But Ginetta Junior isn’ t looking quite as healthy as top teams depart
While the GT5 Challenge is thriving at the moment, things are not looking quite so rosy in another of the manufacturer’s championships: Ginetta Junior.
The series is reeling from the loss of at least two of its top teams from last season. That JHR Developments is not competing is no surprise considering the engine tampering scandal it was embroiled in last year that culminated with the team being suspended by Ginetta. But the bigger blow comes in the form of HHC Motorsport withdrawing – the team that has powered the champion to the title four times in the last six years. Add in Douglas Motorsport considering quitting too, and there is a clear gap at the top of the series.
But Ginetta motorsport manager Ash Gallagher is unconcerned.
“It’s always been the way with the top teams,” he says. “When I started running it, Hillspeed were at the front of the championship along with TJ Motorsport and Tollbar and there was no HHC or JHR. Then those guys retired or moved on and then now they [HHC] are moving on to other things too. It’s just a cycle really.”
Elite Motorsport is now the only team that won a race in 2017 that is definitely staying on the grid – and it is fielding a full six-car team. With 13 drivers currently confirmed, that means half of them are with just one outfit.
New squads are looking at entering the series and Total Control Racing is returning after a year’s absence, but these are unlikely to completely fill the void at the top.
“I think it’s in a very similar place to Renault Clios – I don’t think we’ve got a good enough batch of teams in the paddock,” says Wayne Eason, boss of Renault UK Clio Cup team WDE Motorsport – which is entering the series this year. “That is why I see it [Ginetta Junior] as a good opportunity for us.”
It’s certainly a year of change for the series and we’ll soon know what those team changes really mean for the future of the category.