R Racing Crowned Triple 2026 Ginetta Junior Champions

R Racing have successfully retained their Teams’, Overall Drivers’ and Rookie Drivers’ titles in the Ginetta Junior Championship powered by Sunoco Race Fuels, being crowned 2026 champions with a round to spare after another fantastic weekend of results at Donington Park (05/06 September).

The Norfolk-based team have continued their exceptional run of dominance in Ginetta Juniors this year, securing the Teams’ title for the sixth time in seven seasons, while an incredible performance from Lewis Goff has made him their sixth consecutive overall drivers’ champion.

A win apiece for Goff, Melvin Kalousdian and Riley Cranham at Donington Park mean the team are currently on a run of seven victories in a row. Their total for 2026 now sits at 15 wins from 22 races, while their drivers have come together to secure 39 podium finishes with three races still to go.

Goff headed into the event with a 115-point championship lead and needed to maintain that level of advantage to become champion. He had previous form on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit, having led every racing lap en-route to a perfect hat-trick of wins in the season opener there.

After a tough qualifying session, he showed tremendous racecraft to climb up the order to fifth and third place finishes in the first two races. That set him up with the chance to win the title in a nail-biting final race, and he completed the job in style with a sensational ninth race win of the season.

Carrying the momentum for his hat-trick of victories at Snetterton last time out, Kalousdian was the star performer on Saturday at Donington Park. After securing his third consecutive pole position in qualifying, the Red Bull Junior Team driver dominated the opening race to make it four wins in a row, before adding a fourth-place result on Sunday to climb up to third in the points standings.

Cranham enjoyed a fantastic weekend as he continues to be the in-form driver in the championship. Finishing second to Kalousdian in race one, he went one better in race two as he secured his second win of 2026 with a superb performance. A fourth-place result followed, meaning he’s finished outside the top five only once in the last 11 races.

Jesse Phillips showed good pace throughout the Donington weekend, but it unfortunately proved to be a bruising encounter. Fighting his way into the podium places in the early stages of all three races, some bad luck in the fierce battles meant the reigning Winter Series champion could only come away with a best result of sixth position.

After celebrating a breakthrough weekend at Snetterton with his maiden podium results, Sebastien Leusch ended a challenging Donington event with a stunning return to the rostrum. From 16th on the grid in race three, he scythed his way through the field in style to finish in third position overall.

Max Murray bounced back from a difficult qualifying session to make forward progress in all three races. Going from 15th to seventh in the opener, having remarkably gained seven places on a single lap at one stage, he went on to gain eight more positions on the road in the other two races.

Snetterton debutant Louis Radcliffe continued his Ginetta Junior education with a strong performance in Leicestershire. The highlight came in a chaotic race one, as he stayed out of trouble and fought his way forward to a breakthrough top ten finish, before gaining five more positions in race two to finish 14th.

A new addition for the final two rounds of the season is Vicky Farfus, daughter of GT racing legend Augusto, as R Racing expand to an eight-car entry. A great start saw her secure comfortably her best qualifying result of the season in tenth, and she went on to end the weekend on a high too with her maiden top ten race result.

Jamie Ross – R Racing Team Principal: “We’re absolutely delighted to come away with all three titles this season. It’s been a mega effort by everyone behind the scenes, a lot of work goes into keeping this outfit running every year, but there’s a winning mentality from top to bottom and that’s shown again this year. It’s been a really competitive season, so to come out on top is amazing.

“Lewis had a tricky start to the weekend and he had to dig deep, but he showed nerves of steel in the races and got the job done. To seal the championship with a race win is perfect and that rounds out a brilliant year. We’re really happy for him and he’s got a bright future ahead.

“It was a great weekend again for Riley, he’s stepped up a level in recent rounds and is putting in a good run of results. He qualified in the top three again and converted it into a race win, two podiums and a fourth-place finish. We couldn’t have asked for much more from him.

“Melvin has really got into his stride in the second half of the season, showing that he is one of the strongest drivers on the grid. Three pole positions in a row proves that, no other driver has more than one this year, and he deserved to get another win to his name on Saturday.

“Jesse lacked a bit of confidence coming out of Friday, but he pulled out a good result in qualifying. He got into strong positions in all three races, but sadly they didn’t go his way in the end. Some small mistakes his end that we’ll work with him to iron out and push for a big end to the year at Brands.

“For Seb, it’s easy for drivers to have a mega weekend like Snetterton and expect those results to just continue, so this was a learning curve for him. He was underperforming until the final race, where he dug deep and showed great pace and racecraft to come through the field.

“Max has put together some really good performances this season, so truthfully this was an underwhelming weekend by his standards. He kept fighting though and made progress forward in all three races, so now it’s about bouncing back for the final round.

“Louis is here to learn and he’s making good progress. Mistakes are there which is natural at this stage of his journey, and it’s about making sure he learns from them. His pace is strong and he showed he’s capable of getting some decent results, so we’re happy with where he is.

“We were very impressed with Vicky, considering where she’s been on the grid this year. She adapted well to a new environment and a new car, got stuck in across the races, and came away with her best qualifying and race results of the season.”

The final round of the 2026 Ginetta Junior Championship powered by Sunoco Race Fuels takes place in three weeks’ time (26/27 September) around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent.

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