The first 3 rounds of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge were held at Oulton Park lsast weekend. Unfortunately the promise shown in Friday’s testing – with Brad managing an impressive 8th, 3rd and 5th fastest positions in the day’s 3 sessions – could not be carried into Saturday’s races.

With a damp track, the team opted for intermediate tyres, which saw Brad top the times early in the qualifying session, but with a quickly drying track and a late tyre change, Brad had little time to put in competitive times and eventually qualified a lowly 17th – well below the potential shown in testing.

With it all to do, Brad managed an impressive run early on in race  1, managing to get up to 9th place. However, in challenging for 8th position, Brad ran wide and clipped the barrier and could not complete the race.

Brad was unable to finish race 2 after starting from the pit lane and the team decided not to compete in race 3.

The next round is at Rockingham on 10th June where Brad will hope his luck can improve, and he can convert his test pace into race results.

Brad completed his second full season of the Ginetta Junior Championship with a double pole position in the last 2 rounds of the championship held at Silverstone.  Brad showed a strong pace in both races but, as with much of the rest of the season, Brad’s efforts were thwarted by incidents caused by reckless driving on the part of other competitors.  Indeed, the story of the season was again played out in the final race, with Brad holding firm at the front and looking good for a podium 3rd place finish, only for team mate George Gamble to make a lunge up the inside on the penultimate corner of the final lap – ending with Brad being punted off the track. Gamble was penalised with a fine and penalty points, but Brad lost a podium place he really deserved.

Despite the season’s bad luck, Brad still managed to finish in 9th position in the Championship overall – and his skill and pace was widely acknowledged up and down the pit lane.

Brad, now 17 years old, no longer qualifies to compete in the Junior class and so will look at other Championships to continue his racing career next season – hopefully finding a class that better suits his driving style, with a more professional, mature and considered level of competitor.

The 7th and 8th rounds of the Ginetta Junior Championships were held last weekend at Oulton Park.  Brad, having finish a season’s best 4th in both races at Thruxton, was keen to be at the sharp end of the field again, but it wasn’t to be.

Qualifying on the Saturday saw Brad struggle for set up and pace, leaving him in mid-field grid positions of 8th and 11th for the two races respectively. It was going to be a tough task from there, but in round 7 on Saturday, Brad made his way to 6th place, which was a position he held until the last lap when a coming together with Max Coates saw him demoted to 7th place.

Sunday’s round 8 race again saw Brad make his up up through the field, only for him to be hit and sent into a spin. Brad got back on the track, and in a short 8 lap race did well to fight his way back up to 12th.

The next rounds are to be held at Croft in two weeks time.

Brad competed in rounds 5 & 6 of the Ginetta Junior G40 Championship at Thruxton circuit in Hampshire last weekend. Having had bad luck and previous rounds at Brands Hatch and Donington Park, which left Brad with lowly point finishes, the team were anxious to see Brad finish at the sharp end of the order.

Brad again put in consistent qualifying laps to earn 5th position on the grid for both races. Race 1 saw Brad battle out 4th place with Myles Collins, and eventually Brad overhauled Collins with a few laps remaining.  However, by then, third place Max Coates was too far ahead for Brad to mount a challenge for the podium, but a 4th place finish was a real boost and laid to rest the disappointment of the previous rounds.

The second race, round 6 on Sunday, saw Brad move up to 4th in the early laps and then hold off a strong challenge from Struan Moore to equal Saturday’s seasons best result.

The strong haul of points from the two 4th place finishes lifts Brad to 9th place in the Championship, ahead of team mate Sennan Fielding.  The next round takes place at Oulton Park on 4th and 5th of June.

REPORT by Chris Manning

WHEN is the bad luck afflicting young Maldon racing driver Brad Bailey going to end? Competing in the Ginetta G40 Junior championship, one of the British Touring Car Championship support races, the 16-year-old again suffered cruelly at the hands of others.

At Donington Park he qualified fifth on the grid for his first race on Saturday and was pushed into the gravel on the penultimate lap ending a points scoring finish.

His second race on Sunday saw him line-up third on the grid, a place which he held for the first five laps.

Ludicrous

But on lap eight fellow competitor Charlie Robertson attempted a ludicrous overtaking manoeuvre with Brad ending up in the gravel trap from which he recovered to finish in 14th place.

George Murrells, from Danbury, racing his Ginetta G55 finished fifth on Saturday went on to improve on Sunday saw him pipped at the post to finish third. Third place on the grid for his last race saw him slip back to finish in sixth place but hold on to his second position overall in this hotly-contested Championship.

Brad competed in rounds 1 and 2 of the Ginetta Junior Championship last weekend, and despite much promise, left the Indy Circuit feeling pretty battered and bruised.

A fantastic test on the Friday was translated into a breathtaking qualifying session on Saturday, which saw Brad head of the times for much of the session.  As the session ended, Brad eventually claimed 4th place on the grid for race 1 and 3rd place for race 2, a far cry from mid-order positions from last season, and confirming that Brad will be at the sharp end of the field in 2011.

However, race day proved to be a day to forget.  Brad again showed his promise, making his way up to 2nd place in the early part of race 1 before the race was stopped due to an incident. At the restart, Brad held his ground and challenged the leaders before being punted off the circuit by William Foster.  Foster was penalised after the race but that proved little consolation from Brad, with a heavily damaged car and bruised back and neck.

The TJ Motorsport Team worked tirelessly to ready Brad’s car for race 2, a Brad took his place on the second row of the  grid, only to find himself towards the back of the order after a spin at Graham Hill bend.  Brad eventually made his way up to 10th place to equal last season’s best finish, but clearly with a little less bad luck Brad will be challenging the top positions in future races.

The action now travels to the Midlands with rounds 3 and 4 of the Championship being held at Donnington Park on 16th and 17th April.

Croft racing circuit near Darlington staged rounds 9 and 10 of the Ginetta Junior Championship last weekend. Croft was a circuit that featured in the Junior Rallycross Championships and so there was some familiarity that Brad could benefit from (despite the Ginetta Juniors racing on 100% tarmac of course).

However, the weekend proved to be incident packed. After qualifying in a slightly improved 18th and 16th positions on the grid for the weekend’s two races, Brad’s car was badly damaged in Saturday’s race as it was rear-ended in a heavy shunt when Brad rejoined the track after a spin on the infield. Despite heavy damage to the car, Brad still managed to finish the race in 17th place.

The team made a remarkable effort o make the car presentable and race-ready for Sunday. Unfortunately, Brad was involved in a first corner incident and was launched air-bound leaving Brad at the tail-end of the field. Never to be deterred, Brad fought is way up from the back of the field to finish a credible 15th place.

The team now has the benefit of a summer break to further straighten out the car and get some testing in before the championship resumes with rounds 11 and 12 on 7th and 8th of August at Snetterton.

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 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.