Red Bull talents in the thick of Ginetta Junior Donington Park action

R Racing duo Alfie Slater and Red Bull Junior Rocco Coronel scored their first car racing victories as Ginetta Junior’s 20th anniversary season, featuring revised G40 Evo machines, got under way at Donington Park.

Slater, younger brother of 2023 series dominator Freddie, passed team-mate Scott Kin Lindblom and Elite Motorsport’s Ginetta scholarship winner Fred Green on the first lap to triumph in the opener. A sideways moment while battling fellow Red Bull junior Lindblom left Coronel sixth behind Elite duo Colin Cronin and Joseph Smith.

Slater and Coronel worked together to build a gap to Lindblom in the sequel before a safety car period closed up the field. Coronel snatched the lead into Melbourne shortly after the restart, and a collision between Slater and Lindblom helped him cruise to a comfortable maiden win. Green was again runner-up, while Pace Performance’s Torrin Byrne made a late pass on Smith for his first outright podium.

Having salvaged ninth in that contest, Slater climbed seven places to second in the finale, while Coronel led from lights to flag to claim the points lead with his second victory of the weekend. Max Cuthbert recovered from an early off at Fogarty to snatch third at the final corner and complete an R Racing podium lockout.

Ginetta Junior graduate Isaac Phelps won on his single-seater debut in the first race for GB4’s new Tatuus MSV GB4-025. The series boasted a record grid of 25 cars, and Phelps converted the first of his two poles into a controlled victory ahead of Hillspeed’s racing returnee Daniel Guinchard. Phelps’s team-mates experienced mixed fortunes, with Ary Bansal rear-ending Fortec’s Jack Taylor at the first corner, while Alex Kattoulas climbed from seventh to third.

Bansal made amends by taking a dominant maiden triumph in race two after sweeping past Phelps at the start. Kattoulas again finished third in an all-Elite podium, while Leandro Juncos passed team-mate Guinchard for fourth.

The top-12 from qualifying were reversed in forming the race-three grid and polesitter, Graham Brunton Racing’s Alex Berg, led from start to finish for his first win. Arden’s Leon Wilson gave chase until being involved in a late clash with the charging Juncos. Douglas Motorsport’s Enzo Hallman and Pace’s Stefan Bostandjiev inherited their first podiums as a result, while fourth for Guinchard gave him the championship lead after Phelps was compromised by a collision.

INSIGHT: The former Mercedes junior seeking to revive his career in GB4

Another Ginetta Junior alumni triumphed on debut in the revamped Ginetta GT Championship, with MDD Racing’s Archie Clark profiting from mechanical woes for reigning Britcar Trophy champion Hadley Simpson to win the sprint contest aboard the new V8-powered G56 GTP8. Elite’s Harry Gamble survived an eventful race to hold off fellow GT Academy graduate Mike Taylor for second.

Clark climbed from fourth to win again in the endurance contest ahead of Nick White and Robert Cronin, while Simpson was denied a podium again by a penalty for a short pitstop.

Former GT5 Challenge racer Charlie Digby won on his racing comeback by leading home Jamie Caudle and fellow returnee Alex Deighton in the GT Academy opener. Digby finished a close second to Caudle in the sequel, and took his second victory in the finale while James Nicholas edged Caudle to second.

Reigning Audi TT Cup Racing champion Bradley Burns took two on-the-road TCR UK wins on his debut, but jumped-start penalties relegated his Audi to third both times. The Cupras of Brad Hutchison and Sam Laidlaw inherited a victory each, while Adam Shepherd extended his points lead with a brace of second places.