"It was a really good weekend, I made a lot of progress" – Holly Miall enjoyed her best ever weekend in the Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park, almost doubling her points tally from the opening two rounds.
Holly Miall enjoyed her best ever weekend in the Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park. The Fox Motorsport driver finished all three races inside the top-15, including a best result of 12th coming in race one. Miall enjoyed close battles throughout the weekend with these finishes elevating her to 16th place in the championship standings, almost doubling her points tally from the opening two rounds.
Prior to her car racing debut this season, Holly was an experienced karter and this served her well for the close-combat racing seen in the Ginetta Junior Championship. Driving for experienced Ginetta team Fox Motorsport, Miall’s previous best result this season was 13th coming in the final race of the first round of the championship at Oulton Park. Arriving into the weekend 17th in the championship standings, she was aiming to improve on this at her first visit to Donington Park.
Holly made full use of the test sessions on both Thursday and Friday leading up to the race weekend and completed an impressive 72 laps across the six sessions. This track time brought improvements in lap times from the Fox Motorsport driver with Miall’s quickest lap in testing coming in the final session on Friday, with a 1:57.120 placing her in 19th.
Saturday morning saw qualifying take place with Ginetta Junior drivers given three timed laps in which to set the grid for the opening two races of the weekend. Holly’s laps were consistent, with all three within half a second, also avoiding any track limit infringements in the process. This led to her achieving the 18th fastest time, with her second fastest time quick enough for a 15th place starting spot in race two.
The opening race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Holly lining up from the ninth row of the grid. Miall made a good start and held her position after lap one. As the race progressed, she continued to drive well and moved into the top-15 on lap six as she overtook teammate Harry Moss. After moving into 13th on lap seven, Moss made his way past on lap eight with Holly able to tuck in behind her teammate. This resulted in her setting her fastest lap of the race on nine, before a late-race incident allowed Miall to move into 12th place and achieve her best finish to date in the Ginetta Junior Championship.
Lining up 15th based on the second fastest qualifying times for race two, Holly held her position at the end of the first lap, moving up to 14th after lap two as the safety car was deployed. When racing resumed, Miall dropped to 16th at the end of lap six, before moving back up to 14th the following lap. After a good battle with Thomas Spragg, Holly fell to 15th but settled into a rhythm in the closing stages. Crossing the line 15th, Holly was promoted to 14th following a track limits penalty for a driver ahead.
The third race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon with Holly lining up on the seventh row of the grid. The Fox Motorsport driver lost just one position on the opening lap, with her rivals who retired from race two looking to gain back positions. After a close battle for position with Harry Moss, her teammate found a way through on lap three. Miall regained a position the following lap, before making her way into 14th on lap seven. In the closing stages, Holly attempted to close the gap to Brea Angliss ahead, just running out of laps to make a move. This resulted in another 14th place finish, rounding off a great weekend.
"It was a really good weekend, I made a lot of progress between Thursday and Sunday, improving my lap times" – Holly told us. "Looking forward to getting back to it this weekend."
Holly should be extremely pleased with her progress over the weekend, securing her best ever results in the Ginetta Junior Championship. Three top-15 results marked brilliant progress for the Fox Motorsport driver who is gaining confidence as the season progresses.
This means Holly now moves up to 16th in the overall standings, gaining one position from the previous round. It is a fast turnaround for the Ginetta Junior drivers as they will be competing at the inaugural Ginetta G-Fest on the weekend of 1st – 4th June where six races will be held across both the Grand Prix and National layouts at Silverstone.
