Dave Wooder will return to the Ginetta Junior Championship for the 2016 season with Total Control Racing, as they eye a title push for the coming campaign.

Although the Chatham 16-year-old’s rookie season in cars this year was noticeably hindered by a range of difficulties, Wooder’s raw pace was undeniable and he confirmed what might have been possible when he took top four results, and a brace of Rookie Cup wins, at Silverstone and Brands Hatch during the season run-in.

Then, in the standalone Winter Championship earlier this month, the multiple karting champion secured his maiden outright podium result on his way to a top four championship finish for the West Midlands team.

Thrilled to have retained Wooder for 2016, especially with the deal completed so soon after the conclusion of the winter campaign, TCR team principal Lee Brookes is confident – all things being equal – the teenager will be a very real championship threat in his second season in Ginettas.

He said: “It’s fantastic for us to have Dave staying part of the team for next year, he’s a very quick driver and definitely had the pace to win races this season – he was just very, very unlucky.

“I’ve got absolutely no doubt at all he can fight for the championship in 2016. The speed is there, he’s got good racecraft and, with a full year of experience under his belt, he’s going to be very strong.”

Wooder arrived in the popular British Touring Car Championship support category off the back of a glittering karting career, one which delivered Kartmasters Grand Prix and British Open Junior Rotax titles in 2014 as well as the Vice-Champion’s spot in Super 1 and at the World Finals in Valencia.

During his early years in karting, the Kent youngster also won the Formula 6 crown in 2009 and was Vice-Champion in the Super 1 Cadet Series and ABkC National Open the following year. In 2013 he also won the European International Open.

Very happy to have wrapped-up his TCR deal to remain in Ginetta Junior next season, a delighted Wooder said: “We had a tough season this year with a lot of problems that were out of our control, so we’re all more determined than ever to hit the ground running in 2016 and mount a big challenge for the championship.

“Everyone at TCR did a fantastic job with the car this year, they worked so hard to try and get to the bottom of the power problems we had which did impact a lot of the season. The last few races at Silverstone and Brands Hatch, and then the Winter Championship too, proved what we know we are capable of. I’m focused on nothing other than race wins and the title next year.”

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