Brad competed in rounds 5 and 6 of the Ginetta Junior Championship at the Brands Hatch GP circuit last weekend. In what proved to be a very eventful weekend, Brad managed to keep his head and the car on the track to score a top ten finish in only his fifth race.

Brad qualified 16th for both races out of a field of 18 cars, but felt confident he could improve on that performance in both races. Saturday’s round 5 race saw many other drivers lose their concentration and 7 failed to finish, leaving Brad to keep the car on pace and on the track to score his first top ten finish of the season with 10th place.

Sunday’s race was a very wet one, and Brad made a great start and clawed his way up onto the mid field before a spin on one of the closing laps left him at the tail end. However, with many drivers again failing to finish, Brad still earned himself 13th place by the time the chequered flag came.

Brad now lays at 16th place in the Ginetta Junior Championship after 6 rounds, out of 20 drivers.

Brad now heads to Oulton Park race circuit in Cheshire for rounds 7 and 8 of the Ginetta Junior Championship. This will be a real challenge as he has never seen this track before let alone raced on it!

Brad raced at Rockingham last weekend to compete in rounds 3 and 4 of the Ginetta Junior Championship. In only his second circuit racing weekend, Brad managed two superb qualifying lap times in Saturday’s qualifying session to book 13th place on the grid for Saturday’s race and 12th on the grid for the Sunday live televised race. This performance represented a full 4 places up the grid ahead of his positions at Thruxton, a fact that certainly didn’t go unnoticed in the pit lane.

However, despite the fantastic qualifying performance and great starts, both of Brad’s races at the Rock were effectively ended with first lap incidents. Both incidents saw Brad hit by other competitors leading to him spinning off the circuit, though despite the damage incurred Brad did manage to compete both races in 17th position.

The Brad Bailey Racing team was clearly frustrated by the incidents as Brad’s race pace had proved to be better than qualifying, and a top ten finish looked on the cards. The team now have their work cut out to get the car repaired and race-ready for rounds 5 & 6 at Brands this weekend.

The Brad Bailey Racing Team made the journey from Thruxton on Easter Sunday night to compete in the second round of the BTRDA Junior Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill.

The event at Lydden was a 2 day event which meant Brad had already missed practice and 1st heats while at the Ginetta Junior opener at Thruxton.  Junior Rallycross heat 2 was the first race on Easter Monday so Brad had to be in good form to take the grid without even a single practice lap. Brad needed two times to qualify for the A final, and so had no room for error.

As in round 1 Brad was briefly challenged by Paige Bellerby in both heats, but Brad was patient and took victories in both heats, setting himself up for pole position for the A final.  Again Paige put up a good fight, but Brad’s experience shone through to see him win the A final by over 5 seconds, despite a problematic clutch.

Brad now leads the championship by 6 points having won rounds 1 and 2, but won’t be completing in the next round at Knockhill as this clashes with the Ginetta Championship event at Rockingham. Brad will be back in Junior Rallycross action at Blyton on 9th May.

Brad got his first real taste of circuit racing over Easter weekend as he competed in the Ginetta Juniors season opener at Thruxton in his new G40.

Brad used testing sessions on Good Friday to get to grips with the car and circuit and play with the set up in wet conditions. Saturday saw Brad improve his times with a damp but drying track on Saturday during free practice and qualifying. For Saturday’s round 1 race, Brad qualified 17th ahead of fellow newcomer Max Coates, while his second best time was good enough for 16th on the grid for Sunday’s round 2 race.

Brad made a flying start in Saturday’s race, making his way up to 10th place on lap 1, only to spin at the start of the pit straight and return to the back of field. Brad made further progress getting back up to 15th, before spinning again a few times as he struggled with a car set up for wet conditions on a drying track. Eventually Brad battled his way back to 17th place to finish in the same place as he qualified and picked up 4 championship points in the process.

Sunday’s race saw Brad make a great start from the lights again, and he settled in 14th position and eventually finished a credible 15th place worthy of 6 championship points and a place ahead of his qualifying position. Brad didn’t have any offs in the race and his times improved by nearly 2 seconds per lap as the car settled and Brad grew in confidence.

All in all a positive start to Brad’s circuit racing career and 2 points place finishes was a great start given some other newcomers didn’t even make the starting grid having had major offs in testing.

The next rounds, 3 & 4, take place at Rockingham circuit on 24th and 25th April.

Brad took part in his first competitive race meeting of the 2010 season on 6th March 2010 at Lydden Hill race circuit in Kent. The venue played host to the first round of the BTRDA Rallycross Championship and Brad won all 3 heats before winning the A final comfortably from newcomer Paige Bellerby. After the long winter break Brad was glad to get back to winning ways.

The next outing will be unfamiliar territory as Brad switches cars and his attention turns to contesting his first ever Ginetta Junior Championship race, with the season opener at Thruxton on Easter weekend.

The first handover day of the new Ginetta G40’s took place at Silverstone circuit on February 26th. While Brad still awaits delivery of his new G40, the day gave Brad the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the new G40 for the first time, having ridden as a passenger in the same car at Pembrey last month.

Brad put the new G40 through its paces, and while up against more experienced Ginetta Junior drivers he managed to  put in a competitive drive. All being well Brad should take delivery of his own G40 shortly before the first race of the Championship at Thruxton on Easter weekend.

By Chris Manning;

BUDDING young Maldon racing driver Brad Bailey is all revved up and ready to face a new racing challenge by competing in the 2010 Ginetta G40 Junior championship.

Brad, 15, the current British and Open Junior Rallycross champion, has been selected as one of 26 young drivers from around the country to take part in the sports car championship for drivers aged between 14 and 17 years old and will see him race at premier race circuits around the UK.

It is quite apt that Essex boy Brad will be driving a Ginetta, as the company was originally founded in Witham by the Walklett brothers back in the 1958.

The Championship supports the prestigious British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) which attracted attendances in 2009 of 325,000 people during the 10-round championship and in addition to this the whole race day is covered live on TV on ITV4, which reached over 13.7 million UK viewers via 116 hours of broadcast time.

To qualify as one of the 26 selected to line up on the grid for the first race on April 4 at Thruxton, Brad had to attend a test session at the Pembrey circuit in Wales, before being given the green light by the championship organisers.

During the year Brad will have the opportunity to race on such famous race circuits as Brands Hatch, Siverstone, Snetterton and Donington Park and for each round Brad gets two 15 minute races on Sunday race day, plus practice and qualifying sessions the previous day.

The 26 identical race cars are currently being built at the Ginetta factory in Leeds and will be powered by a sealed Ford 1800cc Zetec engine, running on standard Michelin road tyres and the race car complies with all motorsport regulations for safety laid down by the sport’s international governing body, the FIA.

With all the cars having identical equipment the Ginetta G40 Junior championship is a showcase for developing young motor racing talent and for Brad it could be the next step for the 15-year-old as he makes his way up the motorsport ladder.

The 2009 MSA British Rallycross Awards dinner, held at Sutton Coalfield on 30th January 2010, was attended by over 230 guests. Nicky Grist was on hand to help present the awards to championship winners, and Brad collected his trophy after sealing the 2009 MSA British Junior Rallycross Championship in his first full season.

At the awards, Brad was asked about his plans for the future, and chose the occasion to announce that he wouldn’t be defending his Rallycross title, but that he would be concentrating on a new challange by making the switch to Ginetta Juniors. Brad did however reveal that he would compete in some Rallycross events, but clashes in dates prevented him from being able to attend enough meetings to defend his title in full.

Brad Bailey and his 2009 double Championship and 2009 Junior Rallycross Superprix winning car will be at the Autosport International Racing Car Show which takes place at the Birmingham NEC on 14-17 January 2010.  Brad’s car will be on the PSM Motorsport Ltd / Fuchs Open Rallycross Championship stand for all 4 days of the show.

Brad and his car will be on stand 7530 in Hall 7 at the show. Brad, as 2009 Junior Open Rallycross Champion,  will be representing the 2010 Fuchs Rallycross Open Championship alongside ‘Mad Mark’ Watson, the 2007 & 2008 Division 1 Rallycross Open Champion, with his Citroen Xsara, and the RX150 Open Champion Andy Scott.

Brad received his 2009 Open Junior Rallycross Championship trophy at the awards dinner on Saturday 28th Novmber 2009. The awards were presented to class Champions at the event held at The Best Western Rippon Spa Hotel.  Further pictures from the evening can be found atthe following links

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Pictures2.