Munro in driving seat as he targets home win
TAIN teenage racing star John Munro hopes to accelerate to glory at this weekend’s Scottish Sprint Championship event in Golspie.
Caithness Car Club hosts rounds five and six of the 15-fixture contest on Saturday and Sunday at the Littleferry Circuit.
The 17-year-old Tain Royal Academy pupil, who won the outright fastest title in the “Top Ten” section of the Scottish Sprint Championship last season, returns to the Highlands following showings in the 2015 British Racing and Sports Car Club Mazda MX5 Supercup at famous circuits including Silverstone, Donnington and Oulton Park.
He has been registering solid performances in the high-profile competition, but will no doubt be glad to get back in the lightweight slicks and wings single-seater which has brought him so much success.
John said: “I am delighted with how the Supercup season has gone so far; the total amount of points I’ve scored puts me seventh out of 46 in the championship and top rookie which is beyond everyone’s expectations including my own.
“I’ve had an excellent start to my circuit racing career and cannot wait to come back and race on my home circuit.
“Littleferry is important as I would always go to watch the racing there as a kid and it formed the home event of my first racing season.”
Joining John at his home track is friend and driving mentor – not to mention 2013 British GT Championship runner-up – Declan Jones.
The Liverpool-based racer eagerly accepted John’s offer to experience the tight and technical Golspie curves, a new experience for him.
John said: “Declan has been a superb mentor for me so far. His British GT experience has helped me a great deal.
“I am relishing the opportunity to compete against him in what will be his introduction to the world of sprinting.”
The rivalry is likely to be good natured but intense as, for the first time this year, it will be the apprentice who has the experience.
The pair hope to team up for a British or possibly European endurance race at some point later in the season – for which, they are seeking sponsorship.
John, who only secured his public driving licence in November after turning 17, burst onto the national sprint scene last year to win the fastest outright and scratch driver in the Scottish Sprint Championship Top Ten as well as being voted Scottish Sprint Newcomer of the Year, setting records and winning other accolades.
Still living in Tain, the youngster said his academic plans for the future were still “up in the air” but that he was waiting to hear back about an application to undertake a motorsport course at Loughborough College.