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Thomas Carnaby dominated round 15 of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship
at a gloriously sunny Oulton Park Island Circuit this afternoon, Saturday, 26th
July – the Tollbar Racing ace easing to his fourth victory of the season with a
substantial 12 second winning margin.
Continuing his rich vein of recent form today, Carnaby looked in a class of
his own having set the ball rolling perfectly by scorching to pole position for
round 15 in searing temperatures with a time of 1m 46.573 seconds (75.19mph).
The only driver to lap under the 1m 47 second bracket, the Scunthorpe racer
was a full seven 10ths of a second quicker than team-mate Josh Hill in
qualifying – an impressive performance at a circuit renowned for its ability to
either make or break drivers.
In the race itself, Carnaby was never seriously challenged. Leading away
from the front of the grid, he maintained his composure at the head of the field
throughout while, further behind, several of his major championship rivals
encountered misfortune. He was, however, pipped to the bonus point for fastest
lap by Tollbar’s Fergus Walkinshaw.
“That was a very tough race, it was extremely hot for starters –
unbelievably hot as there was no air coming into the car really”, said Carnaby,
“Behind me I hadn’t got a clue what was going on. I saw Josh (Hill) spin and
George (Richardson) disappeared as well. It was definitely an excellent race for
me though.
“We were seven 10ths of a second quicker in qualifying so I knew I could do
it in the race, it was just a case of getting into that rhythm. You have to be
confident and when I saw Josh starting to drop back a bit I thought I could have
a go at it. If we can win again tomorrow, we can close Dino (Zamparelli) down in
the championship further – maybe even overtake him!”
Joining Carnaby on the round 15 podium were Dominic Pettit in second, his
fourth runner-up placing of the season, and Hill who recorded the sixth rostrum
finish of his maiden year of car racing action. Jake Farndon claimed fourth,
having started 11th on the grid, with Aaron Williamson fifth and Daniel Lloyd
rounding out the top six.
Several drivers were in with a chance of finishing on the podium throughout
the eight lap encounter but lots of overtaking, several incidents and some oil
on the track all ensured the outcome couldn’t be predicted.
As Carnaby led away from pole at the start, Hill maintained second ahead of
Richardson but fourth placed starter Zamparelli slipped backwards immediately as
Pettit and Walkinshaw moved ahead. Into Cascades for the first time, Lloyd then
demoted Zamparelli further with a great move up the inside to take sixth place –
after the race it became clear Lloyd had off-set steering which made the pass
all the more impressive.
On the run down to Knickerbrook Chicane on lap one, Lloyd made a bid for
fifth place and managed to take the position from Walkinshaw with a good piece
of overtaking but the latter took the position back before the start of lap
two.
Entering lap two in ninth position, something clearly seemed to be
amiss with series leader Zamparelli and then on lap four it all became clear
when his Muzz Racing entered car sprung an oil leak which pitched the Bristol
driver into a spin at the Avenue.
When the leaders headed for the Avenue on lap five, Carnaby wisely
approached with caution after seeing the oil flags and this allowed Hill to
close. Zamparelli, meanwhile, pitted at the end of his fourth tour having
crawled back to the pits in his stricken car.
Lloyd found himself down in 10th place into lap five having been involved
in contact with Pettit at Knickerbrook on the previous lap. Passing Walkinshaw
into the chicane for fifth with a good move, there wasn’t room for Pettit and
Lloyd on the exit – the latter spinning.
Second placed Hill also had a spin, this time at the hairpin on the fifth
tour, and having recovered in fifth he mounted an excellent fightback. Promoting
Richardson into second and Pettit into third, the new second placed runner had
his own dose of misfortune on lap six and slipped to seventh position.
Scrapping with Lloyd on the final lap over sixth, having already seen
Walkinshaw slip down the order from second to ninth with a moment at the
hairpin, Richardson ended his race in retirement following contact at the
chicane as he and Lloyd ran side-by-side.
Seventh place went to Jake Batty – having started down in 14th position –
while eighth went the way of the recovering Walkinshaw following Richardson’s
demise. Alex Austin took ninth ahead of Sarah Moore who rounded out the top
10.
While race victor Carnaby enjoyed a hugely successful afternoon, for
championship leader Zamparelli it was a total nightmare. Following round 15, the
driver standings see Zamparelli’s lead cut to just 16 points when taking into
account Carnaby’s additional bonus point for the race two pole position.
Carnaby is, in turn, 94 points clear of third placed Hill who has moved
ahead of Lloyd in the championship by just six points.
Round 16 of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship is scheduled to take place
at 16.20 tomorrow, Sunday, 27th July. Carnaby will again start from pole with
Hill alongside, Richardson and Zamparelli share row two and Walkinshaw and
Williamson make up the third row.
Provisional 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Positions (after
Rd15):
1st Dino Zamparelli, 395pts; 2nd Thomas Carnaby, 378pts; 3rd
Josh Hill, 284pts; 4th Daniel Lloyd, 279pts; 5th Jake Farndon, 258pts; 6th
Dominic Pettit, 250pts
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