Katie Milner has been declared the 2016 Junior Saloon Car champion after winning her eligibility appeal about the Knockhill weekend.
Katie had been leading the championship before losing her Knockhill results. Winning her appeal sees her first and fourth places from that weekend reinstated giving her the title.
Even without the appeal, Katie had gone to the final weekend with a chance at the title along with four other drivers. Despite winning the final round at Silverstone with a dramatic move up for third at the final corner after starting ninth, she hadn’t quite enough points so Matteo Zanetti had been awarded the provisional title but with the successful appeal the positions are reversed.
Katie took eight wins in total during the season with seven fastest laps and her championship win makes her the most successful female junior driver beating Moore’s previous record of five wins in a season.
Katie gave this message on hearing the news of being declared champion;
“The last few weeks have been tempered with mixed emotions, experiencing the high of ‘that lap’ in the last race of the season, the low of potentially losing the championship, to that feeling of excitement driving the Ginetta for the first time.
But nothing beats this feeling where I can now officially call myself ‘the Junior Saloon Car Champion 2016!!’
This now not only makes me the most successful female junior racer, but the first ever female to win the junior saloon car championship
None of this however, would have been possible without my family, my team, my sponsors, fellow competitors or the Junior Saloon Car Championship.
To those that have followed my career so far, this is as much for you as it is for me, and look forward to sharing future and anticipated successes with you.”
Katie will now pick up the championship trophy at the BARC awards in Feburary.
But before that, Katie will head to Brands Hatch this weekend to compete in the Ginetta Junior winter series. This is her last chance to compete in a junior championship before she turns 17 and she hopes to add to her success in the JSCC this season. By Marc Waller
