National reports: Oulton Park; Silverstone; Brands Hatch; Rockingham; Mallory Park; Mondello Park
GINETTA JUNIOR
The only similarity between the two Ginetta Junior contests at Oulton Park was that Luke Browning won both on the road. In one race he was stripped of the victory, the other he won by a mammoth 11 seconds. And while one race was a snoozefest, the other was a chaotic thriller.
The opening race was the dull one. Browning resisted title rival Adam Smalley’s attempts to grab the lead at the start and that was how it stayed to the finish. Except that Browning’s Richardson Racing car failed post-race scrutineering and Smalley was handed the win from Elite Motorsport teammates Fin Green and Louis Foster.
Race two was completely different. There was more action in the opening half a lap than in the whole of the earlier encounter.
Smalley jumped front-row starter James Hedley into Old Hall, but this proved to be a bad move because by the hairpin he was facing the wrong way, becoming the victim after contact with James Taylor sent an out-of-control Hedley clattering into Smalley. This dropped Smalley and Hedley out of contention.
On the next lap it was Taylor – who had earlier missed out on third in race one after jumping the start – and Patrick Kibble’s turn to tangle at Old Hall as they fought for second. This ultimately brought an end to Kibble’s challenge.
On lap four there were yet more collisions, with Taylor, Ruben Del
Sarte and Green coming together at the chicane. This dropped Taylor and Green out of contention.
While all of this was going on, Browning had scampered into the distance and was over 11s clear by the chequered flag.
When asked if that made up for the race-one disappointment, he smiled: “Yeah, it does. To win by that margin was something on my bucket list.”
Behind were the tiny number of cars that had stayed out of trouble. A move at Lodge on Greg Johnson with three of the eight laps to go sealed second for Foster, despite starting all the way down in 11th.
“I was disappointed with qualifying after taking a pole and fastest lap at Thruxton,” admitted Foster. “Oulton isn’t one of my favourite tracks and this is only my third time here.
“Finishing third yesterday was good but finishing second today was great – the race was just manic, there was a lot happening! I had nothing to lose but was surprised to take second.”
Johnson held on for third from Del Sarte, Jonny Wilkinson and a recovering Smalley after a frenetic contest.
After the uneventful opener it was further proof that calm is definitely not the Ginetta Junior norm.