James Nicholas has been confirmed as the PalmerSport Ginetta Shootout winner after he impressed judges at the final assessment day at Donington Park on Monday 11 March. James has earned a fully financed drive in the 2024 Ginetta GT Academy as part of a total prize estimated to be worth £100,000.
James and rival David Williams were selected from a crop of more than 50 drivers during an intensive evaluation process at Bedford Autodrome, home of the PalmerSport event, last week. They progressed to the winner-takes-all shootout at Donington which featured an ARDS Race Licence test and a final assessment in the Ginetta GT Academy race car itself.
James won over the judges on the day, which included Mike Simpson, Ginetta’s Head of Motorsport, and PalmerSport’s Chief Instructors, Rob Jenkinson and Christian Vann, with his speed and car control and was announced as the winning driver on Monday evening. He will now return to Bedford for further testing ahead of the Ginetta GT Academy’s opening race weekend at Oulton Park on Easter Weekend (29 March – 1 April).
James said: “I’m so unbelievably happy, I’m trying to contain myself a little bit, I’m over the moon. I didn’t expect to win, it was an amazing day and hopefully I don’t let anyone down. Everyone dreams of winning, but deep down you never think you’re going to. It still feels a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve been on an adrenaline rush for days waiting for this.
“My target for Oulton is experience, get through it unscathed and try and improve. Everyone wants to come first, that always is the aim, but for my first race ever, at a track I don’t know, I need to get through it, don’t do anything silly, hopefully improve and build up the championship as it goes.”
David, who ran James close through the entire process, said: “It is unfortunate. I feel like I did as good as I could have done, got to drive some really cool cars and someone’s got an awesome opportunity. It is what it is, I wish James the best, I want to thank PalmerSport and Ginetta for the opportunity.”
Christian Vann said: “It came down to not just the lap times, but driving technique as well. And they were really fine margins - both drivers did an absolutely fantastic job!
“It was so difficult to pick a winner but after much deliberation and backwards and forwards we decided on the one that potentially had more scope over the full season.”
Rob Jenkinson said: “We’re looking forward to getting James back to Bedford Autodrome where we’re going to hone his skills ready for Oulton Park, which is only three weeks away. We’re confident that as the season progresses he’s going to really up his game. I’m targeting a podium by the end of the season for sure and that would be a great achievement in his first year.”
James will line up on the grid at Oulton Park for his first ever car race in this year’s Ginetta GT Academy season on Saturday 30 March, supporting the prestigious British GT Championship. He will compete in seven events, a total of 21 races, in the PalmerSport-branded Ginetta G56 GTA race car, which will be run by the Ginetta factory team. We’ll be following his progress closely and sharing regular updates across our social media channels.
PalmerSport is already planning to run another competition to win a full season’s in next year’s Ginetta GT Academy, once again in partnership with Ginetta Cars. Details will be announced in due course. For any enquiries in the meantime please email [email protected].