Red Bull protege Kalousdian dominates Snetterton Ginetta Junior event

Melvin Kalousdian scored his first three Ginetta Junior victories, as his R Racing team dominated proceedings at Snetterton last weekend.

The opener was red-flagged early on when title contenders Lewis Goff and Harrison Mackie clashed at Riches and triggered a multi-car incident that resulted in five drivers retiring. The race was then halted once more when Jacob Ashcroft locked up and collected Max Murray, with Red Bull Junior Kalousdian taking the win after four laps ahead of Elite Motorsport’s Devon Hagelen.

Elite’s Daniel Oliver spun while trying to take the lead into Wilson’s hairpin at the start of race two, allowing Kalousdian to largely control proceedings before being joined by four of his team-mates on the final lap. Riley Cranham made a bid for victory on the outside of Bombhole but couldn’t get by, while Sebastien Leusch held off championship leader Goff in a drag race for third.

Kalousdian’s final triumph was more comfortable as he led home Leusch by three seconds, the latter capitalising on Cranham and Goff’s early dice to steal second, as R Racing produced an emphatic performance to lock out the top six.

William Antrobus also secured a victory clean sweep to take the lead of the Ginetta GT Championship away from Cameron Pratt-Thompson. Elite driver Antrobus controlled race one while Felix Livesey resisted pressure from Harry Gamble to claim second. Ginetta Junior graduate Vladislav Tomenchuk retired just one corner into his debut after suffering suspension damage in a three-way scrap with Jamie Caudle and Louis Darling.

Antrobus' Ginetta was never headed on another dominant weekend

Photo by: JEP

Livesey closed in on Antrobus in the second half of the sequel, but his victory chances were extinguished by mechanical failure. Gamble was promoted to best of the rest behind, while Tomenchuk made the podium in his first finish to complete an all-Elite top three. 

Antrobus was again unstoppable in race three as he led home Gamble once more, while Livesey bounced back from his race-two dramas to climb through the field to third. Meanwhile, Luis Beilicke scored another three victories in the concurrent GT Academy.

KMR Sport’s Alex O’Grady extended his GB4 advantage by winning twice in Norfolk. He was denied pole for race one by his chief title rival, Elite’s Fred Green, who led until agonisingly being denied by an issue in the closing stages. That allowed O’Grady to sail through for his second victory of the season ahead of Torrin Byrne and Dayton Coulthard, the latter having earlier produced a bold pass on his Douglas team-mate Conor Grant, who had a resultant high-speed excursion at Riches.

The start of race two was delayed when two cars stopped on the formation lap, with O’Grady eventually leading from pole ahead of Green, who held off Thomas Ingram Hill and Coulthard for second. O’Grady kept the Elite driver at bay following an early safety car period to win again by less than 0.5s.

GB4 celebrated its 100th race in the reversed-grid finale, with Pace Performance’s Joshua McLean converting pole into his third win of the campaign. Green was wiped out on the first lap by Byrne, who spun after sustaining a puncture in contact with Coulthard. The race was brought to an early conclusion when John O’Donnell and Connor Willis collided in a battle for second, allowing Enzo Hallman and Emilio Valentino Del Grosso to complete the podium.

McLean took the spoils in GB4's landmark 100th race

Photo by: JEP