Richardson Racing has confirmed that it will field a multi-car line-up in the 2021 Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship, which kicks off this weekend at Thruxton.
The Corby-based team will head into the new season looking to maintain the front-running form it has displayed in the highly-competitive one-make series in recent years - winning races with the likes of Luke Browning, Will Martin and Georgi Dimitrov.
Having previously confirmed a deal with Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner Robert de Haan, the first overseas driver to take the coveted award, the team can now reveal that British youngsters Oliver Flashman and Edward Pearson will both feature within the driver line-up for the season ahead.
Oliver makes the move up into car racing after enjoying a successful career in karting, having first hit the track at the age of just eight years old.
The Essex racer has gone on to secure multiple championship titles and made the final 25 in the battle secure the 2020 Ginetta Junior Scholarship crown.
Recent months have seen Oliver hard at work testing his his Ginetta G40 at circuits around the UK in preparation for the new season, whilst away from the circuit, the 16-year-old has been busy working on his fitness and has ultilised a professional simulator in order to give him the best possible chance of success on track.
Team-mate Edward will also be making his maiden appearance in the series and it another former Ginetta Junior Scholarship finalist, having made the final 25 for the 2021 award ultimately won by his new team-mate Robert.
The 14-year-old from Guildford in Surrey is another driver with an impressive background in karting, with a top five finish in the X30 Mini category of the British Karting Championship in 2019 being followed up with a similar result in the X30 Junior category of the European Championship Winter Cup last year.
Like Oliver, Edward has also benefitted from an extensive testing programme in recent months in preparation for the new season, which will kick off at the fastest circuit on the calendar next weekend before taking in eight further events at the UK’s leading circuits across the course of the year.
"We’re pleased to officially confirm a multi-car line-up for the new Ginetta Junior Championship season, and are looking forward to getting things underway properly at Thruxton next weekend," team boss Gwyn Richardson said.
"Although Robert, Oliver and Edward are all new to car racing, their performances in karting have shown that they that have the talent to be successful on track, and all three have worked extremely hard during a busy pre-season testing programme.
"They have all made impressive progress over the course of the winter and with the pace they have shown so far, we are confident that they will be firmly in the mix amongst the rookie drivers at least this year."
