9th April 2018
Young racer Louis Foster enjoyed a fine start to his Simpson Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship campaign with a pair of rookie wins during the opening meeting of the year at Brands Hatch.
The 14-year-old from Odiham in Hampshire went into the weekend keen to build on a solid pre-season testing programme at the wheel of his Elite Motorsport-run car, and was on the pace from the moment he hit the track around the tight and challenging Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
A strong performance in qualifying saw the Lord Wandsworth College student qualify fourth on the grid as the best placed of the rookie drivers.
Although he briefly got up to third at the start, Louis soon settled into fourth spot but then came under attack from second year driver Luke Browning in what would become a race-long dice for position.
Despite ever increasing pressure from his rival, Louis showed maturity beyond his years with an impressive drive that saw him fend off the challenge from behind to secure fourth place overall and a fine rookie win.
The second race of the weekend would add an extra challenge for the drivers with the arrival of rain, but Louis would again produce a mature performance on track to match his result from race one with fourth place overall.
Once again that meant he ended up as the best placed rookie and ensures he comes away from the weekend sitting in an impressive fourth place in the overall championship standings.
“It’s a great way to start the season and to come away from Brands Hatch with two rookie wins is just perfect,” he said. “The first race was tough as Luke showed last year that he is a good driver, and I knew it would be difficult to keep him behind. I had to make sure I put my car in the right position on every lap to defend the position and to do that for 17 laps is tough.
“To get the rookie win was great and then to double up in race two made the weekend even better. The race itself was quite similar to the Winter Series in that there were gaps in the field and I was pretty much left on my own. I had to make sure that I didn’t lose concentration as it would be easy in that situation to make a silly mistake, and I just focused on bringing the car home to get the result.
“It’s the perfect way to start the season, especially as I’m not sure Brands Hatch will be my strongest circuit, and I want to thank my all my sponsors, including Carwow and Vans Direct, for their support.
“I feel good about my chances heading to Donington Park for the second round where I hope we can build on these results and push for an overall podium finish.”