Caroline and Pirtek take Ginetta Junior title*

Uncategorised,Racing

Pirtek Racing’s Jamie Caroline is celebrating victory in the KICK Start Energy Ginetta Junior Championship after a tense and dramatic final race weekend at Brands Hatch (10/11 October).

Caroline, 16 years-old, was selected by Pirtek Racing and Andrew Jordan for support in the series for young racers and has raced with the HHC Motorsport squad. After his tenth victory of the season in the first race, he was hit with a jump start penalty during the second race and it seemed like the title had slipped away. However, a penalty for another driver later moved Jamie up in the results and gave him enough points to match the total of Senna Proctor. With more race wins to his credit, Jamie takes the crown on the tie-break but it remains provisional until an MSA Court of Appeal rules on the penalty handed to Stuart Middleton.

Despite a five-place grid penalty following the Silverstone races, Jamie swept ahead in the opening race to score a commanding victory and set himself up to settle the title. However, starting from pole position for the later race Jamie anticipated the start and was judged to have made a false start. That led to a ‘drive-through’ penalty and he rejoined in 19th place. He only needed to finish 16th to win the title and was quickly up to 16th.

However, in another twist, the race was red-flagged due to an accident and not re-started. The results were taken back a lap, which put him back to 17th and seemingly second in the championship. Then, Middleton was later judged to have made a false start and was awarded a time penalty, which moved Jamie back up to 16th and gave him the extra point he needed to seal the title.

“It was very dramatic,” said Jamie. “I knew I’d jumped the start and was waiting for the drive-through. But then there was no time left to do anything because of the red flag. It’s not the best way to finish the season and it took the moment away a bit. But we’ve won 10 races and the season has gone a lot better than we expected after the first three race weekends.”

Pirtek is Europe’s number one provider of hydraulic solutions and mobile hose replacement, with over 170 centres supported by over 700 mobile service workshops throughout Europe. Offering solutions to a number of business sectors, including the automotive industry.

* Subject to confirmation following an appeal to the MSA over the results of another driver