From 26-28th October some 60 of the very best young drivers from Britain and a few foreigners fought out for the Ginetta Junior Scholarship – a fully funded drive in the Ginetta Junior championship. The selection was at Ginetta’s own race circuit Blyton Park.
The Ginetta Junior championship was the first car racing stepping stone in the careers of drivers such as McLaren F1’s Lando Norris, W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and a long list of other drivers who have turned pro.
Marti was the youngest driver at 13 y.o., while the rest were 14-16 y.o., but more importantly he was the only one who had no experience of the Ginetta G40 Junior car.
During the first day the drivers had fitness & media assessment with just 15 minutes in the car to impress the judges. Marti had no problems in the fitness test and passed easily, the same happened in the media test. Then for the driving part the conditions on the track were tricky with cold tarmac and little grip. Marti as usual was pushing from the word go, had a half spin, but managed to push the clutch and avoid stalling. This mishap didn’t have any effect on his confidence and he continued pushing to the limit by driving so close to the tires put on the chicane that one of the side hatches which was holding the front hood got loose and the hood was popping up under braking. This display of unwavering bravery was enough to impress his instructor James Kellet and Marti went safely to the second day finals.
The second day consisted of the same program with more fitness & media assessments with of course more driving.
This time the track conditions were trickier with a damp track, Marti was the only driver to avoid spinning and then found out he had posted the 4th best time. This of course allowed him to advance further, but in the next round which was going to select the top 4 drivers he wasn’t selected for. This shouldn’t be a surprise because until 16 he has a few more years to attempt and win the big prize.
Nevertheless, the instructors were impressed by his speed and mostly by his car control.
Of course, Marti was disappointed to miss on winning, but this selection proved that he is amongst the top young talented drivers and despite his lack of experience and driving practice, he can compensate with his pure driving talent and sheer determination.
