THE first season of Narberth's Harri Reynolds with the Assetto Motorsport Racing Team has been deemed a success after high place finishes in the Ginetta Junior Sportscar Racing Championship.

Harri finished the championship in eleventh place and fourth rookie overall.

Harri had his first championship race at Silverstone and the young Welshman took a creditable sixth place in the qualifying battle.

Harri’s highest finish of the weekend was eighth in the first of the three races, scoring two ‘Rookie’ podiums.

The Welsh racer did also have the disappointment of his first non-finish of the year in race three due to a broken driveshaft. 

For the series penultimate round drivers and teams moved to the Leicestershire region and the demanding Donington Park circuit in early October, where again three races faced the Michelin Ginetta Junior contenders.

Harri was again on the pace, his Assetto Motorsport car qualifying fifth, his best of the year, and finished the first race just one place lower and third ‘Rookie’ getting the podium spot again.

The second race was interrupted, the red flag coming out mid distance after an incident, leaving just a six lap sprint to the chequered flag once the safety car pitted, and Harri took a determined sixth placing.

Race three was amazing for the Assetto Motorsport Welsh driver. After a poor start from eighth Harri was initially dropping back, but he got himself into determined mode, passing cars ahead and then fighting his way further forward to finish a morale boosting third overall, only for the stewards to intervene, handing him a time penalty for an alleged short cut at the high speed chicane on the very last lap, that penalty dropping him disappointingly back to fourth.

The final race weekend of the championship year was back at Brands Hatch in late October.

Again the Reynolds Fencing car took eighth place in qualifying, and a ninth position in the first race, though sadly the racing rather collapsed, Harri and many others unable to race at normal speeds with cars in gravel traps, no overtaking, and red flag stoppages from other accidents on the track meaning there were only a few laps in each race.

On reflection he and experienced rally driver, dad Julian Reynolds, felt that had they been able to do more testing pre-season then they could have done even better, but in what had been a major step up for the young Welsh racer as it was, by the end of the season Harri was one of the quickest in the championship.

Thoughts for the Reynolds Fencing family team now turn to the Championship prospects for 2022 and a new attack on the Michelin Ginetta Juniors series, Julian Reynolds saying: "We are working hard to try and do the championship again next year."