Caroline wins again for Pirtek

Uncategorised,Racing

Pirtek Racing’s Jamie Caroline took another impressive victory to maintain his championship lead during rounds 11 and 12 of the KICK Start Energy Ginetta Junior Championship at Snetterton over the weekend (8/9 August).

Caroline, 16 years-old, has been selected by Pirtek Racing and Andrew Jordan for support in the series for young racers and is racing with the HHC Motorsport squad. He arrived at the Norfolk track on the back of four straight wins and fresh from the mid-season break in the calendar.

Jamie was third fastest in qualifying after earlier problems in free practice. “We had tyre problems but when it came to qualifying we knew we would be up there and I was only pipped for second place on the last lap of the session,” he said.

His fearsome race pace was obvious from the start in the first of the weekend’s races. “I made a good start and led onto the Bentley Straight and started to get away,” he said. Even a safety car intervention couldn’t faze the aspiring champion. “Yes, I was confident I could do it. I had the pace and got away again from the green flag.” He eventually beat Billy Monger by four-tenths of a second as they pulled clear of the rest.

The Pirtek car started sixth on the grid for race two and, as the bumper crowd basked in soaring temperatures, Jamie was quickly on the attack. Into Riches he jinked left and right but found cars three abreast ahead of him and there was no way through. By a lap later he was up to third before pulling of a brave move for second at Brundle a lap later. A battle for second with title rival Senna Proctor followed before Jamie picked up a rear puncture and ran wide at the exit of Riches to lose two places.

He struggled on with the deflating rear tyre and took the flag still fourth, only to be handed a five-second penalty for exceeding the track limits, which dropped him to eighth. “It was debris from Monger that gave me the puncture; without that I would have been there for sure,” he said.

Pirtek is Europe’s number one provider of hydraulic solutions and mobile hose replacement, with over 170 centres supported by over 700 mobile service workshops throughout Europe. Offering solutions to a number of business sectors, including the automotive industry.