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Nigel Moore wins championship at first attempt |
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008 |
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Sixteen year old Nigel
Moore has won the inaugural Ginetta G50 Sportscar championship at his first
attempt, following on from his Ginetta Junior title success in 2007. Winning the first race of two at
Silverstone on Sunday 17th August was enough to put the title beyond reach
of his fifteen rivals, despite only qualifying eighth.
The Long Marston teenager admitted the
car set-up wasn’t quite right for the conditions whilst his Tockwith team were
splitting their resources between Knockhill in
Scotland and
Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
But he had it all sorted for the races. Two phenomenal laps on the tricky damp
conditions in the first race sealed his victory, as the former karter and
BRDC Stars of Tomorrow 2007 Will Hoy scholarship driver noted: “I came
from eighth and walked it, by the second lap I was leading the race.” He also took fastest lap in the 160 mph
sportscar, and said: “It’s a brilliant result, everyone doubted me at the
beginning of the year as I was so young and it was a big step up.”
Nigel’s car was again
pressed into service to double up in the British GT Championship GT4 class race,
as his regular mount has had to be taken over by another driver. But this time the car had to be retired
after only a few laps, but was repaired in time for the second G50 race. This time he came from seventh on the
grid to second, the win eluding him for once. “I was disappointed I couldn’t do the GT
race as it would have been good to have another podium,” he said.
Nigel’s astounding
success in top-line sportscar racing has amazed onlookers. Experienced GT racer, Le Mans 24 Hour
race winner and Ginetta LNT Managing Director Richard Dean said: “Nigel's
obviously turned a lot of heads during the season and that's been reflected in
his GT4 opportunities alongside the G50 Cup. His confidence, car control and
maturity out on the track have allowed him to take back-to-back Championship
titles after winning the Ginetta Junior crown last year. It's unreal to think
he's just 16 years old but it does mean that I'm sure we'll be seeing him around
for a long time yet.” And Nigel
added: “It’s quite hard to believe I have the title with two meetings in hand, I
had an excellent start to the year and just kept the pace up from then on. I adapted to the car really well, I’ve
had the confidence to keep my foot in, all credit to Ginetta.”
Nigel has been entered
in the 24 hour race at the 2.5 mile long Zolder circuit in
Belgium, for
the Britcar championship on 30 / 31st August in a Ginetta G50 and
hopes to do more 24 hour racing this year.
Asked about his plans for 2009 he said: “We’ve already had a few offers
for next year, I’d like to do the British GT Championship in the GT3 class and I
might have a test in a single seater but personally I’d like to stick with
sportscars.”
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