Geri Nicosia endured a difficult weekend in the fifth round of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Croft.

The Risborough youngster had to contend with engine failure, safety cars and another car running into him as he bought home 19th and 17th place finishes in race one and two respectively.

Qualifying set the tone for a tough two days of racing as an incident on his first lap of the session curtailed his participation.

The 15-year-old was unable to set a time after launching over a kerb on the first corner, causing his engine to cut-out and forcing him to park up in the garage.

His misfortune left him last on the grid for the start of race one, although he had shot up to 16th by the end of the first lap having gained six places by the exit of turn one.

Nicosia had made his way up to 13th when an incident among the backmarkers caused the safety car to be deployed, and he gained two more places when it returned to the pits.

Disaster struck shortly after, however, as the Sir William Borlase’s pupil was hit from behind, causing him to spin and slide down to 20th.

He recovered to make up one place before the chequered flag, although it left him with ground to make up from 19th on the grid for race two.

The final race of the day bought a 17th place finish for Nicosia, who was held up after making a couple of positions early on.

“The incident in race one wasn’t malicious, but it ruined our weekend costing me a certain 11th place,” he said.

“With the right starting position I’m sure we would have made top ten in race two, but we can take away that the car is running much better now”

The pair of results earned Nicosia six points towards his season’s tally and left him 15th in the standings ahead of Snetterton on 8-9 August.