Reynolds and Rowledge top Junior thrillers
There seems to be something about Donington Park and Ginetta Junior. On the category’s last visit to Leicestershire six months ago, there were some brilliant lead battles between Aston Millar and Liam Mcneilly, and the circuit played host to some more scintillating racing last weekend.
Three sophomore drivers were in the thick of the action, Winter Series victor Josh Rowledge being joined by Harri Reynolds and Joe Warhurst in fighting at the front. Yet, discounting November’s standalone contest, none of them had achieved a podium in the main series prior to the weekend. Things were certainly different after the Donington dicing.
It was one of the rookies, R Racing’s Sonny Smith, who was quickest in qualifying but he was instantly demoted at the start of race one by Reynolds. However, his lead did not last long either as Rowledge snuck ahead at the end of the second tour. Despite the best efforts of Reynolds and Smith, Rowledge was able to cling on to win as the race finished behind the safety car – Rowledge just crossing the line after the 15 minutes were up to prevent a nervy one-lap restart – after Flynn Mchardy’s off.
While the opener was close, race two provided the pick of the action, with the second half of the contest being frantic at the front. Reynolds maintained his lead from pole for the first eight laps before he ran slightly wide at the
Old Hairpin and Rowledge pounced. Reynolds tried to fight back the next time around, a huge lunge at Redgate proving unsuccessful, but he did creep ahead at Coppice, only for Rowledge to get a better run out of the corner.
Reynolds still didn’t give up and, on the penultimate tour, reclaimed the lead impressively around the outside of the chicane. Rowledge tried to fight back through the Craner Curves the final time through, but ended up briefly losing out to Warhurst. He was soon back ahead though and was only 0.068 seconds behind Reynolds on the drag to the line.
Having achieved Assetto’s first series win, Reynolds then doubled up in the finale. He scampered clear at the start as Warhurst was busy defending from the next five cars. Eventually, the Elite driver broke clear from the pack and homed in on Reynolds, attempting a move at the Old Hairpin on the final lap but could not quite squeeze past.
“It’s never easy!” laughed Reynolds about the close nature of the series. “Two months ago, I didn’t think I would be racing, so to get two wins is amazing.”