Wood came into the Rockingham round with high hopes, after achieving a brilliant second position at the same round last season – as the season approaches the business end of the championship.
Qualifying saw Wood set the 6th fastest time of the session, with his second-best lap being good enough to put himself 5th on the grid for when second fastest laps were counted for to make up the grid for race 2.
Race one saw Wood go off to a good start, moving immediately up to 4th position and harrying for the podium places immediately. As the race wore on, the front four cars began to break away from the chasing pack into their own little race for the trophies on offer in the first race.
Wood however fell just short of that podium, taking 4th at the finish line, just one second off the lead of the race – taking the fastest lap in the process.
The second race, starting from 5th on the grid saw the leading pack make a uniform start, as the cars charged into the Deene Hairpin for the first time. The positions at the front remaining pretty stagnant, whilst Wood was holding off a couple of rivals for 5th position, before he made a good move to get himself up into 4th position. Wood was having to defend hard at times to keep his position from rival Harry King behind him, meaning the front three pushed away. Wood was successful in his defence of 4th position, holding it to the chequered flag.
Race three, the final race of the weekend – going from 4th on the grid - Wood had a difficult start as the cars boxed in towards the inside line of the banking. Wood lost a position into 6th at the end of the opening lap. Wood then once again resumed his battle with Harry King as they jostled for 5th position in the following laps.
However, a collision with his HHC Motorsport teammate saw both him and Wood drop down the order and lose ground. Wood was able to battle back from the lap seven incident and recover to 9th position to salvage some important championship points.
Tom Wood “We were really close to the podium in the first race, setting the fastest lap as well so I know we had to the pace to challenge for the win in that. Race two we did the best job possible I think, as the top three had pushed away before I managed to get clear air. The final race was unfortunate, these incidents can happened but it cost us quite a few points. I am already fully focused on Silverstone and getting back on the podium as soon as possible!
Thank you to Donington Park, Scannervision, HHC Motorsport and all my partners for all their support as always.”
The Ginetta Junior Championship next heads to Silverstone on the 16-17 September for the penultimate round of the championship. Wood is currently 5th in the standings on 415 points and is still in with a realistic shot of gaining further ground in the overall championship table.