Ireland's James Roe Jr., from Naas capped off his debut season racing in the US at the New Jersey Motorsports Park by driving his Mazda-powered Elan to a second place overall in the championship.

A win and a 3rd place finish in New Jersey propelled him to a 2nd place finish in the overall championship having come into the weekend in fourth overall. Roe Jr. was not only looking for strong individual race performances, but to move up in the season championship standings – he was able to achieve both.

For Race 1, Roe Jr. started from P2 on the front row. Once the green flag flew, Roe Jr. seized command of the race and never looked back leading every lap and winning by 3 seconds.

“It was great to start the weekend off with a win” said Roe Jr. “Once I got the lead I just focused on making no errors and I pulled away comfortably”

For Race 2, Roe Jr. started from P4 following an incredibly competitive qualifying session with the top 4 cars being separated by a mere .083 seconds. Roe Jr. ended up finishing on the podium in 3rd   place.

“Race 2 was a little frustrating” said Roe. Jr. “The start was messy as the leader never did a rolling start from pole position before. I fell back some places initially then worked on getting back up the order. By the time I got back into P3 the lead two had broken away. It was a pity as I had a fast car, fast enough for the fastest race lap.

“Overall I think it was a very positive year. Obviously we had some misfortune from the DNF’s so we ended up 2nd in the overall championship in my first year here in the US, which is really encouraging.”