Qualifying: Fred Green (Elite Motorsport) produced a blistering pace in the summer heatwave on his way to a double pole position in qualifying. The 2025 Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner lapped seven tenths of a second faster than anyone else, the biggest pole margin of the season to date.
Behind, Alfie Slater edged out his R Racing team-mate Rocco Coronel by just five thousandths of a second to secure a front-row slot for race one. Max Cuthbert (R Racing) and Elite Motorsport duo Ethan Carney and Joseph Smith rounded out the top six overall in the session.
Race One: The top three held position through the opening tour of the 2.97-mile circuit, before Coronel picked off Slater for second into Palmer next time round. Behind, a fast-starting Smith rose from sixth to fourth on the opening lap and set his sights on Slater on lap three.
An attempted move into the Wilson hairpin sent them both wide though, with Scott Kin Lindblom (R Racing) nipping past both for third. Slater fought back to fourth by the end of the lap, leading a close four-car group from Cuthbert, Colin Cronin (Elite Motorsport) and Smith.
At the front of the field, Green and Coronel ran in close formation for a number of laps before the latter mounted his challenge for the lead. The Red Bull Junior Team driver dived down the inside into the Wilson hairpin on lap seven, but Green fought back later in the lap.
Green swept around the outside at Brundle, with Lindblom following him through to demote Coronel to third. As Green soaked up the pressure over the final two laps on his way to a second consecutive win, a dramatic photo-finish between the Red Bull cars saw Coronel take second by just 0.001s.
The battling for fourth continued throughout the race and ultimately culminated in a three-way battle between Slater, Cuthbert and Smith in the closing laps. Cuthbert dived past Slater at Wilson for the final time to take fourth, with Slater eventually slipping to sixth at the finish behind Smith.
Cronin and Harry Bartle traded places a couple of times during the race on their way to finishing seventh and eighth respectively, the latter making it seasons’ best qualifying and race results on his first weekend since switching teams to Pace Performance.
A rollercoaster race for Carney culminated in a ninth place finish ahead of Ethan Lennon (Pace Performance), Felix Livesey (MDD Racing) and Raul Zunzarren (MKH Racing). Josh Watts (Tim Gray Motorsport) finished up 13th having been another driver to enjoy his best-ever qualifying result.
Revie Lake (Elite Motorsport), Jarrett Clark (R Racing) and Emmilio Del Grosso (Elite Motorsport) were the next finishers, while debutant Max Murray (ProjectR) and Torrin Byrne (Pace Performance) both gained eight places from the final row of the grid to 17th and 18th respectively.
Race Two: Green stormed away from pole position to lead the opening lap, while behind Coronel swept around the outside of front-row starter Cuthbert into Brundle for second. The championship leader repeated that move on Green next time round to move into the race lead.
Slater was the next driver to pick off Green at the Wilson hairpin on lap three, before Lindblom attempted a move two corners later at Agostini. Unfortunately contact spun Green into the middle of the circuit, with the field having to dart left and right in avoidance.
Lindblom emerged from the incident in third ahead of Cronin, Smith and Bartle, with Coronel and Slater having broken clear at the front. Their advantage disappeared though as the safety car emerged on track on the next lap, after an incident in the pack led to Watts being stranded on circuit.
The race would resume for a one-lap shootout to the chequered flag. Slater looked to make an immediate move for the lead, however he outbraked himself into Wilson and ran wide over the grass. Coronel was slowed in the process, allowing Lindblom to move past into the lead.
Coronel went on to produce his new trademark move into Brundle though, regaining a race lead he would hold to the finish for his eighth win of the year. It all changed behind him at the last corner though, as Lindblom span in the middle of the circuit and was collected by Livesey.
Smith had headed into the final corner in fifth but pulled off an audacious move around the outside to grab second, while Bartle completed a charge from 11th on the grid to third at the chequered flag. Post-race however he was disqualified from the results for a technical infringement.
Byrne therefore completed the podium after a stunning drive through the field from 19th on the grid. Cuthbert, who had dropped back to seventh on the opening lap, ended up fourth. Green meanwhile had fallen back to 16th after his early incident, but he took full advantage of the last lap drama to storm back to a top five finish.
Cronin was one of those slowed by Lindblom’s spin at the last corner, leaving him to settle for sixth ahead of George Proudford-Nalder (MDD Racing) and Slater. Lake and Murray impressed with their first top-ten finishes in the championship, the latter having fought forward from 26th on the grid.
Lennon finished up 11th ahead of Clark, Del Grosso, Noah Young (Performance One) and Carney. Felipe Reijs (R Racing) came home 16th ahead of Zunzarren, Henry Cameron (Fox Motorsport) and Andrew Robinson, who secured a maiden points finish on his debut weekend with E3 Sport.
Race Three: With the race two result setting the grid for the final race, Coronel led away from pole position ahead of Smith and Byrne. Smith made a challenge for the lead into Wilson on lap two, however his advantage only last a couple of corners before Coronel fought back into Hamilton.
Byrne had looked to gain positions into Agostini, but a wide moment there and then again at Williams dropped him from third to eighth by the end of the lap. Green moved up to third and was quickly on the offensive too, getting ahead of Smith into Wilson on lap three.
As a tough lap for Smith saw him shuffled back to seventh, it was all change at the front of the field as Green dived down the inside of Coronel into Brundle. As they ran side-by-side through the Bomb Hole and both edged wide, Slater slipped down the inside of both to grab the lead.
Coronel hit back into Wilson on lap four though, with Green following him through. The top three would remain in those positions for the remainder of the race, despite Green’s best efforts to try and move back to the front, as Coronel picked up his ninth win of the season so far.
Slater finished third on the road, however a five second track limits penalty would ultimately drop him to sixth in the revised result. A phenomenal battle had been playing out for fourth throughout the race, with Cuthbert, Smith, Proudford-Nalder and Cronin holding it at different points.
Smith eventually took control of the battle in the closing laps, eventually earning himself a podium finish after Slater’s penalty. Cuthbert was next, while Lindblom impressively finished up in fifth place after a sensational charge up the order from 25th on the grid.
Proudford-Nalder and Cronin had finished sixth and seventh on the road, however they were both on the receiving end of track limits penalties that dropped them to ninth and 11th respectively. Slater therefore completed the top six ahead of Lennon and Zunzarren in a seasons’ best eighth.
Byrne rounded out the top ten, with Livesey 12th at the chequered flag before a three-place penalty for an incident in the race put him behind Lake, Bartle and Carney – Bartle having put in a great drive from 26th on the grid. Clark finished up 16th, just ahead of Murray.
Joshua Henry (Tim Gray Motorsport) scored his best result of the weekend in 18th ahead of Del Grosso, who lost four places with a track limits penalty, while Watts rounded out the points finishers. Tim Gray Motorsport pair Matthew Chiwara and Katrina Ee just missed out on points over the weekend, scoring best results of 21st and 22nd respectively.
In the Freshmans Cup, a class for car-racing rookies with no previous national-level karting experience, Lake scored an impressive hat-trick of wins to make it five in a row in the class. Cameron picked up three podiums as Young scored a double, while Robinson took home a trophy on his debut weekend.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/252805
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The next round of the 2025 Ginetta Junior Championship season takes place at Zandvoort in the Netherlands (26/27 July), as the series heads overseas for the first time in 19 years and makes its maiden appearance on an international F1 circuit.