NEW BEGINNINGS
The appeal of junior championships is such that two more are set to launch this year – one in Scotland and one in Ireland.
The Scottish Motor Racing Club has announced the Scottish Junior BMW Championship, which will use rear-wheeldrive BMW 116i cars, with costs for a newbuild expected to be less than £12,000.
“It’s something they were really keen to run to support the next generation of Scottish racers, and there’s obviously a massive gap in the market with us not having a junior series up here,” says championship representative Emily Glanvill.
“There’s great junior championships in England but with the travel and other things involved, it just increases that cost even more.
So having something in Scotland is really going to help with that. But also just from the point of view of it being visible to kids – if you see the opportunities, you’re more likely to get involved.”
Glanvill herself was chosen as the Junior Saloon Car Championship’s scholarship winner in 2016, and knows eaxctly how a junior series can help young drivers, not only on the track, but also off it.
“The experience that I gained from racing at that age was just invaluable, not only for racing but my off-track career and just confidence in myself,” she says.
“It really did shape who I am today, and even just being able to talk about these experiences in job interviews has hands-down got me into my university course. I think the benefits of racing at such a young age go so much further, so much beyond the track itself.”
Options are currently being looked at to offer open sessions at SMRC race meetings this year for prospective drivers to try the car, with two championship rounds to be held in August and October at Knockhill, but this is to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, a Junior Mini Challenge is to be launched by the Irish Championship Circuit Racing initiative at Mondello Park. R50 Mini Cooper or Mini One models will be used, featuring a controlled ECU and 1.6-litre engine, with cars expected to cost around £6000.
“It’s nice to be able to go back to an old series that I used to be part of and help him learn all the things I learned back then,” adds the 22-year-old.“with Ruben it’s great, because he’s been on the same path I once took. It’s quite rewarding.”
FIESTA JUNIOR
Like the JSCC, the Fiesta Junior Championship’s grid numbers have risen, but its story is one of coming back from the brink. The category was in trouble in 2019, with an average grid of just five cars and a season low of four entries at the final two rounds plunging its future into doubt. But hard work from coordinator Laura Payne and others from the British Racing & Sports Car Club has meant that grid numbers have steadily grown over the past two seasons, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I became coordinator in 2019, and found that a lot of people hadn’t heard of us,”says Payne.“we did quite a lot of work back then to get the name out – we did better at the promotion side. What I found is a lot of people in karting didn’t necessarily know they could go into cars at 14. I think that was where some of the problems lay, because there was nothing wrong with the product. It was purely that people didn’t know we existed, so we’ve worked really hard to build the name up.”
The word has certainly spread – last season grids averaged 15 cars and never once dipped into single figures.
The future continues to look bright for the championship, with a new car set to be introduced this season – the Ford Fiesta Zetec S Mk7. This will compete alongside the older Mk6 ST150 model in two separate classes, although the performance between the two is expected to be similar.
The championship has also formed a partnership with BTCC race winner Josh Cook’s company, Cooksport, which is building the new car and supplying controlled parts to competitors.“having him and Cooksport on board is an amazing opportunity for us and future drivers,”adds Payne, who says the cost of the championship is “comparable to the JSCC”, with budgets in the region of £20-£30,000 and a new Mk7 build £14,000. There is also a defined pathway, with the Fiesta Junior Championship offering drivers the chance to move up into the senior class. “I’m confident that the championship is in a good place to continue,”adds Payne.“but now with the new car I think it’s in an even better place to continue for longer.”
The future looks bright for all three series and, as a consequence, all the promising young talent coming through the ranks.