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.

Brad puts his Ginetta Junior G40 thorugh its paces at Rockingham

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.

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.

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.

The new Ginetta G40 to be used for the 2010 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.

Brad at Ginetta Juniors Test, Pembrey

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.