It was guest drivers Nigel Moore and Jonathan Adam who took the wins in Rounds 21 and 22 of the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup on a sunny Sunday at Knockhill. Though, with neither driver picking up championship points, it was title protagonist Frank Wrathall who took full points for both races, helping him to move back in the championship lead after a nightmare weekend for rival Carl Breeze.
It was Moore who held pole position for the first of the day's races, with Wrathall alongside him. Century Motorsport's Benji Hetherington and Breeze made up row two. Moore led away as the lights went out, quickly pulling away a small advantage at the front.
Wrathall soon caught the former champion up though and went about trying to pressurise Moore into a mistake. It worked on lap six, the Dynojet star taking the lead at Scotsman with a great pass. Once out in the lead, Wrathall was unable to shake off Moore's attentions and lost the place back again on lap 11, Moore sliding past at the Hairpin. Not wishing to fight anymore and risk full championship points, Wrathall soon settled for second. This gave Moore a clear run to the line, taking the win by just over a second, with Wrathall picking up his sixteenth podium of the season in second.
Behind, Hetherington had to work hard all race to keep Breeze behind, before a mistake by Breeze under braking at the Hairpin on lap 21 saw him slide down the pack. Despite recovering a couple of places, another small moment at Leslie's later in the race saw him drop down the pack again, finally finishing in 10th. Hetherington had a trouble free remainder of the race to pick up his ninth podium of the season.
Taking Breeze's place in fourth was former BTCC driver Adam, who worked his way up from 8th on the grid in the guest car. He was followed by Freddie Hetherington, Tom Sharp and Colin White, who picked up the Chairman's Cup honours in eighth. Aaron Williamson and Breeze rounded out the top ten.
With just the top four chosen to be reversed for the final race of the weekend, it was Adam who started on pole, joined on the front row by Benji Hetherington, with Wrathall and Moore on row two.
After a swift getaway, local hero Adam came under early pressure from fellow front row starter Hetherington. But after shaking him off, the former Seat Cupra and Renault Clio Cup champion set about pulling an advantage at the front and soon did so, remaining untroubled for the remainder of the race to record his first win in the G50 Cup by over 8.5 seconds, recording the race's fastest lap in the process.
With Adam driving away into the distance, all the action was behind, with a three way battle for the podium places. The first to make a move was Moore, getting past Wrathall on the first lap at Scotsman, before sneaking past Hetherington on the next lap for second, who then lost third to Wrathall later in the lap. The trio's positions remained unchanged for a long period, before Moore lost second to Wrathall after running wide on lap 16, but he quickly regained his place. That's how the positions remained, Moore taking his third podium of the weekend in second, with Wrathall picking up full championship points in third, ahead of Hetherington.
Arguably the most controversial moment of the race occurred on lap 12 at the Hairpin. Championship protagonist Breeze was running in eighth, closely pursuing Freddie Hetherington ahead. As they entered the hairpin, Mark Davies in his Optimum G50 dived past Williamson for ninth, but in the process clipped the back of Breeze's car, sending Breeze spinning, the TCR man recovering the finish ninth.
Ahead, missing the carnage was Adam Morgan, finishing fifth, ahead Williamson, Joachim Ritter and Breeze. Neil Houston finished tenth, in the process securing his second Chairman's Cup honours of the weekend, after chief rival White went off at the Chicane on Lap 17. Davies' contact saw him end up the last of the finishers in eleventh.
As they leave Scotland, the championship standings show Wrathall holding a nine point lead over Breeze in the title battle. Though in truth, the gap is much bigger, as with the series' double 'drop score' taken into consideration, Wrathall's lead is a much larger 32 points. This leaves Breeze much to do as the series heads to Donnington Park in two weeks time for the penultimate triple header of the season.
Provisional 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd22):
1st Frank Wrathall, 608pts
2nd Carl Breeze, 599pts
3rd Benji Hetherington, 421pts
4th Tom Sharp, 401pts
5th Adam Morgan, 382pts
6th Freddie Hetherington, 326pts
