Will Jenkins has maintained his championship challenge in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge with a hard-fought pair of top five finishes at Croft (25/26 June).
Heading to North Yorkshire as the championship leader courtesy of a run of four consecutive podium finishes, Jenkins was in high spirits heading into Friday practice. While red flag stoppages and weather changes hampered his second session, he did enjoy a strong run in the opener.
Qualifying on Saturday morning showed promise for the Staffordshire rising star as he posted lap times good enough for the top three. Unfortunately for him though, a questionably strict application of the track limits rulings meant he lost his fastest time and was left to settle for seventh and sixth on the grid for the weekend’s races.
Jenkins put that firmly behind him though and produced a superb battling drive in the opening race that afternoon. Benefitting from an issue for another driver to move into the top six, he then pulled off great overtaking moves on fellow race-winners Nat Hodgkiss and Connor Grady to finish fourth.
The 17 year old talent aimed to score another good points haul in the second race in his Elite Motorsport prepared Ginetta G40. Moving up to fifth in the early stages, he then played a starring role on the live ITV4 television coverage as he piled on the pressure to the driver ahead, giving it everything before taking fifth at the flag.
Jenkins, who races with the support of Hopkins Motorsport, Asset Alliance Group, Corroconsult and Digraph, now lies second in the standings – just 12 points off the top – heading into a lengthy 11 week break before the penultimate meeting of the season at Brands Hatch on 10/11 September.
Will Jenkins: ’“Overall it has been a solid weekend. We were battling some issues with the car across the event, which combined with the track limits issues in qualifying, meant I unfortunately headed into the races on the back foot.
“Therefore, to be able to battle my way to a couple of top five finishes and get a good haul of points for our season tally is a pleasing end result. The team worked hard and the balance of the car was better on Sunday, but we’ve still got some work to do with it.
“I’m pleased to be heading into the break still right up there in the title fight. There’s still a long way to go in the championship and we’ve got plenty of time now to ensure both myself and the car are 100% ready to go maximum attack across the final two events.”
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.