Sensational Seb Storms to Silverstone
Chesterfield race ace Seb Perez soars into Silverstone this coming weekend for the penultimate rounds of the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship.
The 16 year old Ginetta race car driver travels to the Northamptonshire circuit after a sensational weekend just down the road at Rockingham three weeks ago; where Perez was “hard at it” testing the circuit, taking two days of hard work to get to grips with the car and circuit.
The two days testing had its ups and downs for Seb and his team JHR Developments, on the first Ginetta test day Perez was just outside the top five test times but by later during the day the cars performance was lacking and so was his testing positions. On looking into this closer the team found the car was having engine issues.
Work was carried out on the car ready for the second test day only to find the engine was not strong and still having problems finishing twelfth overall on the day. During free practice two the car managed one lap before retiring into the garage with technical problems,
On investigating further his team did an engine change due to continuing engine issues.
Saturday morning saw qualifying and Perez going out with a new engine after some fantastic work done by JHR Development to get the car race ready.
With the newly fitted engine Perez was “batting in the dark” not knowing how the engine was going to perform with a team keen to see how it progressed.
After a 15 minute qualifying session Perez missed out on a top five place finishing in 6th position with a time of 1.38.945 and hitting speeds of up to 85 mph, Perez commented “having a new engine fitted I was unsure how the car would perform, JHR Developments have worked wonders to get the car ready to race”.
Race one saw a battle commence from the lights going out between Perez and rookie team mate Sebastian Prialux both fighting for fourth place with a close battle for third between them both and Stuart Middleton and Perez taking the chequered flag, finally finishing in 5th position.
Saturday evening, race two saw freak weather conditions comprising of a storm and twister ripping across the circuit tearing down some teams hospitality suite awnings and leaving a trail of destruction around the circuit.
Perez sat in his car in the holding area for around 50 minutes, gale force winds rocking the car vigorously from side to side, only to be told that the race had been cancelled due to the severe conditions.
Sunday morning saw the start of the rescheduled race two and Perez 5th on the grid along side rookie racer Harry King.
A couple of laps into the race saw Perez move into third position and for the rest of the duration of the race he had a constant battle with Stuart Middleton fighting for second place, however Middleton managed to hold his lead over Perez who finished taking a podium position in third place.
Final race of the weekend after lunch saw Perez completing the 8 laps race in 15 minutes starting on the second row with a front row of rookie drivers, Tom Wood and Harry King.
The first lap saw him move up into second place, however on lap four Lewis Brown passed him taking second spot. Perez fought hard to regain second place but unfortunately missed out, finishing on the podium again taking third place.
After the race Perez commented:-
“An eventful weekend threw at us engine changes, freak weather and some of my best racing this season.
“I am looking forward to Silverstone, last year’s visit did not go to plan however this year sees a stronger position for us”.
Perez identifies that he cannot win the championship however he is fighting to win places and a top five finish after the last race at Brands Hatch.
Perez leaves Rockingham in 9th position in the championship with 250 points after a sensational weekend. His team still are in 3rd position in the Team Championship with 800 points
You can follow Seb and all the action on Sunday on ITV 4 where his races are televised live alongside the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Editorial by Paul Horton / Images by Paul Horton Motorsport Photography
