Brad competed in rounds 13 and 14 at Silverstone last weekend, and like the weather, his fortunes were varied and mixed, but there was a silver lining.

Having tested well, Brad was disappointed to qualify 16th on the grid for both races, and a first lap incident in Saturday’s race saw Brad hit and spin off. With extensive tyre damage Brad brought the car into the pits to change his rear wheel before returning to the action, though effectively this put him 2 laps down and out of contention.  Brad eventually brought his bruised Ginetta home in 17th place to maintain his 100% finishing record. The team then set to work to repair the damage for Sunday’s race.

Sunday proved to be a race of better fortune, and with a great start Brad skillfully maneuvered his Ginetta G40 into the top ten by the end of the first lap.  With others around him losing their heads, Brad managed to stay on the track, and although he lacked full pace he still managed a credible 10th place without major incident.

Brad now lies 15th in the Championship and takes his Ginetta G40 to Knockhill in Scotland to compete in rounds 15 & 16 on 4 & 5th September.

After the summer recess, the second half of the Ginetta Junior Championship got underway with rounds 11 and 12 at Snetterton race track.

Brad worked hard on testing and set-up and this seemed to pay dividends with a superb qualifying performance earning Brad 12th on the grid for both of the weekend’s races - and all this with the field 20 strong and very competitive.

Brad capitalised on his qualifying with round 11 seeing Brad start strongly and get up to 9th position and eventually finishing 11th, just 7 seconds behind the winner, Louise Richardson. Round 12’s race saw Brad slowed up behind a first corner incident, and then he was hit while following the pace car, but nevertheless clawed his way back up to 13th - just 0.1 seconds off 12th place.

Brad now lies 15th in the Championship and is one of only 7 drivers to have finished every round. Attentions now turn to Silverstone, which hosts rounds 13 and 14 on 21st and 22nd August, where Brad will hope to continue his improved performance.

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.

Brad Bailey, Ginetta Juniors, Brands Hatch GP Circuit

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!