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.

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 passes Collins to take 4th place

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.

Brad's a front-runner at Thruxton

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.

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.

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.

Brad at the Ginetta Media Day, Silverstone

Brad unvieled his new Ginetta G40 at the Ginetta Media Day held at Silverstone circuit in Northampton. From brand new out of the box, Brad put his Paul Bailey Car Sales sponsored car through it’s paces ahead of the start of 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship.

Brad puts his new G40 through it's paces

Alongside new team mates Sennan Fielding and George Gamble, Brad did the TJ Motorpsport team proud as he improved his lap times around the Silverstone circuit throughout the day, clocking a 1 min : 11 secs lap, which should put him in good shape for competing in this years Championship.

Brad easily outpaces his old car on the Silverstone circuit

Brad has more tests planned at Donnington and Brands Hatch, which will enable him to familiarise himself with his new car and settle in with his new team, before the full season gets underway with rounds 1 and 2 being held at the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent on 2nd and 3rd April.

More photos from the media day can been seen on the Pics & Vids page.

The 2011 season kicks off on 2nd/3rd April with opening rounds 1 & 2 being held at Brands Hatch, Kent.

Expectations were high as Brad arrived for teh race weekend having put in a strong testing performance on the Wednesday, putting his Ginetta G40 through its paces having received back from Ginetta HQ in York.

Brad struggled with pace and set up, and consequently qualified towards the back of the grid. This was a blow to the team as the lack of pace seemed to return even though Wednesdays testing had seemingly a marked improvement in the car. Whatever gremlins remained in his G40, Brad still put in a solid and consistent performance, and, as he has all season, put in a good set of races despite a lowly starting position on the grid.

Brad finished 13th in race 1 and 10th in race 2 – his 4th top ten finish of the season. Brad ended his first season in 15th place and Ginetta are taken the car back for further investigations in a hope to get the car performing in line with the rest of the field before the start of next season’s Championship.

Unfortunately the race performance was thwarted by first lap incidents in both races.  In race 1, Brad had to back off to avoid being pushed into the pit lane wall, though recovered well to eventually finish 11th. Race 2 saw Brad make a brave move around the outside of the pack at the first corner, which looked to pay off until he was edged into the gravel trap after being caught up in a collision between two other drivers on the inside. Although Brad escaped the gravel trap, the car was affected by the debris and he was unable to continue. This is Brad’s first DNF of the season, a full 18 races into the Championship.

Brad’s car still seem to lack some pace and at the end of the weekend was taken by Ginetta back to the factory for further assessment.

Brad now heads into the final rounds, 19 and 20, at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 9th and 10th of October – hopefully with a better performing car.

Brad now goes to Donnington Park, the penultimate venue for the championship which hosts rounds 17 and 18.