The 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup produced the sixth different champion in the championship’s history, with Tom Wrigley emerging victorious following a stellar campaign in which he led the way on race wins, pole positions and fastest laps.
The season would produce six different race-winners, eleven podium visitors and 21 separate top ten finishers in total, with a number of drivers making their mark in a competitive 2016 campaign – a full statistical breakdown of which can be found below:
Wins
9 – Tom Wrigley
7 – Jamie Orton
3 – Will Burns
2 – Carl Boardley
1 – Mark Davies, Tom Hibbert
Podiums
17 – Burns
16 – Wrigley
12 – Orton
8 – Boardley
5 – Davies
3 – Hibbert, Ben Green
2 – Reece Somerfield
1 – Rob Wheldon, Callum Pointon, Jack Mitchell
Top Six Finishes
21 – Burns
19 – Boardley
18 – Wrigley
14 – Davies, Hibbert
13 – Orton
10 – Pointon
8 – Green
6 – Somerfield
4 – Mitchell
3 – Wheldon, Rob Gaffney
2 – Declan Jones, Colin White
1 – Chris Ingram
Top Ten Finishes
21 – Wrigley, Burns, Pointon
20 – Boardley
19 – Davies, Hibbert
16 – Green, Gaffney
14 – Orton
13 – Somerfield
12 – White
8 – Ingram
6 – Wheldon
5 – Mitchell, David Brooks
3 – Grahame Tilley, Fraser Robertson
2 – Jones, Jack Bartholomew, Ollie Chadwick
1 – Mike Newbold
Wrigley looked on course to equal or break the Supercup record of eleven wins in a season, but would eventually stall at nine, though he did make new ground with the most consecutive podium finishes to start the season in thirteen.
Wrigley would end the season with the worst podium percentage, 69.6%, of any Supercup champion so far though, the next lowest being Adam Morgan/Charlie Robertson on 74.1%, whilst on the other side, Burns recorded the best ever podium percentage, 73.9%, of any driver not to win the title.
Burns was joined by Boardley and Hibbert in securing their first Supercup race wins this season, with Hibbert joining Green, Wheldon, Pointon and Mitchell in gracing the Supercup podium for the first time this year – meaning the series now has 44 different podium finishers in its history.
AM Class Wins
18 – White
2 – Ingram
1 – Tilley, Robertson, Brooks
AM Class Podiums
18 – White
16 – Ingram
11 – Tilley
9 – Robertson
7 – Brooks
6 – James Guess
2 – Chris Car
White has been the dominant force in the AM class over the past two seasons with CWS Racing, as shown by his tally of 32 wins (71.1%) and 38 podiums (84.4%) in the 45 races he’s contested – his second AM title coming in the season within which he surpassed 100 starts overall in the series.
Pole Positions
4 – Wrigley
2 – Orton
1 – Burns, Boardley
Top Three Qualifying Results
7 – Wrigley
6 – Orton
3 – Burns
2 – Boardley, Davies
1 – Wheldon, Pointon, Green, Mitchell
Top Six Qualifying Results
7 – Wrigley, Burns, Orton
5 – Boardley, Davies, Hibbert
4 – Green
3 – Pointon
1 – Somerfield, Wheldon, Gaffney, Jones, Mitchell
Qualifying Average
2.14 – Orton
2.75 – Wrigley
3.75 – Burns
4.75 – Boardley
5.63 – Davies
6.88 – Green
7.25 – Pointon
8.13 – Hibbert
8.71 – Gaffney
10.17 – Somerfield
While Wrigley qualified on pole and in the top three more than anyone this year, Orton came away with the best average courtesy of qualifying in the top five in every session he contested, with Wrigley’s average dropping from 1.71 to 2.75 courtesy of his tenth place start in the finale.
Orton’s two pole positions would move him up to six overall in his Supercup career, putting him tied third with Charlie Robertson in the all-time standings, while both Burns and Boardley would top Supercup qualifying sessions for the first time this year
Races Led
9 – Wrigley
7 – Orton
4 – Boardley, Hibbert
3 – Burns, Davies
1 – Pointon
Laps Led
141 – Wrigley
90 – Orton
45 – Boardley
37 – Hibbert, Davies
15 – Burns
8 – Pointon
Miles Led
236.67 – Wrigley
172.58 – Orton
74.58 – Boardley
69.75 – Davies
62.10 – Hibbert
23.55 – Burns
13.12 – Pointon
Fastest Laps
9 – Wrigley
5 – Orton
4 – Boardley
2 – Burns, Davies
1 – Hibbert
While Wrigley, Orton and Burns would win all the races they led this season, the drivers with the least successful hit-rate would be Hibbert, who would only win one of the four races he led, and Pointon, who would end the year as the only driver to lead a race and not win one.
Places Gained From Grid Position
56 – Green
55 – Somerfield
53 – White
37 – Davies
31 – Hibbert
30 – Wrigley, Gaffney, Brooks
29 – Boardley
28 – Pointon
26 – Ingram
25 – Burns
22 – Robertson
4 – Orton
Biggest Points Haul From Three Race Weekend
108 – Wrigley (Donington Park)
97 – Orton (Rockingham)
91 – Wrigley (Brands Hatch Indy)
88 – Boardley (Silverstone)
87 – Burns (Rockingham)
86 – Burns (Brands Hatch GP)
84 – Boardley (Brands Hatch GP)
83 – Burns (Brands Hatch Indy)
79 – Orton (Brands Hatch Indy), Wrigley (Silverstone)
77 – Davies (Rockingham)
74 – Boardley (Donington Park), Burns (Silverstone)
70 – Hibbert (Rockingham), Orton (Silverstone), Mitchell (Brands Hatch GP)
Wrigley’s Donington Park heroics would see him finish just one point shy of a perfect score from the weekend, with just the race two fastest lap eluding him. There have only been two perfect weekends in series history, Tom Ingram at Croft in 2013 and Tom Sharp at Thruxton in 2012
While Green gained the most places across the campaign, the single-best drive came from Davies, who moved up from 18th to 6th in race two at Silverstone. There were three other drivers who gained ten places in a race – Wrigley (Round 17), Mitchell (Round 19) and Somerfield (Round 22).
The driver to move forwards in the most races this year was Burns, who gained ground in fourteen races for a total of 25 positions. The next best were Green and White, who moved forwards in thirteen races each, whilst remarkably, Orton would only do so in three races all year.
If you missed it, our 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup season review can be found here.