A year’s hard work was rewarded at Brands Hatch when a well-deserved 5th place secured Alex a top ten championship position in only his first year of car racing.
In October 2013, Alex watched from the Brands Hatch grandstands the final round of that year’s BTCC supporting Ginetta Junior Championship race. Having had a very successful karting career, including becoming British Champion in 2011, he dreamed of one day lining up on the grid in his first car race.
Two weeks later, his dream came true when he won the biggest prize in junior motorsport - the Ginetta Junior scholarship - and a fully funded drive in the Ginetta Junior BTCC support Championship.
Now twelve months after being a spectator at Brand Hatch, Alex lined up on the grid on the second row, to face the challenge of the famous Brands Hatch GP circuit. With the circuit damp in places and drying in others, the conditions were far from ideal.
As the lights changed, Alex’s Carlube MIS Motorsport Ginetta spun its tyres and, as all the cars struggled to leave the very slippery grid, he entered the first corner in 4th place. The five leading cars then started to pull away from the rest of the pack. On the second lap, Alex ran wide and put his rear wheel on the slippery grass and lost a place. As the difficult conditions got worse, a number of other drivers lost control of their cars and the safety car was deployed. By the time one of the cars had been removed from the trackside crash barriers, the race was declared under the safety car.
“For my first race in the wet, finishing 5th is not bad at all. I put my rear wheel onto the wet grass and I lost drive so the car behind was able to get past me. Then with the safety car I could not get my place back. It’s really strange that a year ago I sat in the grandstand in the pouring rain watching the Ginetta Junior race and now I'm back in the rain, to race myself, reflected Alex.”
5th Place was enough to secure Alex the 10th place overall in the Ginetta Junior Championship from the 24 competing drivers, in only his first season of car racing. The second race on Sunday was run under blue skies and, again, Alex showed all the skill and determination he has exhibited all year to take an 8th place finish and sign off what has been a very successful and impressive first year in car racing.
“I would like to say a big thank you to Ginetta for giving me this amazing opportunity and my sponsors Carlube and MIS. It has been a fantastic year and to think 12 months ago I could not even drive a car. Now at the age of 15, I have raced on all the top UK race tracks in front of the UK television cameras and finished in the top 10 in the UK’s top Junior Motorsport championship. I also have to say a big thank you to my driver-coach BTCC driver Adam Morgan, and my race Team JHR Developments for all their help and encouragement this year.”
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