Jones Comes Away From Knockhill With His Best Race Finish Yet
A fantastic result in round 14 of the Ginetta Junior Championship gave one team a lot to be proud of, as one of their drivers secured his best race finish of the season yet at the Knockhill Circuit last weekend.
Declan Jones, aged 16 from Liverpool, who races in his father’s team Kelvin Jones Motorsport, found himself starting 14th on the grid for round 14. As the race got underway, he managed to make up four places, putting him in 10th position. Due to a safety car, when the race re-started on lap 10 and with just three laps to go, Declan managed to pick off positions, going up into ninth, then seventh and then up into a fantastic fifth place to finish.
Declan said: “I just kept my head today and towards the end when they all started battling that was when I got them. I just put the car in where I thought was the right position to put it and it paid off.
“I was actually three abreast three times and every single time I came out on top. It was exciting, especially the time I was in the middle of Max [Coates] and Oliver [Chadwick]. It was a real hold your breath moment as I went the deepest into the corner. I also went around the outside of Myles [Collins] on the final lap.
“Overall it really was a good day and I have to thank the team and Bradley [Ellis – my ‘coach’] for his help. Turning up on the Wednesday I hadn’t even seen the track and to come away with a fifth place is really good.
“It has been hard at times this weekend and I have obviously still got a sore neck from my off in qualifying. But it ended really well and we are all leaving on a high. That is a good thing.”
Coming away from Knockhill with such a pleasing result in the bag, and an extra 30 points, it now means that Declan has moved up from 15th in the Ginetta Junior Championship standings to 13th, and he is eager to get stuck in at the next Ginetta Junior rounds at Rockingham in two weeks time.
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey
Becki Mitchell
