Jonathan Hadfield won the Ginetta GT5 Challenge race one at Silverstone by 1.254 seconds as he attempted to close the gap on Ollie Chadwick in the championship.
A fuel pump issue saw Chadwick stop early in the qualifying session, as he set himself up for a tough race from half way round the final corner. Back at the front J Hadfield made the most of the opportunity by quickly holding off the challenge for the lead.
It didn’t last long though as Matt Chapman soon took the initiative, taking the inside line as the pair barrelled into Stowe. The race was short lived though as a spinner further back wiped out Steven Wells in the #36. After an unfortunate touch in front, the Ginetta was sent backwards and reversed across the track into the path of Wells, who T-Boned his opponent.
Chadwick had made a lightning start as he weaved his way through the field, gaining 25 places in just the opening lap. Another large chunk of the field was quickly disposed of, meaning that after two laps he was already up to seventh.
The safety car had been called after the Wells incident, as the marshals removed the striken Ginetta G40. This allowed J Hadfield to reset and make the most of the restart, eventually retaking the lead from Chapman. The tussle had allowed the rest of the field to catch up as Ryan Hadfield took third off Jack Minshaw.
After losing the lead, Chapman was unable to maintain momentum, eventually falling into the clutches of the drivers behind. Ian Robinson and Chadwick created a six car train for the lead and after dropping to the bottom of the podium, Robinson went for a daring overtake, spinning the former race leader.
As the race drew to a close, J Hadfield looked comfortable out in front as Matt Flowers and R Hadfield soon found themselves under pressure. Unfortunetly for Ryan he was unable to hold off Chadwick on the final lap dropping to fourth overall.
Robinson would claim fifth overall as Matt Palmer took sixth ahead of the struggling Minshaw who lost third after running off track as the safety car was called. Glen Broster would finish eighth as Chapman and Alexis Taylor were only able to round out the top ten after falling back in the closing laps.
