EX-F1 racer sets up Ginetta team
Ex-formula 1 driver Martin Donnelly and former single-seater team owner Jonathan Lewis have teamed up again to set up a Ginetta Junior squad named Apollo Motorsport.
The duo have worked together in a 1990s Formula Vauxhall Lotus/junior programme before Lewis ran the works Van Diemen Formula Ford team. Now Lewis, who has also achieved success in Mini racing, and Donnelly (above right) plan to run four cars in Ginetta Junior this season.
“We want to use the experience and knowledge we have together and have decided to set up the team, although the juniors probably don’t even know me and Jonathan from back in the day!” said Donnelly. “We looked at what was available, what was affordable and what was doable. And Ginetta Junior is the same thing [as Vauxhall Junior], just with a bodyshell on it.
“Jonathan encouraged Eddie Ives and
Elite to do Juniors and we’re looking to come along to kick Elite Motorsport’s ass.”
The new Apollo team has already made two signings for the 2019 season. It will run new Ginetta Junior scholar Ethan Brooks in a Millers Oils-backed car, after the firm entered into a technical partnership with Ginetta, and Brooks’s fellow karting graduate Alex Walker.
Ginetta motorsport manager Ash Gallagher added: “It’s always nice to have some new teams in the series. Although it’s a new name, it’s a very established team of people.”