A strong weekend at Rockingham promoted Tom Gamble to the Ginetta Junior Championship lead with only two rounds to go.
Gamble took a hattrick of podiums and a race win at Europe’s fastest race track but championship rivals Dan Harper and Sebastian Priaulx also enjoyed strong weekends.
Harper claimed a lights-to-flag victory in the opening race, staying calm under pressure from Gamble, who passed Priaulx for second on the first racing lap after an early safety car.
Gamble crossed the line second, only four tenths of a second ahead of Priaulx, but was handed a half second penalty which dropped him back to third.
Tom Wood took fourth, ahead of rookie winner Adam Smalley.
Starting third for race two, Gamble snatched the lead on the opening lap and was left unchallenged for the remainder of the race.
Behind him, Harry King, Harper, Priaulx, Wood and Jordan Collard were battling for second. The five swapped places back and forth but Dan Harper eventually finished on top, with Priaulx taking the final step of the podium.
Wood took his second fourth place of the day, ahead of King, Collard, and rookie winner Smalley.
The win earned Gamble pole for the final race of the weekend. He spent the majority of the race defending the lead from Harper and Priaulx. Harper eventually found a way past in the closing stages to take his fifth win of the season.
Gamble finished second, only a tenth of a second behind his championship rival, with Priaulx taking his second third of the weekend.
King won a hard fought battle for fourth, but was handed a time penalty after the race and dropped down to fifth. Jordan Collard inherited fourth, matching his best finish of the season.
Luke Browning took the rookie win, finishing sixth overall.
Image credit: Caroline Rhea
