Perez plans for success at Thruxton
16-year-old Seb Perez will be back on track again this weekend in his Ginetta G40 race car at Thruxton, Hampshire in the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship.
On reflection after a three week break following Donington Park, the son of 2014 BTRDA Gold Star Rally Champion, Steve Perez says he is focusing on “determination not disappointment”.
Donington proved to be a challenging weekend for Seb and his team JHR Developments, however Perez took things in his stride despite mechanical and engine problems, being pushed off the circuit and a mixed bag of weather conditions.
Preparation saw him finish the qualifying round in 13th position; getting 10 laps in around the national circuit at Donington with a top speed of 81.42mph and reaching up to 103mph on parts of the circuit.
For race one Seb lined up on the 7th row alongside local Castle Donington driver and rookie to this year’s championship, Tom Wood, however dropped 9 places by the end of lap one.
A heavy sleet storm made track conditions difficult, however this didn’t stop Perez, who climbed back up to 15th place by lap 5 and finished the race on lap 9 in 11th position.
The second race of the weekend saw Perez line up 11th on the grid alongside Enzo Fittipaldi; the 14 year old grandson of famous F1 driver Emerson.
By lap 2 Seb’s race was over after an incident caused him to retire with a damaged car.
The final race of the weekend saw Seb at a disadvantage starting on the last row of the grid due to retirement in race two.
Battling through, Seb make up six places to finish in a very respectable 16th place in the 10 lap race with a top speed of 75.13mph.
The 16-year-old still has a long way to go to the end of the season – with 20 more races by the beginning of October.
Perez said “Donington was a nightmare for me and the team; we put a lot of hard work into it and came out the best we could and look forward to Thruxton.”
Last Year Perez finished just outside the top ten in his Ginetta at Thruxton and hopes to improve on that this year.
All the action at Thruxton will be televised live on the Sunday on ITV 4.
Editorial and images courtesy of Paul Horton Motorsport Photography.
