Casper Stevenson made the journey across the border to Scotland for the eighth meeting of the 2019 Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship at Knockhill (14/15 September). The Blackwood Group driver came into the weekend with high expectations and with the hope of closing down the gap to his Richardson Racing team-mate Will Martin and rookie points leader Zak O’Sullivan in the championship standings. The meeting got off to a strong start for Stevenson as he showed front-running pace during free practice on Friday. He also spent the two sessions practicing a ‘towing technique’ that would hopefully benefit him come qualifying. Saturday morning kicked off with qualifying and Stevenson put in a great performance to qualify in fourth position overall and second in the rookie class. Although not quite where he wanted to be on the grid, it was a strong position to start the opening race. The first race of the weekend began a few hours later and Stevenson put in a calm and mature drive to stay out of trouble in a chaotic race, bringing home his Ginetta G40 in second place overall and with it a sixth rookie win of the campaign. The London based racer, who supports the Scope charity with his racing, finished race two on the podium once again. Having fought his way into the lead at mid-distance, he stayed out front for the majority of the race before slipping to third on the last lap. Unfortunately Sunday’s race, televised live on ITV4, didn’t quite go according to plan for the 16 year old. After fighting in the top five early on, he was forced back down the order with damage to his car and had to settle for tenth place at the chequered flag. Casper Stevenson: "I had higher hopes for qualifying on Saturday than what we achieved, but fourth still put me in position to challenge for the podium. All I was focused on in race one was staying out of trouble and trying to be in the right position to capitalise on other people’s mistakes. “I was pleased with my racecraft in the close fought battles in race one, and I think I showed it well again in race two as I got myself into the race lead. It was a shame to lose out on the last lap, but third was a good result in the end. “It was a real shame to have ended the weekend with a disappointing race. I was hoping to stay fighting at the front, but contact and damage cost me a lot of places. It’s been a solid weekend in the end though and we’re looking forward to Silverstone next.” Following the weekend’s performances, Stevenson now has nine overall podium finishes to his name and a superb 16 rookie class podium finishes, including six wins. He remains fourth in the championship standings, now only 13 points off third. Six races remain in the 2019 Ginetta Junior season. The penultimate meeting takes place at Silverstone in two weeks’ time (28/29 September), before the season finale at Brands Hatch (12/13 October).
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.