With two wins and a second place, which was decided by a photo finish, Dutch Red Bull Junior driver Rocco Coronel had another very successful race weekend in the British Ginetta Junior Championship. With these results at the Oulton Park circuit, where the traditional British Bank Holiday meeting was held, the 14-year-old driver further extended his lead in the points’ standings. « It was a really cool weekend, everything went perfectly, » Coronel said looking back.
« A mega-cool circuit, » said Rocco Coronel immediately when asked about his impression of Oulton Park, one of the most characteristic British tracks. « It’s very narrow, you go really fast and you really fly over the kerbstones. Nice and challenging, with fast corners, although the walls are very close. You have to stay focused at all times; you can’t make any mistakes here. »
Coronel had already familiarised himself with the circuit in Cheshire during tests a few weeks earlier. In the run-up to the race weekend, there were three sessions on Thursday and two on Friday to work on the set-up and get to know the track. « The tests went well, » Coronel reported. « I was consistently at the front in terms of speed. The mere results don’t tell the full story, because a lot of drivers used slipstreams, which can easily earn you half a second on this circuit, but we decided not to do that. The race pace was good, that much was clear, and that was the most important thing. »
Rocco Coronel Ginetta Junior Oulton Park
Coronel started the race weekend feeling optimistic and well prepared. However, Saturday’s qualifying session came to nothing. « There were three red flags because drivers had gone off the track. That meant no one could set a time. That was a shame, of course, » said Coronel. « It was decided to use the championship standings as the basis for the starting grid, which was an advantage for me because I was at the top, but I would have preferred to just drive! »
The first race was held on Saturday and Coronel fought an intense battle with his teammate Alfie Slater. « We had agreed within the team that we would first pull away from the rest of the field and then see how the race played out, but he clearly showed that he wanted to race, so that’s what I did. He initially passed me and then defended his position for five laps, but I was able to get past him in the first corner and regain the lead, » the Dutch driver said. « He then tried again and again, but I was able to hold on to first place and crossed the finish line with a 1.6-second lead. » Slater was subsequently demoted two places in the results by the race stewards for gaining an unfair advantage.
On Sunday, there were no activities scheduled at the circuit, so Rocco Coronel, his father Tom and many others spent the day relaxing and playing padel. On Monday, the remaining two races of the event were held. « In the morning race, I started from pole position again, got off to a very good start and immediately took a one-second lead. After that, I basically just drove qualifying laps the whole time, really fast, and ended up winning by almost nine seconds ahead of the runner-up, » said Coronel.
While the first two races took place on a dry track, rain set in prior to the third race. « It was cool in the rain, but it was difficult, with several drivers going off the track, » said Coronel, who was once again allowed to start first. « I already had a two-second lead when the safety car came onto the track, so I had to start all over again. That went well, I was already 1.25 seconds ahead when the safety car was deployed again, so I lost my lead once more. After the restart, I had an eight-tenths » lead going into the final lap, but then Fred Green, this time my biggest rival, suddenly found grip on the outside of a corner, allowing him to get alongside me. We crossed the finish line side by side, the difference was three thousandths of a second! In the end, the finish photo had to be reviewed to see if it was all correct. So I finished second, but it was a great race! »
All in all, Coronel looks back on the event with great satisfaction. « I drove three good races and further extended my lead in the championship. The speed was excellent. Thanks also to R Racing, the team that once again gave me a top-notch car and ensured it was well set up. » The next races will be held on 12 and 13 July at the Snetterton circuit. Two weeks later, on 26 and 27 July, the Ginetta Junior Championship will be in action at Circuit Zandvoort in The Netherlands.