Louis Foster picked up his second overall Ginetta Junior victory of the championship in the opening race of the weekend at Rockingham.
Foster, who hasn’t won since the second round of the championship at Donington Park, started from the third row of the grid, but quickly moved into the podium positions after pole sitter James Hedley and Luke Browning came together on the opening lap.
The rookie took second with a move up the inside of Finley Green at the hairpin before closing the gap to Patrick Kibble, who had snatched the race lead off the line.
Foster wasted no time getting past Kibble, moving into the lead in the closing stages of the race. Kibble tried to fight back, but the Elite Motorsport driver held onto the position to take victory by three tenths of a second.
Both Browning and Hedley continued after the early incident, though both dropped down the order as Hedley span and Browning was delayed. Browning’s race didn’t last much longer, though, when contact with another driver damaged the front end of his Ginetta. The Richardson Racing driver was forced to come into the pits after just two laps, where he retired.
Adam Smalley, who had started seventh, spent the closing stages of the race battling with Green for the final podium position. The championship leader was able to get alongside Green on the penultimate lap after a failed overtake attempt put Green on the wrong line. Green managed to hold onto the position, only to come into the pits at the end of the final lap, promoting Smalley to third.
Championship newcomer Lorcan Hanafin took fourth, ahead of Hedley and Jonny Wilkinson, who crossed the line practically side by side, with Hedley classified just 0.027s ahead of the Elite Motorsport racer.
James Taylor, Ruben del Sarte, Tom Emson, and Greg Johnson rounded out the top 10.
