Dutch driver Rocco Coronel continued his podium streak in the British Ginetta Junior Championship at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. The weekend at the Grand Prix circuit was quite turbulent with many incidents and red flags, which significantly shortened the second and third races in particular. A pair of third places and a second place were the results of the weekend for the Dutch driver from R Racing, consolidating his position as leader in the championship standings. « I learned a lot again, the speed was good, so overall I can look back on the weekend with satisfaction, » said Coronel.
Qualifying and the three races were held at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, which is only allowed to be used very sporadically due to strict noise restrictions. For the participants in the Ginetta Junior Championship, this meant, for example, that the usual test day prior to the race weekend took place on the short Indy circuit at Brands Hatch, after which they had to go straight onto the long circuit on Saturday for qualifying and the races without any previous experience.
Rocco Coronel thought the Grand Prix circuit, where Formula 1 also raced until the 1980s, was ‘really cool’. « It’s really fast and you can take most of the corners with four or five cars abreast, which is incredibly cool. You also notice the difference in grip; the asphalt on the Grand Prix circuit is quite old, so there is much less grip than on the short circuit. All in all, it was a special experience! »
After the test day, on which Coronel consistently ranked among the fastest drivers and got up to speed well, qualifying took place on the long track. « In qualifying, I had to go out on track as the first driver, so I didn’t have any slipstream. Then I had a bit of bad luck with a red flag, which interrupted the session when someone went off the track, » he said. « Others were allowed to finish their lap, which gave them some extra kilometres. As a result, I eventually dropped back from fourth to sixth place, although the differences were only small. »
Coronel had to start his progress from sixth place, but that proved not so easy at the Brands Hatch circuit, the driver explained: « It’s very difficult to overtake on this circuit, and I also had to defend my position. Later on, I was able to attack more, including at the restart after a safety car intervention. That allowed me to take third place, at least back on the podium. The main thing was not to make any mistakes or get any warnings, which I managed to do very well. Another positive is that the speed was good. »
The second race, in which Coronel started third, was stopped after a serious accident, leaving little time left to drive. « Effectively, we only drove one lap that counted, because the second attempt was also abandoned prematurely. The classification was decided after one lap and I was in third place, so that was another podium finish, » said Coronel. « Due to the short race distance, only half the normal points were awarded. »
The third race was also not without incident, with another safety car and a red flag, leaving only two laps to go. « I fought hard, especially with Bartle, who almost pushed me into the pit wall, but I just kept driving and eventually he went off and spun out. Then I took Slater on the outside and secured second place. I could have attacked Green for the lead, but that would have been too big a risk and I didn’t want to take it, so I played it safe and finished second. The fastest lap of the weekend and three podium finishes, that makes it 17 podiums out of 18 races so far. I’m happy with that, » said Coronel. The penultimate round of the season will take place on 6 and 7 September at the Croft circuit.