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CROFT DOUBLE FOR LLOYD AS ZAMPARELLI CRASHES OUT
Ginetta Junior Championship rookie Daniel Lloyd capped off a perfect
weekend during round 12 of the season at Croft Circuit today, Sunday, 1st June,
the 16-year-old easing to a memorable double success at the North Yorkshire
venue
Although the brace of victories doesn’t see the British Racing Drivers’
Club (BRDC) Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Winner gain positions in the
championship standings, he has closed to within 21 points of second placed Tom
Carnaby.
For runaway series leader Dino Zamparelli, the race was one to forget as he
crashed out on the opening lap when attempting to pass Lloyd at Tower Bend.
Nonetheless, even with his two closest title rivals scoring well, Zamparelli
still holds a very comfortable 77 point lead over Carnaby.
Qualifying for today’s eight-lap encounter on pole position, Lloyd made a
good start and held his advantage through Clervaux for the first time with
Dominic Pettit holding on to his starting position of second ahead of a fast
starting Zamparelli who rocketed from fourth on the grid past George
Richardson.
As the leaders negotiated the first sequence of turns well, further behind
Alice Powell, Jake Rattenbury and Alex Austin had a coming together at Clervaux
and all three ended up out of the race. Powell did recover onto the circuit and
returned to the pits but the damage to her car was too severe to allow her to
rejoin the race.
Back at the front, Zamparelli tried to pass Lloyd up the inside into Tower
and after contact between the pair, the championship leader slid across the
grass and into retirement. Later in the lap, Richardson also came to grief with
a spin on the exit of Sunny Out.
This allowed Josh Hill to move into third ahead of Carnaby while Richardson
recovered down in 13th position. Due to Zamparelli’s stricken car sitting in a
dangerous position at Tower, the Ginetta G50 Safety Car was deployed but at the
re-start on lap four, Lloyd opened up a huge advantage immediately.
Jake Farndon, who started ninth on the grid, passed Ashley Craig for fifth
at Tower on the fourth tour and proceeded to reel-in the trio of Pettit, Hill
and Carnaby who were all battling over second position and, in turn, holding
each other up.
While Lloyd continued to extend his lead at the front, the fight over the
remaining rostrum positions offered incredible entertainment and in the end saw
Fergus Walkinshaw come through to take second place, having started 10th on the
grid, for his first podium. Contact from Walkinshaw on Pettit at Sunny In on lap
seven also allowed Farndon to nip through into third.
Pettit did recover to finish in fourth position, Ashley Craig was fifth and
the battle-scarred Richardson came back into the top six ahead of team-mate
Carnaby – the latter having his own moment at Tower on the penultimate lap.
Casey Watson was the top female finisher in eighth place, having started 12th on
the grid.
“I got a good start initially and after the Safety Car I got a great run
off the hairpin and from there just pulled away”, said race winner Lloyd, “I let
everyone else battle among themselves behind me and then just concentrated on
putting in good laps and trying to extend my lead which I did. “
There is now a lengthy break of six weeks for the Ginetta Junior
Championship drivers ahead of the 13th and 14th rounds of the season which will
take place on 12th/13th July at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk.
Before then, Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 will screen
footage from the sixth round of the Ginetta Junior series – which was held at
Northamptonshire venue Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit – this
Tuesday, 3rd June, at 16.00
Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after
Rd12)
1st Dino Zamparelli, 351pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 274pts; 3rd
Daniel Lloyd, 253pts; 4th Dominic Pettit, 212pts; 5th Jake Farndon, 208pts; 6th
Josh Hill, 204
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