Despite engine problems and a lack of power at rounds 17 and 18 of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch GP Circuit, Declan Jones still managed to pull out a great performance, finishing in the top ten in both races.

Since Rounds 15 and 16 at Rockingham, Declan has moved from his former team, and is now racing for Westbourne Motorsport, where he was really showing off his full potential to his new team at the Corby circuit. To show he was not a one trick pony, and despite the Ginetta’s troubles over the weekend, he still managed to finish tenth in race one and ninth in race two.

In Friday’s practice, all looked good for the Westbourne driver, but problems with the car before and after qualifying meant Westbourne saw the best option to be an engine change to fix the problem. However, to add to the blow, there was no time for a re-fit, so Declan ran the car as it was and hoped for the best.

Declan said: “It was frustrating knowing we were basically running on three cylinders. The day before we had been something like P6 or P7 in the first practice session and we were really happy.

“Then on Saturday we had the problems with the engine and we just didn’t have time to change it for the race. I just had to drive the best I could in the end and tenth wasn’t bad in the circumstances.”

For race two the mechanics had worked their magic, and replaced the poorly engine. But to their disappointment, the Westbourne Ginetta just wasn’t performing how it should. However, Declan gave it his best, and managed to cross the line in a great ninth position.

Declan added:  “Obviously I had high hopes on Sunday. I thought with the new engine I’d have a lot more power and so to go out and have less power was really frustrating. But my dad kept saying to me: ‘Bring it home, bring it home and collect points’. And that is what I did again.

“Overall it has been difficult weekend and at times quite tough. But considering all our problems the results were still really good. I’ve come away with a lot of points and so there is a lot to be positive about.”

Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey

Becki Mitchell is our designated Ginetta Junior correspondant. You can contact her at becki@btcccrazy.co.uk or on her personal twitter account at @bexcci.