Last year’s scholarship winner and Winter Series Champion was on fine form during all of the Friday test sessions and took pole position by 0.133s over Ruben Del Sarte as the action got underway in Kent. The race wasn’t plain sailing though.
In true Ginetta Junior style, the race left you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Up front, Smalley, Del Sarte and Fin Green position-swapped for the race lead for the opening three quarters of the action. In the closing stages, and as Del Sarte and Green traded places (and paint) for second place, Smalley set off down the road to take the win by 4.622s.
In fourth overall and taking the rookie class honours was Louis Foster. Although in his first full season, he impressed the commentators as he held back experienced racers Luke Browning and Greg Johnson to keep his position from start to finish.
The rest of the top ten was rounded out by James Hedley and Jonny Wilkinson (who joined Foster on the Rookie class podium) as well as Abbi Pulling and Ethan Hawkey. Finishing in eleventh was Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner James Taylor, who did a fantastic job of recovering after being pushed into a spin (and down the order) during the opening laps.
The second race of the weekend took place in decidedly more tricky conditions. Del Sarte made the most of the start, powering into the lead off the line. As the 17-lap encounter unfolded, Del Sarte, Smalley and Browning locked into a battle that would last the whole race. Each driver had a turn at the head of the field but it was Browning who took a second win of the weekend, despite a skirmish across the grass which left him with work to do.
With gap to between himself and the leading trio, Foster impressed yet again as he held his own in fourth place and top of the rookies. Johnson ended up in fifth overall, crossing the line a good six seconds ahead of Patrick Kibble, who took second in the rookie class.
Scholar Taylor admitted prior to the race that he liked driving in the wet and climbed into 10th place by the end of lap five. Before the end of the race, had put himself into a podium position, with third in class.
Matt Luff, Green and Hedley rounded out the top 10, with Hedley dropping out of the Rookie class podium honours after a spin in the closing stages of the action.
As we leave Brands Hatch, it’s former Ginetta Junior Scholar and Winter Series Champion Smalley who tops the order, with Del Sarte and Browning split by just one point, whilst Foster leads the Rookie class. The teenagers are back in action at Donington Park on 28/29 April.
