Holly Miall’s rookie year in the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship ended in impressive fashion as she claimed her first ever top-10 finish in the season finale at Donington Park. Finishing all but two of the 27 races throughout the season, Miall did a fantastic job in maximising track time and thus giving herself the best chance to develop as a driver.
Holly Miall’s rookie year in the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship ended in impressive fashion as she claimed her first ever top-10 finish in the season finale at Donington Park. The Fox Motorsport driver continued her impressive progress in recent rounds to battle changeable conditions and close out her campaign on a high.
Qualifying 17th in wet conditions, Holly secured a pair of top-15 results in the first two races before driving superbly in race three to finish a career-high tenth.
Holly enjoyed a particularly strong showing in the previous round at Brands Hatch and was keen to carry this momentum forward to Donington Park. After scoring three top-15 results at the circuit earlier in the season, including a best finish of 12th, the Fox Motorsport driver was confident to continue her progress as a car racing rookie.
Pre-event testing on Friday was cancelled due to extremely wet conditions and as a result, drivers were given a short warm-up session prior to qualifying. Conditions remained challenging on Saturday morning for the first competitive running, with Holly navigating this test well. The Fox Motorsport driver qualified 17th, with her second fastest lap also placing Miall on the ninth row of the grid.
Race one was held in damp and challenging conditions and with a red flag being displayed prior to the completion of one racing lap, Holly would line up 17th for the restarted race. Making a fast start, Miall moved inside the top-15 after the opening lap and was into 14th by lap two after an overtake on Edu Robinson.
The Fox Motorsport driver negotiated safety car periods well in the middle portion of the race, running as high as 13th with a one lap restart to come. Holding her position well, Holly took the checkered flag in 13th to round off a great opening race in which she raced competitively with the drivers around her.
Track conditions remained tricky for race two of the weekend, with a predominantly dry line on Sunday morning. Holly held 17th position at the conclusion of lap one, before showing excellent speed to overtake Jack Robinson on lap two.
Miall once again displayed extremely competitive pace during the middle portion of the race to remain with the midfield runners and was unlucky not to move further up the field. A late-race issue for Nickolas Ellis enabled Holly to score her second top-15 result in as many races, crossing the line in 15th position.
Holly lined up 15th for the season finale and made a sensational start to gain six positions on the opening lap while smartly avoiding a first lap incident. Although the safety car was quickly deployed, this was Miall’s highest running position of the season to date and filled her with confidence moving into the second half of the race. Moving into eighth after a competitor pitted with damage, the Fox Motorsport driver made a confident restart and although she fell to tenth by lap five, her lap times were excellent.
Improving by a second and a half on her fastest lap of the weekend, this allowed Holly to hold her position against more experienced drivers. A late-race overtake on Brea Angliss saw Miall maintain her top-10 position, taking the checkered flag in tenth to score a career best finish in the Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship.
Courtesy of her impressive performances at Donington Park, this allowed Holly to secure a top-15 result in the overall championship standings. Failing to finish in just two of the 27 races throughout the season, Miall did a fantastic job in maximising track time and thus giving herself the best chance to develop as a driver.
This paid off in the closing stages of the season, with her race three result at Donington Park achieved wholly on merit. The Fox Motorsport driver will be aiming to carry this momentum into the off-season as she will target a return to competition in 2024.