Will Martin secured a superb eighth Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship win of the season so far during the penultimate meeting of the year at Silverstone this past weekend (28/29 September). After a troubled weekend last time out at Knockhill, Martin headed to Silverstone determined to bounce back strongly and he did exactly that around the world-famous Northamptonshire circuit. Poor weather meant that the 16 year old didn’t get a lot of meaningful track time during free practice on Friday, but that didn’t seem to hamper him too much for qualifying the next day. The Lining Division supported driver got his weekend off to a good start by posting the fourth fastest time. Finishing as the highest placed Richardson Racing driver, he was in a good starting place for the opening race that afternoon. In dry conditions, Martin made a great start and was able to keep up with the leaders in the early stages. Soon moving up into third, he was in prime position to take advantage of any mistakes the top two might make. Sure enough, both drivers ahead of him at the finish had been handed five second time penalties for track limit infringements, which meant the East Sussex racer secured an eighth win of the campaign – more than any other driver on the grid. The first of two races on Sunday was held on a wet circuit. In a car not quite as suited to those conditions than the dry, Martin had to work hard to fight his way up three places from his starting position to finish sixth at the finish. The final race of the weekend for the Cobra Insurance Brokers backed racer was a dramatic affair. After a good start got him to fifth, he pushed hard to stay with the lead pack heading into the closing stages of the race. On what he thought was the final lap, Martin took advantage of a squabble at the front and pulled off some brilliant overtakes to go from fifth to first in the final three corners. Unfortunately, the race time had elapsed prior to the last lap finishing and the result was taken from that lap, meaning Martin finished in fifth. Will Martin: "Competing to Silverstone is a really cool experience; it’s a fun circuit and it produces good racing. Free practice was far from ideal, as the weather combined with a number of red flags meant that we weren’t out on track for as long as we would have hoped. “I was really pleased with my performance in qualifying. The car felt good on track and I put myself in a good position for race one. I had to work really hard in that race, but I didn’t make any mistakes and I’m over the moon to have taken another race win. “Sunday’s opening race was a tricky one, as the conditions were far from ideal and I had to work hard to keep it on the tarmac. I stayed out of trouble though and made up a few places which was good. “Race three was a tough one to take. I did my best to keep up with the lead pack and when we got to the final lap, I saw an opportunity and thought, ‘I’m going for this’. I thought we’d won, but sadly the timing pages had other ideas. “Thank you to Richardson Racing for all their hard work this weekend and to my sponsors for their continued support. I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks and hopefully I can end the season with another win.”
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.n sits third in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the season finale around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (12/13 October).