Vicky Farfus secures best qualifying, first top-10 in Ginetta Junior

Vicky Farfus produced her most convincing weekend of the 2026 Ginetta Junior Championship to date at Donington Park, combining her best qualifying performance of the season with her first top-ten finish in the final race.

Photo credits: JEP

Vicky Farfus produced her most convincing weekend of the 2026 Ginetta Junior Championship to date at Donington Park, combining her best qualifying performance of the season with her first top-ten finish in the final race.

Making her debut with R Racing after moving from Paradine Competition before the seventh round, the Brazilian rookie showed strong pace throughout the weekend and demonstrated the progress she has made during her first full season of car racing, despite a series of setback denying her even stronger results.

Farfus arrived at Donington having steadily developed throughout her rookie campaign after graduating directly from karting into the highly competitive Ginetta Junior Championship, a series that has traditionally provided a valuable training ground for young drivers in the UK.

Following her breakthrough weekend at Zandvoort, she had continued to build momentum at Snetterton, where she scored three further points-paying finishes, and the move to R Racing, one of the leading teams in the championship, provided a new environment in which to continue that progression.

The Brazilian immediately showed the potential of the switch during qualifying. Farfus opened the session with a 1:55.7 before improving again on her following attempts, eventually setting a 1:55.5 on her third flying lap to break into the top ten. She maintained that position through the remainder of the session to qualify 10th, securing the best grid position of her season to date and putting herself in contention for a potentially significant result.

Starting 10th for Saturday afternoon's opening race, Farfus made a good start, although she then slipped to 11th behind Cameron during the opening lap as the tightly packed field negotiated the first corners.

Farfus quickly fought back, finding a gap to regain 10th before another opportunity presented itself on lap two when Bartle was hit at the hairpin and spun. Farfus reacted immediately and was able to snaek past, moving into ninth and putting herself in the fight for the top ten.

The battle remained extremely close, however, and Farfus soon found herself three-wide while attempting to defend from Darling, with Watts also managing to sneak past. The two cars ahead subsequently made contact a few corners later, while Farfus lost five positions in the exchanges but importantly kept her car on track.

A track-limits penalty complicated her race further, but Farfus responded in impressive fashion and immediately began recovering the lost ground. On lap seven she gained four positions in a single sequence, passing Cameron, Smith and Leusch while also benefiting from Ashcroft's spin at the Melbourne Hairpin, bringing her back into 11th and once again within reach of the top ten.

Farfus continued to push and, despite knowing she would have a five-second penalty to serve after the race, remained focused on gaining as many positions as possible on track. She moved into ninth and then began attacking Young for eighth in the closing laps, completing the pass on lap 10 to move into eighth.

She crossed the chequered flag in eighth place, which would have represented her first top-ten finish in Ginetta Junior competition and a major breakthrough for the rookie. However, three separate post-race track-limits penalties — initially five seconds, followed by 10 and then 30 seconds — ultimately dropped her to 18th in the classification.

The final result therefore failed to reflect what was arguably Farfus' strongest race performance of the season to that point, with her pace and ability to fight through the field providing a clear indication of the progress.

Ph: Vicky Farfus

Farfus returned to action on Sunday morning from eighth on the grid, with the circuit damp following earlier rain and grip levels making the opening laps particularly challenging.

She initially slotted into ninth but became involved in a small contact with Kalousdian at Turn 1 on the second lap. Farfus managed to keep control of the car and remain on track, demonstrating good car control, although the incident left her down in 13th. She subsequently lost another couple of positions but continued fighting, eventually settling into 14th while keeping Young behind.

The Safety Car was deployed when Ashcroft went into the gravel, allowing Farfus to recover several positions and move back into 11th ahead of the restart with seven minutes remaining.

With a potential top-ten finish still within reach, Farfus remained in the middle of a tightly packed group as several cars battled wheel-to-wheel ahead. She attempted to capitalise on the fights but lost a position to Young, only for the latter to subsequently spin into the gravel.

Farfus continued to fight through the closing stages, although the chequered flag was brought out three minutes early and she eventually finished 13th. While she again narrowly missed out on a top-ten result, the race provided another highly positive sign of improvement.

The final race of the weekend represented another opportunity to demonstrate that pace, although her afternoon began in challenging fashion. Starting 13th on a now-dry circuit, she suffered a snap through Turn 1 and ran into the gravel, dropping all the way to the back of the field.

Farfus however immediately began an aggressive recovery. She recorded a purple Sector 2 as she pushed hard and quickly began making up positions, gaining five places on lap two alone.

She overtook Cameron for 15th one lap later and soon began attacking Young, although Cameron fought back and reclaimed the position. The pair continued to trade places as the race developed, both eventually gaining ground when Kalousdian dropped down the order.

Farfus' pace remained strong and she passed Cameron again before overtaking Radcliffe, who subsequently pitted with an issue, bringing her back into 13th by lap six. She gained another position on the following lap by passing Phillips for 12th, although she now had to defend from Cameron while simultaneously trying to close the gap to Young ahead.

With three cars in front picking up track-limits penalties, Farfus remained within striking distance and continued to apply pressure. Cameron launched another attack in the closing stages and moved past several cars in a matter of moments, but Farfus held 12th heading into the final lap.

She took the chequered flag in 12th, but penalties ahead subsequently promoted her to 10th in the final classification, finally delivering the top-ten finish that had been within her grasp all weekend.

The result marked Farfus' first top-ten finish in the Ginetta Junior Championship and concluded what was comfortably her most convincing weekend of the season. Across the three races, she demonstrated the pace to fight for positions inside the top ten as well as the racecraft to recover from setbacks.

R Racing Team Principal Jamie Ross was equally encouraged by the Brazilian's first weekend with the team: “We were very impressed with Vicky, considering where she’s been on the grid this year. She adapted well to a new environment and a new car, got stuck in across the races, and came away with her best qualifying and race results of the season.”

Farfus - who has also been selected for the F1 Academy Rookie Test - will head into the final round of the 2026 Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit in Kent on September 26-27, giving the Brazilian another opportunity to build on her Donington weekend.