With seven races to go in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Century Motorsport’s Tom Oliphant holds a 59 point championship lead heading into the visit to Rockingham this weekend for the second double header meeting of the season.
Oliphant has been a class above the field in recent meetings, displaying his dominance with three consecutive pole positions, six wins in nine races and eleven consecutive podium finishes to establish a healthy points lead, which he’s confident he can extend further with more wins this weekend in Corby.
The championship leader six races ago was Carl Breeze, but it’s been a torrid recent spell for the 2012 champion with contact at both Snetterton and Knockhill a derailing a challenge he knows he needs to put back on track at Rockingham – a circuit he last won at in 2011.
Oliphant’s closest challenger at the moment is Breeze’s HHC Motorsport team-mate Jamie Orton, who has kept in the title hunt with four podium finishes in the last six races – however a return to the top step for the first time since Oulton Park in June will be key to closing the gap to Oliphant.
Fellow HHC contender Will Burns will be one to watch this weekend meanwhile, having outpaced his title contending team-mates in the last two meetings, setting a new lap record at Snetterton before taking a podium hat-trick at Knockhill – pace he wants to turn in a maiden series victory.
Alongside Oliphant, the other in-form driver at the moment is Tom Wrigley, who has taken consecutive reverse grid victories at Snetterton and Knockhill in his new Rob Boston Racing G55 – success he wants to replicate at Rockingham.
Eager to return to the podium is Michael Caine, who has only featured in the top three twice in the last eleven races, while Ollie Jackson was on the brink with a fourth at Knockhill and is keen to add to his sole top three finish so far at Croft.
Reece Somerfield just missed out on a third podium finish of the campaign at Knockhill, something he’ll hope to make amends for this time out, while the returning Bradley Smith will be one to watch after winning on his last appearance at Croft.
AM class points leader Colin White and fellow regular Chris Ingram will be missing from action at Rockingham – only eight of the ten meetings count towards the final class standings – meaning it will be class-winner Osamu Kawashima, Fraser Robertson and the returning Connaire Finn doing battle in Corby.
Full championship standings ahead of the weekend can be found here.
