Perez travels to Snetterton this weekend for his next attack in the Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship.

After a six week Summer break the ever popular race series that supports the British Touring Car Championship is back in Norfolk and Perez hopes to continue where he left off after the twelve opening races of the season

He has had a well earn’t break and holiday but has been back on track in practice and ready for this coming weekend, as well as keeping fit and analysing his data and viewing footage from his previous races.

Last week saw him practising at Snetterton for the second time in a month showing what his JHR Developments Ginetta G40 race car was made of with some fantastic times, only a few weeks ago he was second fastest in the morning session at the circuit.

Perez’s first half of the season has seen a mixture of highs and lows. He has been placed well in mid field in most races for the season so far.

It all started in April at Brands Hatch with a disappointing two opening races for Perez due to brake and engine problems, finishing 11th and 10th, he moved to Donington Park a couple of weeks later that saw him retired after being punted off track in the second race finishing 11th in race one and 16th in race 3.

He moved onto Thruxton in Hampshire at the beginning of May where Seb outrun every other driver on the circuit in qualifying, taking fastest lap and to take his maiden pole position in the championship by one thousandth of a second. Things didn’t go to plan in race one getting blacked flagged and an 18th position finish and did not finish race two after retiring after a shunt.

After a month’s break Oulton Park in Cheshire was the next stop for Perez and after race one he commented ” this was my best race I have ever driven” he finished fourth just missing out on the podium, race two he finished 12th.
Before the summer break, 6 weeks ago Perez was in the driving seat again at Croft Circuit North Yorkshire where he competed in three races in the series, only the second 3 race weekend of the season to date and always a challenge both to car and driver.
Qualifying went well with a first lap flyer only to get a time disallowed on lap 3 for exceeding track limits before returning to pole for 4 laps. finishing in 4th position on 1:40.159s and a top speed of 76.37mph.

Seb commented “the car ran well, this is the only second weekend with 3 races and is always more demanding”

A second row place was reserved for Seb in race one and once the lights went out he had a good start but by turn two the grid got closed up after Wooder and Tregurtha made contact with each other, Perez battled to tenth but got spun on lap 6 and got knocked back to 18th position in the field where he finished the race.
Race two saw him line up in 18th on the grid and take the chequered flag after 8 laps in 11th position.

After the race Perez said ” I am happy with the result, the car was faultless Croft is a technical circuit and need to push the car and think about position, an extra race can be used to advantage”
Race three saw Seb on 6th row alongside Enzo Fittipaldi, the 14 year old grandson of famous F1 driver Emerson. again a great start where he pushed up to fourth only to loose out on a few places and finish a very respectable 7th place.

He commented ” The weekend has gone well, there was a tyre wear issue and we made the most of the moment” he added ” JHR Developments have done a great job with the car”
He added “I’m looking forward to getting to Snetterton, it’s a special circuit to me it was where I got my first ever podium in the Winter Series two years ago”

With five rounds to go Perez comes to Snetterton in 16th position with 94 points and his team JHR Developments who run 7 cars in Championship are in third place with 458 points.

You can follow Seb and all the action on Sunday on ITV 4 where his races are screened.

Editorial and Images by Paul Horton Motorsport Photography

Chesterfield played host to judges from the East Midlands in Bloom committee to judge the borough’s entry into the regional competition.

Chesterfield in Bloom is a community project, led by volunteers working with Chesterfield Borough Council to make continual improvements to the borough’s environment.

As part of the tour on Friday 15 July, the judges visited some of Chesterfield’s parks and green spaces, including the Green Flag award winning parks at Queen’s Park, Eastwood Park and the grounds of Chesterfield and District Crematorium.

They also met volunteers and residents who have entered the Chesterfield in Bloom ‘Best Kept Garden’ competition.

Peter Benham, East Midlands in Bloom judge, said:-

“I’ve been in Chesterfield three times judging and this time and I pleased to say that there is a nice Bloom committee and it’s great that the community is working together to help improve the look of Chesterfield.”

Chesterfield won a silver-gilt award in last year’s East Midlands in Bloom competition.

The results of this year’s awards will be announced in September.

The opportunity to see The Great British Bake Off judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, create their favourite dishes in a series of live cookery demonstrations is just one of the fantastic treats in store for visitors to Chatsworth Country Fair this September 2, 3 and 4.

TV presenter and baker Paul Hollywood will be appearing for the first time at the fair. Paul is widely known for being a judge on The Great British Bake Off alongside Mary Berry and specialises in artisan baking. He will be cooking up some treats for the Derbyshire crowd on Friday 2 September.

Queen of baking and favourite of the fair, Mary Berry OBE returns for a fourth year and will be performing cookery demonstrations on Saturday 3 September using recipes from her upcoming book.

With the hottest chefs from across the region packing out a full timetable each day, the Cookery Theatre is sure to be a highlight for visitors. Also cooking up some treats in the tent will be Matt Gabbitas of Masa, Derby’s Restaurant of the Year 2015; Jon Hardy, winner of Derbyshire Life Chef of the Year 2015-2016; and Tom Lawson, co-owner of Rafters restaurant in Sheffield which is featured in the Michelin Guide.

Around the showground, there will be plenty of wonderful shopping opportunities, alongside returning favourites such as the Olde Tyne Fairground, The Imps Motorcycle Display Team, the vintage car parade and the incredible Red Arrows, who will be taking to the skies on the Friday and Sunday of the fair.

A cheque for £14,000 from funds raised at the Ernie Moss Charity Match has been presented at the Proact Stadium.

Ernie, who is suffering from a form of dementia called Pick’s Disease, was at the presentation together with his wife Jenny and one of his daughters, Sarah.

Sarah Moss, thanked the Chesterfield fans for their generosity. She said:-

“It’s absolutely fantastic. We hoped we could get about £10,000, so to get £14,000 is absolutely unbelievable. It was a fantastic turnout on the day and it just proved to us how much the Spireites love Dad and respect and support him.

“We want to raise awareness of dementia to help fight this vile disease for future generations and we’d just like to thank the Spireites immensely for what they have done.”

The Proact hosted the fundraising match in May between a Chesterfield legends side and the Once Upon a Smile team, comprising of soap stars and other celebrities. The money raised will be split between Dementia UK and the Once Upon a Smile charity.

Former Spireites star Phill Walker, who also helped organised the event, spoke of his admiration for Ernie, who is Chesterfield’s record goalscorer. He said:-

”We are trying to get a road named something like ‘Ernie Moss Drive’ to pay respect to Ernie. They say no one is bigger than a club, but I think Ernie must come very close.”

Enter. Solve. Conquer [ESC] is Chesterfield’s new premier live action escape rooms. An alternative experience that differs from traditional Chesterfield nightlife; the live action escape rooms are an interesting and unique group activity where teams must work together to solve puzzles, crack codes and figure out how to escape the room before the time limit runs out.

The rooms not only let guests indulge in a variety of games and puzzles, but also provides a creative insight into the towns local history.

Gazz Hayes, speaking on behalf of Escape. Solve. Conquer, said:-

“I feel that Chesterfield was an obvious choice as the place to launch this business, as the vibrant nightlife and entertainment industry here will definitely welcome an escape room. We have plenty of choice for restaurants and drinks and now we can add something a little different.

“Being born in Chesterfield it felt very important for me to use the rich history of our area in the stories of the rooms, particularly in the first trio of rooms. The shadow of the Spire looms largely over the second room and the region as a whole is very much a character in the story.

“I don’t want to give too much away but this is a story that could not have been told anywhere else.”