Ginetta GT Championship
The Brands Hatch weekend marked a milestone for Oliver; the driver from Halstead, Essex, having made his race debut at the 2.6-mile Kent track a year ago with Fox Motorsport.
His progress through a challenging rookie campaign was in evidence as he qualified as the fifth-best Am class driver – and 13th overall – in Saturday morning’s session and was followed by team-mate James, who also qualified a career-best 16th overall and eighth in Am.
Oliver continued to look quick during the opening race, gaining a position early on and running fourth before running wide exiting Surtees bend and burying his Ginetta G56 GTP8 heavily in the tyre barrier.
That necessitated an almighty effort by the Fox Motorsport mechanics overnight to ready the car for Sunday, but the crew from Maldon, Essex, managed it with time to spare and were delighted to see Oliver sprint into third place early on.
With Sunday’s race being run to the longer, 40-minute ‘pitstop’ format, however, that bright start was to end in disappointment as he retired in the pits with a technical issue on the penultimate lap.
James, by contrast, finished sixth in Am in both races as the Ascot-based Welshman continued to make progress during what is his first full season of racing and his rookie season of Ginetta competition. One round remains at Donington Park on October 5-6.
Ginetta Junior Championship
His improving speed already in evidence last time out at Zandvoort, Henry Cameron looked set to make further gains at Brands Hatch, but the Wilmslow teenager’s weekend got off to a tough start when a fast lap in qualifying was disrupted by a badly-timed red flag.
Putting his disappointment to one side, he started 22nd of the rookies in the field and set about making up ground in each of the three races.
He looked set for a Freshman Trophy podium in Saturday’s opener before an error at the fast, downhill, Paddock Hill bend led to a quick trip through the gravel and cost him his chance of a rostrum result.
Coming home fourth, he went one better in Sunday morning’s race to mount the podium for an 11th time. Frustratingly, however, he had been lying second in class when the race was stopped; a result being declared after just a single racing lap and the order being reset to how it had been before Henry had taken over second spot.
Another red flag in the finale – and another fourth place – left a feeling of what might have been, but he will look to add to his pair of Freshman Trophy victories from earlier in the season when the series visits Croft, North Yorkshire, in two weeks’ time.
Paul McNeilly, Team Principal, said: “There have been plenty of positives to take from what’s been a challenging weekend. The speed we saw from Oly and James in Ginetta GT qualifying is definitely pleasing and both have a real opportunity to move onto the podium at the final round if things fall their way. Henry’s weekend feels like it’s been interrupted by red flags for incidents that he’s had nothing to do with across the whole weekend, and it’s denied him the chance to secure the results that he’s been capable of. He should show well at Croft if the weekend runs more cleanly.”
