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 competed in rounds 7 & 8 of the Ginetta Junior Championship at the weekend. Struggling with set-up, Brad qualified down in 19th place for both races. Sunday proved the better race with Brad finishing 4 places ahead of his grid position in 15th.

Brad next competes at Croft in rounds 9 & 10 - part of the track will be familiar to him as this is the track where he clinched his 2009 Junior Rallycross Championship Title.

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!

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.