Tom Sharp Took His Eighth Win Of The Year - Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Tom Sharp took victory in a dramatic Round 26 of the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, the IDL driver taking the win in a race split in half by a red flag after an early accident between two G50 runners.
Championship rivals Adam Morgan and Carl Breeze started the race on the front row and a slow getaway saw Morgan under pressure at the start. Breeze stormed ahead to take the lead from Nathan Freke, who dived around the outside to take second ahead of Morgan and Sharp.
Freke was straight onto the rear of Breeze and the Century Motorsport driver made a move at Brooklands, ending up in contact between the two. While Freke spun, Breeze stayed pointing forwards, but the Total Control Racing man ran wide and fell behind Sharp and Morgan, the latter falling behind after having to back off in avoidance of Freke.
In the G50 class, Mark Johnston led in eighth, while a good opening lap for Andrew Richardson saw him take second ahead of Jake Hill and newcomer Mark Davies, however a couple of laps later contact at Brooklands saw Richardson spin, dropping him to the back.
Also in the wars was his younger sister Louise Richardson, the former Ginetta Junior star getting caught up in heavycontact with Aaron Williamson on the opening lap, ending with both retiring with extensive damage. After a few laps, the race was then placed under the safety car as they tried to retrieve the stricken G50’s, but after having limited success, the decision was made to red flag the race.
The recovery crews then finished their work and after a hefty delay, the race was restarted with the cars lining up on the grid in the positions they were before the stoppage. This put Sharp on pole for the new race, which would be run over fifteen minutes. After another short delay, caused by an issue with the doctor car, the race finally restarted with Sharp getting away well to lead.
Morgan slotted into second, while jumping onto third was George Murrells, pushing championship leader Breeze into fourth. Colin White sat fifth, under pressure from a recovering Freke, who eventually made his way by on lap five.
Morgan knew a win would help his championship bid, so set about chasing down the leader. He closed up, but was unable to get ahead though, Sharp holding on for his eighth win of the season. Morgan took second for a remarkable nineteenth podium of the season, moving him to within four points of the top of the championship standings, while a great move in the complex late on saw Breeze take third ahead of Murrells.
Freke took fifth after a late puncture for David McDonald, who had held the spot comfortably for the majority of the race. White took sixth ahead of Freddie Hetherington, while eighth overall was G50 class winner Hill. The Tollbar Racing driver broke away in the lead after the restart, leaving Johnston in second. The Redbrick Racing driver held the place until the last lap, when Richardson forced his way through at the final corner after a strong run through the field, finishing tenth overall. Johnston took third, ahead of Davies and Rob Gaffney.
