The event will feature a 30 minute qualifying session followed by two 2hr endurance races. There will be a four tier class system in place, made up of G40’s, G50’s, G55’s and an ‘all-comers’ open class for Ginetta’s competing in GT racing across the globe.

The event will combine the Ginetta GT Supercup and Ginetta Challenge grids for the first time and will be open to either one or two driver teams, featuring two mandatory timed pit stops. The prizes for the series are still to be announced.

Ginetta Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson said: “This will be Ginetta’s first one-make endurance race and a great opportunity to amalgamate the Supercup and Challenge grids creating the first Ginetta GT Endurance Championship. Ginetta Teams and drivers who have never done endurance racing will experience the mandatory pit stop, refuelling and driver changes common in GT endurance racing at all levels

“It will be fantastic to see all of our championships and GT drivers/teams from GT4/GT3, and international series’, together in the same paddock for the first time. We want to push the Ginetta GT career ladder further so endurance racing is an important step and something we may look to do more of in the future.”

The Winter Cup will run alongside the Ginetta Junior Winter Series, which returns for 2011. It will consist of a fifteen minute qualifying session followed by four twenty minute races. Previous winners include Josh Hill in 2008, current Ginetta GT Supercup driver Aaron Williamson in 2009 and current Ginetta Junior championship leader Seb Morris last year.

Tomlinson added: “The Junior Winter Series is an excellent prospect for 14 – 17yr old drivers looking to get into motorsport for the first time, or step up from karting, to drive a race car at one of the UK’s most prestigious circuits.”

“For older Juniors exiting the Ginetta Junior Championship this year, the senior GT Winter Series will be a great opportunity for anyone looking to progress their careers to try a bigger car alongside existing Supercup drivers, it will also offer a great entry point for licence holders looking to enter the GT Supercup Championship in 2012.”

In preparation for the Winter Cup endurance event, the next GT Supercup outing at Rockingham will have a change in format. Instead of the usual three twenty minute races, Rockingham will host two extended races, thirty minutes in length, a sprint race on Saturday and a one pitstop race on Sunday, including a mandatory two wheel change. The season ending rounds at Silverstone will also run a similar extended-race pit stop format, details that will be confirmed at a later date.

He said: “We looked at it initially a couple of years when it became the G50 Championship but it wasn’t viable. We’ve managed to put together a late deal and I just fancied a change from the Clios. I’ve been in the Clios a long time and the next progression from Clios is Touring Cars, but that comes with a higher price tag, so let’s try a sidestep and see where we can go from here really.”

Despite the move into a more sportscar based series, competing in the British Touring Car Championship is still the ambition for Gaffney: “Touring Cars is always the route. With the ladder Ginetta have got, it’s always good to be in their books, especially with the G55 and the touring car drive; which could be a thing we aim for next year.”

After competing in the Clio Cup for so long, Gaffney acknowledges he will have to change his driving style for the G50:  “It’s going to be a lot different; I drove the Junior Ginetta’s in 05 and 06 and learnt my trade in rear wheel drive, so it’s kind of going back to what I know. I had to learn a lot in the front wheel drive but now it’s just putting more power in the rear wheel drive.”

The switch to the Supercup sees Gaffney return to his roots, after he competed in the Ginetta Junior Championship back in 2005 and 2006. The 21 year old has been impressed with the way Ginetta have grown since then:  “We started our when it was a very small company, we brought the fifth Junior Ginetta ever made and we still had to kind of fix half of it as we brought it.

“It’s been very impressive, especially since Lawrence Tomlinson from LMT has taken it all over, how big they’ve now become, obviously building the G50, the new G40’s and the G55. They’re very impressive cars and the build quality is so much better than what they used to be.”

After running with the likes of Robertshaw Racing and Westbourne Motorsport in the past, Gaffney is now running his own team Meridian Motorsport, which he admits is a tougher way of doing it: “It is hard work; you’ve got a lot more during the week time. I’m quite lucky I’ve got the time to go through the car if we need to, to prep it. But it is hard, just the logistics of getting the thing up here, it becomes much harder to transport mechanics out, if things go wrong you’ve then got to be on the floor as well as driving the thing. It can be quite hard but if you plan it right, you can do it properly.”

Gaffney, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, had his first chance to drive his G50 during the Media Day’s first 25-minute session around the Silverstone National circuit, though a mechanical fault stopped him completing a single lap: “We had a problem with the prop-shaft, three out the six bolts managed to snap about 50 yards from the pit garage, so that wasn’t particularly very good.”

The problem now leaves him with very little time left to get to grips with the car before the first race: “We’ve now got the two sessions left here today and then Friday practice at Brands, so it’s a bit of a steep learning curve.”

Despite the troubles, Gaffney is still looking for success from the off this season: “It’s going to be hard but our aim is podiums and if we can get a good couple of podiums in the first couple of rounds then we hope we can get the sponsors to carry on the rest of the year.”

The recently crowned BRDC Rising Star handled the transition from his old Ginetta G40 to the bigger, more powerful G50 very well, showing pace that hinted at him being a title-challenger if he manages to enter the series.

Ingram commented: “The track was mega greasy all day, and with the G50 being such a powerful car, they weren’t the best conditions to be going out in! I love those kinds of conditions, though, and they always seem to suit my driving style quite well.

“The G50 is a lot bigger, heavier and quicker than the G40, but the handling characteristics – in the wet, at least – are actually very similar from the point-of-view of how it turns in, and I was straight into it after only about five or six laps, to be honest.

“It was so much fun to drive, just awesome! One of the mechanics asked me afterwards when the last time I had been out in a G50 was – and he didn’t believe me when I told him never! I hadn’t even sat in any kind of racing car since November.

“It was great to be back out in a car again – especially at Silverstone – and I absolutely loved the G50! I was on-track for 40 minutes straight to begin with, and I just didn’t want to get out of the car at the end of it – I wanted to be able to drive it all day!”

Ingram ran with Century Motorsport, an experienced G50 outfit run by ex-driver Nathan Freke, and was quick to praise them for the help during the test: “The couple of years’ experience that the team has in the championship certainly told when we looked through the data, as they were able to show me near enough immediately where there was room for me to improve. It was great to work with a previous champion, too – Nathan really knows all the ins-and-outs of the car, and exactly what is needed. I’ve known him for years, and we get on really well.”

The youngster, who has recently been offered a job as an expert instructor at Bedford Autodrome, added that he is sure he can be competitive if he finds the funds to compete: “I’d do anything to be on the grid this year – I want it so badly! After winning the Ginetta Junior Championship last year, I think it would be a real travesty if I can’t carry on. I know how much I learned and how much my driving improved through working with Hillspeed in 2010, so I’m confident I could pretty much jump into the G50 and be on the pace straightaway.”

2009 Ginetta G50 Champion Freke was quick to praise Ingrams performance: “From seeing how he had got on in a touring car back in November, I thought Tom would adapt to the G50 fairly quickly – and he didn’t disappoint. He is clearly very good and extremely quick, and if you give him the equipment he will get to grips with it.

“Conditions were less-than-ideal – it was very cold and very wet, and the track was just like ice. If it had been a nice, sunny day the car would have been confidence-inspiring, but it was just the opposite! Despite that, Tom went out for a couple of half-hour sessions and after just 20 laps he had got to within half-a-second of a very experienced racer who we had out in our other car, which I thought was phenomenal.

“He has simply got natural talent inside a racing car; he doesn’t have any fear of getting it out-of-shape or taking it to the limit, which is quite a nice change. To get down to the kind of lap times that he did in such a short space of time is really promising, and as long as he can compete this year, he will be up at the front, no doubt about that. We’ve got the set-up and he’s got the talent, so he’ll be in the title fight. Tom definitely has the pace to win the championship.”

Action.

Incident.

Controversy.

This year has had it all, and The Checkered Flag has generally not been fair behind. With 2010 increasingly a memory, we have season reviews from the entire spectrum of racing, and all are linked here – think of this as the ‘box set’ of 2010 reviews. Take the phone off the hook, put the kettle on and follow the links and enjoy 2010 all over again.

Formula One – reviews by David Bean
Part One: Spark Plugs, Wheel Nuts, Monsoons and Ash
Part Two: Red Bull Fighting
Part Three: Fernando Is Faster Than You All
Part Four: Late Resurgence Gives Vettel Title

FIA GT1 World Championship season review – by James Broomhead

World Touring Car Championship season review – by Peter Allen

DTM season review – by Peter Allen

British Touring Car Championship season review – by James Broomhead
Ginetta G50 Cup season review – by Simon Paice
Ginetta Juniors season review – by Simon Paice
Renault Clio Cup season review – by Simon Paice
Formula Renault UK season review – by Simon Paice

British GT Championship season review – by James Broomhead
British Formula Three season review – by James Warnette

NASCAR Sprint Cup season review – by Kevin Ambrose

Endurance Racing – reports by James Broomhead
Le Mans 24 Hours
Nurburgring 24 Hours
Spa 24 Hours
Britcar 24 Hours – through the race reports by Chris Gurton, James Warnette and James Broomhead

Heading into the 2010 season, both title contenders were desperate to take the crown to make up for previous G50 heartache. For Wrathall, 2008 and 2009 had seen him twice agonisingly finish runner up in the series. For Breeze, he was in contention in 2009 until a horrendous accident at Oulton Park forced him to miss a few rounds and lose his opportunity.

It was Wrathall who was quickest out the gates, with two wins and two other full points’ scores in the first couple of meetings giving him the early lead in the championship. However, Breeze fought back at the next three rounds, with four wins in five races, followed by three podiums at Croft, swinging the championship pendulum his way at the halfway mark of the season.

After trading wins at the next two rounds, they rolled into Knockhill for what turned out to be the decisive meeting of the season. A poor weekend by Breeze, that saw him finish the three races 4^th, 10^th and 9^th, was compounded by Wrathall picking up three full points finishes, moving him back into the championship lead.

Wrathall and Carl Breeze duelled all season for title honours

Tough weekends for both drivers at the penultimate meeting at Donington Park saw the title battle go down to the season finale at Brands Hatch. Breeze went on to dominate the opening two races, but a fourth and a third was enough for Wrathall to wrap up the crown with a race to spare.

Behind the title rivals, the best of the rest was Century Motorsport’s Benji Hetherington. On the podium early on, with two at Rockingham and three at Brands Hatch, a dry spell in the middle of the season followed,  before a strong weekend at Silverstone saw him take his maiden win in the series. This proved the catalyst for a great end to the year, with seven podiums in the final nine races, including a spectacular win the final race of the year.

As well as taking third in the championship, Benji also won the battle of the Hetherington’s, beating brother and team mate Freddie. A regular runner at the top end of the pack himself, Freddie took his first podium of the season with third in Round 17 at Snetterton. He went on to go one better in the final race of the year, following Benji home in second to complete a Hetherington one-two, capping off a solid season that saw him finish fifth in the standings.

Benji Hetherington was the breakout driver in the second half of the year

Sandwiched by the Hetheringtons in the final championship standings was IDL’s Tom Sharp. A strong campaign saw him pick up a double podium at Brands Hatch, before going one step further and taking a superb double victory at Croft, his first wins in the G50 Cup. Although not taking any more race wins, he went on to take further podiums at Snetterton and Silverstone. 

Another driver picking up his maiden win during the season was Adam Morgan. Racing for Dynojet, Morgan often found himself racing in Wrathall’s shadow, but had his time in the limelight with victory in Round 14 at Croft. He also picked up podiums at Rockingham, Snetterton and Donington over the course of the season.

One of the stars of the season turned out to the inaugural G50 champion from 2008, Nigel Moore. Returning as a guest driver for a short campaign, Moore took part in eleven races over the course of the year. The 18 year old showed his pure class with a superb run of five wins and a second place in six races at Knockhill and Donington.

Guest drivers have been appearing at every round this year thanks to an initiative that was introduced for 2010, a VIP Guest car, run by Dynojet on behalf of Ginetta Cars UK. Different drivers were invited along to compete at the car at each meeting, to varying success.

Former champ Nigel Moore was a star in the series guest car

First up was World Touring Car Championship star Rob Huff, who dominated the Thruxton weekend, picking up three wins out of three. No other guest driver was able to replicate this feat, with only one more picking up a win, former BTCC driver Jonny Adam on home tarmac at Knockhill. Stefan Hodgetts came close at Croft though, picking up three second place finishes. The guest car was home to a variety of drivers, including ITV commentator Simon Hill, Adrian Newey, the Red Bull Formula 1 team’s chief technical officer and 2010 Renault Clio Cup champion Dave Newsham.

Within the G50 Cup ran the Chairman’s Cup category, a series for the older drivers in the series. For the second year running it was won by CWS Racing’s Colin White, who comfortably picked up the title ahead of closest rival Tony Hughes.

The 2010 season saw a variety of changes introduced to try and spice up the racing, including the guest car and a reverse grid format for Race three of the weekend. These succeeded, with the series once again producing close, thrilling racing and creating one of the most closely fought, captivating championship battles on the TOCA package.

To end, here’s TCF’s choice of Top 5 drivers of the season:

1. Carl Breeze – Might have lost out on the championship, but was the star of the season. He took more wins and podiums than any other driver and his run of 14 podiums in 15 races in the middle of the season was magnificent. Unlucky to lose out on the title again.
2. Frank Wrathall – Used his heartache from years gone by to spur him on to finally taking the championship. Knew the ultimate ambition from the start and drove smartly to take the title without taking unnecessary risks.
3. Benji Hetherington – Enjoyed a very good year, taking fourteen podiums, just two less than the champion. He deserved more than the two wins he got, but should be proud of his achievements.
4. Nigel Moore – Came back and showed why he is a champion in this series. Suits the car perfectly and easily beat the best the series had to offer. He’s gifted with great speed and racecraft and has a top career ahead of him. 
5. Tom Sharp – Had a good season, regularly challenging at the front of the field and picking up podium finishes. His superb double win at Croft was a joy to behold.

Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup. One off races in European GT4 and British Truck Racing Championship.

How old are you?

24.

How long have you been racing?

4 years in Cars, 12 Years including Karting.

What was your first race?

Ginetta G20, Oulton Park 2007. I crashed after 2 corners!

What is your best racing memory?

Brands Hatch this year, winning the G50 Championship.

How was your 2010 season?

Excellent, winning the G50 championship and graduating to the BTCC with my family team is a dream come true.

What are your plans for 2011?

BTCC in a Toyota Avensis with Dynojet

The series, which like the G50 Cup will be supported by French tyre company Michelin, will cater for both the G50 and its new sister car the G55. There will be separate classes for the two cars, with their own points classification and podiums, just like many existing GT competitions.

The Ginetta G55 will be launched at the Autosport International on January 13^th. It will feature a 3.7 litre Ford engine, producing 370bhp, 70 more than the G50. The retail price for the car has been set at £75,000.

Teams running the current G50 will be able to upgrade to a G55 for £25,000. Entry fees for the new Ginetta GT Supercup will be:

·        £9,750 + VAT for a G50  

·        £11,750 + VAT for the G55

Ginetta Boss Lawrence Tomlinson said: “The G50 has dominated GT4 since its launch 2 years ago and proved itself as a real stepping stone into the GT4 arena. By introducing the G55 into the new Ginetta GT Supercup, I want to broaden Ginetta’s offering to all drivers expanding our career ladder even further and highlight a real route into GT3 – whilst still providing an affordable way to enjoy top level racing.”

The Ginetta G50 Cup has been supporting the BTCC since 2009. Frank Wrathall won the title in 2010, and will step up to the BTCC in 2011.

Anyone wanting more information on how to enter the Ginetta GT Supercup should contact Stewart Linn on 0113 3854165 or Simon Finnis on 0113 3854148.

Frank Wrathall wrapped up the championship in the previous race, and opted to sit out the season finale. Chris Dittmann started the race from pole position, courtesy of the top four finishers from Round 27 being reversed for Round 28. Wrathall’s absence meant that Dittmann had the front row all to himself.

He capitalised on this to lead away from pole position, with Benji Hetherington moving into second with Carl Breeze, who had won the earlier two races of the meeting, in third. Freddie Hetherington held fourth early on, while guest driver Dave Newsham got past Mark Davies into fifth. Dan Denis followed him through into sixth, before his car came to a halt on lap two.

By the end of lap five, the top seven cars were running very close, although Dittmann’s chances of victory were ended when he was issued with a drive-through penalty for a false-start. He served his penalty at the end of lap eight, allowing Benji Hetherington to take the lead of the race. His brother and Century Motorsport teammate Freddie was now just behind him in second, having already passed Breeze at Druids on lap seven.

Tom Sharp had been making up places since the start and passed Newsham for fourth at Paddock Hill Bend on lap 11.

Benji Hetherington won the race by 1.6 seconds from his brother, who had held on to second after late pressure from Breeze, who set the fastest lap in his attempt to take the position. Sharp finished fourth, ahead of Newsham and Davies.

Benji said about his win: “It couldn’t have gone much better for me that one, I couldn’t have scripted it! Everything went absolutely perfect and it’s great to have Freddie up there on the podium with me. It proves what we can both do, we’ve won in British GT and I knew it was only a matter of time before we’d do something similar in G50 Cup. It’s as good as it gets for Century Motorsport and ‘Team Hetherington’!”

Breeze led the race from pole position until the end, although Benji Hetherington remained close to him for the whole of the race. Chris Dittmann had been running third, ahead of Wrathall, for most of the race. However, on lap 22 of 24, Dittmann ran wide and Wrathall seized his opportunity to get past.

Behind the top four, Freddie Hetherington finished where he started, in fifth. Mark Davies also maintained his position, finishing sixth. Guest driver Dave Newsham produced a fantastic drive to finish seventh having started at the back of grid. Dan Denis repeated his Round 26 result of eighth, with Swiss driver Joachim Ritter finishing ninth and Julien Draper tenth. Tom Sharp, who had started 14th after retiring from the lead in Round 26, climbed his way into the top seven early on, before a couple of mistakes dropped him to 12th.

Wrathall said about his championship glory: “It’s an amazing feeling to have finally won the championship. We’ve had a fantastic season, the Dynojet team has done an incredible job with the car and we really have had some fantastic results. All credit to Carl, he’s a great driver and racing against someone of his ability – with past BTCC experience – has helped me improve and learn more. It’s been a great year.”

Breeze started the race on the front row alongside polesitter Tom Sharp. Sharp beat Breeze to pole position by just 0.018 seconds. Benji Hetherington qualified third, ahead of Chris Dittmann and Freddie Hetherington. Wrathall qualified in sixth place. Guest driver Dave Newsham had qualified eighth, but was unable to start the race due to engine problems, which came about after a trip through the gravel in qualifying.

Sharp made a great getaway to lead Breeze into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. At Surtees, several cars came together, resulting in retirement for Adam Morgan and Aaron Williamson. Phil Broad and Joachim Ritter were also involved, the latter dropping back having spun on the grass in avoidance.

With Williamson’s car stranded, the safety car was deployed, with the race not being restarted until lap eight. Breeze inherited the lead of the race on lap five though, as Sharp slowed. At the restart Breeze held onto the lead, keeping Benji Hetherington at bay. Benji kept with Breeze for the remainder of the race, with Dittmann just behind. Breeze retained the lead until the checkered flag, setting the fastest lap of the race and a new lap record in the process.

Benji Hetherington finished half a second behind Breeze, with Dittmann completing the podium just 0.6s further back. Wrathall finished in fourth after passing Freddie Hetherington at the start of lap 10. Mark Davies finished sixth, ahead of Julien Draper and Dan Denis. Ritter and Broad recovered from the incident on the opening lap to finish in ninth and tenth respectively.

Breeze, who closed the gap to Wrathall in the standings to 46 points with his win, said: “It’s been so close this weekend but it’s great to win. Tom got a better start than me because of the situation with the lights but I felt I was catching him until the safety car came out. I knew he had a problem with his car in qualifying though and something went wrong again for him in the race which is obviously a shame for him – I know how that feels as I’ve had my fair share of troubles this season which have cost me a lot of championship points.

“I got a reasonable re-start and controlled things from there really. Benji was quicker than me in some parts of the track and I was faster in others so it was a case of hitting all of the apexes and making no mistakes. We’ve pulled back some points on Frank today, it’s not really enough but you never know – it could all change tomorrow but it’s in the lap of the gods!”

Newsham has dominated the Clio Cup this year and had hoped to make his BTCC debut this weekend in a view to taking part in a full BTCC season next year. A decision was made however to conserve budget and race in the G50 Cup, saving money ready for next year.

“We’re working hard on the BTCC for next year” said Newsham to Autosport.

I’ve been offered this Ginetta drive, which is free, so I couldn’t not do it really. The only investment I’ve made is in a new set of tyres for Friday practice, so I can learn what they do.

“I’ll need to heel and toe, which is a new technique for me to learn, but the guest drivers have done well this year so I want to be up there. I’d be really happy with top-fives.”

Friday testing saw Newsham finish eleventh in the morning session before finishing seventh in the afternoon.

Following the weekend Newsham will head to Barcelona to take part in a Renault Megane Trophy test – his prize for winning the Clio Cup.

Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

A topsy-turvy season has seen the title lead switch between the two on multiple occasions, but six maximum points hauls in nine races has seen the pendulum swing in Wrathall’s favour at the decisive moment. His cause has been helped by his title rival suffering a tough couple of weekends as well, with just two podium finishes in the last seven races hampering Breeze’s championship charge on the final stretch.

Breeze will have to come out all guns blazing to try and snatch the crown, but faces a tough task against a determined Wrathall, who is eager to finally win the title after finishing runner up in each of the last two seasons. It’s all set up to be a superb end to a great duel.

It won’t be all about the title rivals at Brands Hatch though, with the G50 Cup being the home to a long list of talented, exciting drivers, all eager to end their season’s on a high. Top of that list is Century Motorsport’s Benji Hetherington, who lies best of the rest in third in the championship, and comes into the meeting as the form driver in the series after winning twice last time out at Donington.

Next up in the Championship standings are Tom Sharp and Adam Morgan, who both picked up their maiden series win at Croft earlier in the year. With neither tasting the winners champagne again since then, both will be hoping to earn one more trip to the top step of the podium before the seasons out.

Add to them podium finishers Chris Dittmann, Freddie Hetherington and Mark Davies, as well as the ever improving Dan Denis and Aaron Williamson, and there will be plenty of action throughout the field to watch, not just at the front. There’s also an exciting addition to the G50 ranks for Brands Hatch, in the shape of 2010 Clio Cup champion Dave Newsham, who will be making his debut in the series this weekend. After wrapping up the Clio title in style, the Scotsman will be eager to find his feet quickly and enjoy some battles at the front.

After the earlier qualifying session, there were some unusual suspects at the front of the grid. Championship newcomer Chrissy Palmer, Former Formula Ford Festival Winner, took pole on his G50 debut, beating Matt Blyth Motorsport team-mate Dan Denis by a minimal 0.005 seconds. IDL’s Tom Sharp took third, just 0.098 seconds behind Palmer, with Moore fourth and Chris Dittmann fifth. For the title contenders, it looked like the race could be tough, with Carl Breeze only seventh and Frank Wrathall eleventh.

Palmer got a good start to lead the pack towards Redgate for the first time, but was instantly under pressure from Denis and Sharp for the first time. Sharp took second from Denis, before then passing Palmer through Hollywood for the lead. Palmer was to lose out again, with Moore getting past him and Denis into second. The Tockwith driver then set about passing Sharp for the lead, doing so at the newly-configured chicane at the end of the first lap.

The action on the first lap wasn’t just confined to the front of the field, with a multi-car tangle between Freddie Hetherington, Aaron Williamson and Colin White forcing the deployment of the safety car. Hetherington limped back to the pits with a broken suspension, ending in retirement, with Williamson and White able to continue, the latter dropping behind Chairman’s cup rivals Tony Hughes and debutant Mark Jessop.

Moore led the way behind the safety car, followed by Sharp, Palmer, Ditmann and Benji Hetherington. As the race restarted, Moore led away, with a determined Hetherington making a superb move at Redgate to move into second. With the battle for second rumbling on over the lap, Moore was able to pull out a gap, though this was quickly cut short with the reappearance of the safety car.

It was caused by another multi car tangle, this time at the Chicane, between the trio of Sharp, Dittmann and Palmer. They had been battling hard for the final podium place, but all three’s races ended up in early retirement. With cars going in every direction to avoid the incident, Breeze emerged from the dust in a surprise second place, with Hetherington third and Adam Morgan up to fourth.

After a long clear up operation, the safety car disappeared from track on lap 11, with Moore again judging his restart well to lead away, followed by Breeze, Hetherington, Morgan, Mark Davies and Joachim Ritter, with title protagonist Wrathall up to seventh, looking to gain as many points as possible.

As they entered the penultimate lap, Breeze began suffering electrical problems, affecting the performance of his G50. Hetherington took advantage at Redgate to take second, before the problem seemed to have fixed itself, allowing Breeze to try and regain the place. It turned out the problem hadn’t. As they entered Schwatz Curve for the final time, Breeze’s car slowed dramatically. As car’s passed him through Coppice and onto the back straight, including title rival Wrathall, the Total Control Racing’s was left with no alternative but to try and coast his car home.

At the front, Moore was having no such problems, winning by just under 2 seconds for his third win of the season. With Moore not registered for Championship points, Century Motorsport’s Hetherington took full points with second place, his eleventh podium of the season. After Breeze’s demise, it was Morgan who benefited most to take third place, his sixth podium of the year. Davies finished fourth, a great result after starting 10^th, ahead of Ritter, Wrathall and Denis. Chairman’s Cup competitors Jessop, Hughes and White rounded out the top 10, with former MR2 racer Jessop taking a superb class win on his debut in the series. Breeze managed to finish a lowly 13^th, in the process dropping 10 points in the championship battle to Wrathall.

Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

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 10^th. 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 8^th 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

It was another guest driver who secured pole position, former Renault Clip Cup and Seat Cupra Cup champion Jonny Adam in the Ginetta ‘VIP’ car. Moore lined up alongside him, with Century Motorsport’s Benji Hetherington and Dynojet’s Wrathall on row two. Freddie Hetherington and FML’s Aaron Williamson lined up on row three.

Back at Knockhill for the first time since he competed at the track in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2009, Adam was looking to become the second ‘VIP’ car driver to win this season, after World Touring Car Championship racer Robert Huff took the car to victory in the first three rounds at the series opener at Thruxton.

He got off to a great start, holding off Moore into Duffus Dip for the first time, but his challenge for the race win was soon to be over, with race officials serving him a drive-through penalty for a start-line infringement. He lost the lead before taking the penalty though, Moore passing at the Hairpin on lap two for the lead. With Adam taking his drive through short after, it was left to Wrathall to take the fight to Moore, closely followed by Hetherington siblings Benji and Freddie.

Wrathall quickly caught up to Moore, putting the former champion under immense pressure, though at the same time coming under pressure from Hetherington behind. As the race progressed over halfway, the front pair was able to shake off the attention from those behind, building an advantage at the front.

Behind, the man on the move was Wrathall’s title rival Carl Breeze. A mistake in qualifying left him ninth on the grid, with problems early in the race leaving him to work his way through the field as the race progressed. By lap five, the Total Control Racing driver had moved into the top six and on lap eleven, he moved into the top four ahead of Freddie Hetherington.

At the race moved towards its conclusion, Wrathall began to suffer from brake problems, dropping him off the back of Moore and back into the clutches of Hetherington. This gave Moore an easy run to the line for the win, the Tockwith driver crossing the line with a victory margin of over 3 seconds. Behind, Wrathall had to defend hard from the quicker Hetherington. As they headed out of the hairpin for the final time, Hetherington was able to draw alongside, but Wrathall just had enough pace to hold on for second and full championship points. Breeze finished fourth for some vital championship points, ahead of Freddie Hetherington, Adam Morgan and Joachim Ritter. Adam recovered from his earlier penalty to finish eighth, recording the fastest lap of the race in the process, with Tom Sharp ninth. Neil Houston rounded off the top ten, the Optimum Motorsport driver taking part in his first G50 race for over a year, in the process winning the Chairman’s Cup honours after class leader Colin White retired two laps from the end.

It was Wrathall and Breeze who shared the front row of the grid, with Hetherington close behind in third. He was joined on the second row by Matt Blyth Motorsport’s Dan Denis, with team mate Phil Broad fifth and Mark Davies sixth.

As the lights went out, Wrathall made the best start, leading into Copse for the first time, with Breeze and Hetherington side by side behind. Breeze held onto the spot, Hetherington slotting in behind ahead of Denis.

Despite trying to make an early getaway, Wrathall was unable to shake off Breeze, with the two running nose to tail over the opening lap. As they headed on to lap two, Breeze was eager to get ahead and made a move down the outside as they headed to Brooklands.

The Total Control Racing driver looked to be edging ahead as they exited the corner, but with Wrathall trying to squeeze him out, contact was inevitable, the two touching, pitching both into the grass at the entrance to Luffield. As they returned to the tarmac, Breeze was pitched into a spin, while Wrathall was powerless to stop his car rolling into the gravel, due to a broken right-rear upright from the initial contact. Wrathall was out instantly, his second DNF of the season, with Breeze dropping down to pack to 17^th.

Benefiting from the contact was Hetherington, who quickly seized the lead ahead of Broad, who had passed Denis earlier in the lap. Behind them, Croft winners Tom Sharp and Adam Morgan were up to fourth and fifth respectively, with Nigel Moore, the 2008 G50 Cup champion, in sixth after a great opening couple of laps saw him move up the order from 12^th on the grid.

Hetherington looked to get away, though team mate Broad kept with him, the two trading fast lap times. There was soon to be a change for third, with IDL’s Sharp moving past Denis at Becketts on lap four, while behind, Moore gained another place, this time at the expense of Morgan for fifth. Moore’s impressive race continued a lap later, swiftly overtaking Denis at Brooklands to move into fourth.

The pack was to be bunched up soon after though, with the decision to deploy the safety car as they removed Wrathall’s car from the outside of Luffield. This was vital for Breeze, allowing him to get onto the back of the pack as he looked to work his way through the pack.

As the race restarted Moore was again on the move, passing Sharp at Brooklands for third, while behind Morgan moved up to fifth at the expense of Denis. Moore’s great race was to come to a disappointing end soon after though, with a power steering failure forcing him back the pits and into retirement. However, he was still able to have one more effect on the race though. As he headed slowly back the pits, contact with Colin White and Mark Davies as he tried to avoid them pitched White into a spin, while the damage to Davies’ car from the contact forced him to retire.

The retirements were aiding Breeze’s recovery through the field though, with the championship leader working his way into the top ten by the end of lap 12. Another driver putting on an overtaking master class was Chris Dittmann. Mechanical woes in round 18 forced him to start at the back of the grid in 16th, but he soon worked his way up the field, moving into the top six on lap 16 at the expense of Freddie Hetherington. He was eager to get another place as the race reached its final lap, but as he went to move past Denis for fifth, he tagged the rear of Denis’ car, which the stewards later deemed dangerous, handing Dittmann a six second penalty, ruining part of his good work.

At the front, there were no penalties for Hetherington, the Century Motorsport man holding off his team mate for his maiden G50 win. Broad came home third for his firs podium of the year, with Sharp third, in contrast his seventh podium of the season. Morgan finished close behind in fourth, with Freddie Hetherington fifth. Breeze came home sixth after a good recovery drive, with Aaron Williamson seventh and Denis recovering from his last lap tangle for eighth. After his penalty, Dittmann finished ninth, with Julien Draper tenth. After his earlier tangle, White recovered to pass Chairman’s Cup rival Tony Hughes to take the class honours, the pair finishing 13^th and 14^th respectively.

As they head up north to Knockhill in Scotland for the next round of the series on 4^th/5^th September, it’s Breeze who leads the way, Wrathall’s retirement giving him a 28 point advantage over the Dynojet man, with Sharp his next closest rival, a massive 150 points further back.

Provisional 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd19):
1st Carl Breeze, 543pts; 2nd Frank Wrathall, 515pts; 3rd Tom Sharp, 365pts; 4th Benji Hetherington, 332pts; 5th Adam Morgan, 310pts; 6th Freddie Hetherington, 264pts

With all the pre-race focus on Breeze and Wrathall, it was Chris Dittmann who swept in un-noticed to take his first pole position of the season for the race. Total Control Racing’s Breeze completed the front row, with Dynojet’s Wrathall close behind in third. Century Motorsport’s Benji Hetherington completed row two, with Dan Denis and Phil Broad on row three.

There was to be heartbreak for Dittmann though, with the driver having to pit at the end of the assembly lap with problems. Soon diagnosed as a broken driveshaft, Dittmann was forced to retire, preventing him taking his place at the front of the grid.

This left Breeze with clean air ahead of him and he took full advantage, leading the field into Copse for the first time, with Hetherington getting the jump at the start for second, with Wrathall slotting into third.

Wrathall quickly went on the offensive to regain his place, getting past Hetherington at Becketts on lap two, before setting off in pursuit of Breeze.

Behind, battles were emerging at the edge of the podium places, with Denis, Mark Davies and Broad battling hard for fourth. Davies had the toughest job, trying to attack Denis while also defending from behind and lost out on lap four, Broad moving past at Luffield for fifth.

At the back of the pack, championship newcomer Ben Jackson was enjoying a solid run in his Barwell Motorsport G50, before a power steering issue forced a premature end to his debut race on lap six.

At the front meanwhile, Wrathall’s charge on Breeze was put on hold for a few laps as he had to defend hard from a battling Hetherington. He managed to shake off his attentions and went back on the offensive, setting the fastest lap of the race as he latched on to Breeze’s bootlid.

Wrathall made his move on lap 10. After pressuring Breeze through Copse, Wrathall took his chance at Becketts, unsettling Breeze with some slight contact before sliding down the inside.

Wrathall quickly edged away, with Breeze coming under threat for second place from Hetherington. He defended well and held his place until the end, with the top five remaining unchanged throughout the rest of the 22 lap race.

This meant it was Wrathall who took the chequered flag, 1.6 seconds ahead of Breeze. Hetherington came home a solid third, his sixth podium of the season, while Denis finished fourth, his best result in the series. Broad held on to fifth ahead of Davies, with Adam Morgan seventh. Aaron Williamson finished a superb eighth after working his way through the field from 16^th on the grid, with Colin White ninth, taking the Chairmans Cup honours in the process, and Tom Sharp tenth. Guest driver for the weekend was Giles Dawson, who finished a solid 14^th in his first ever race on slick tyres.

Total Control Racing star Breeze has picked up seven wins on his way to an 18 point lead in the standings, with the King’s Lynn based driver using all his experience to build up his advantage at the top. He hopes to use everything he has learnt in over a decades racing, including a spell in the BTCC, to pick up the 2010 crown, in the process putting to rest his ghosts from last season.

Dynojet ace Wrathall won’t give up without a fight though and while he lacks the experience of Breeze, having only began car racing in 2007, he has shown all the skill and pace to be able to take the title fight all the way. He has picked up three wins so far this year and will be desperate to add to that tally at Silverstone.

The championship battle is a two way fight, but behind them, a whole host of drivers will be looking to record a coveted podium finish. At the front of this group will be Croft winners Adam Morgan and Tom Sharp, driving for Dynojet and IDL respectively, as well as Hetherington siblings Freddie and Benji, driving for Century Motorsport. Add to these reigning Ginetta G20 champion Mark Davies, Ginetta Junior graduate Aaron Williamson and Optimum Motorsport’s Stephen Tyldsley, and there is no shortage of drivers who could light up the Silverstone weekend.

As they head into Silverstone though, the main focus will be on Breeze and Wrathall. Can Wrathall close the gap, or will Breeze blow away the opposition and extend his lead?

It was Breeze who qualified on pole for Round 15 at his home circuit. He was joined on the front row by Benji Hetherington, who lapped just 0.037 seconds slower, with Optimum’s Mark Davies and Wrathall making up row two.

Breeze started well, with Hetherington holding off Davies for second. Davies applied pressure well throughout the first lap though and forced Hetherington into a mistake at the Esses, with the Century Motorsport man sliding wide and dropping of contention, though the delay allowed Wrathall to move past Davies into second. Davies was to lose another spot on lap three, with Phil Broad sliding past for third.

At the front, Breeze began to pull away; building up a two second lead by lap four, but this was quickly eroded with the introduction of the safety car. Contact between the guest car, this weekend driven by chief technical offer of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team Adrian Newey, and Barwell Motorsport’s Julien Draper led to the introduction, with Newey later receiving points on his license for his part in the incident.

After the restart, Breeze remained under constant pressure from Wrathall and Broad. Behind, Davies was to lose another place on lap 11, with Freddie Hetherington finding a way past for fourth. Further back, the man on the move was Stephen Tyldsley, the HHC Motorsport driver working his way up from eleventh on the grid to seventh.

At the front though, it was Breeze who crossed the line the winner, holding off the pressure from Wrathall, who finished just ahead of Broad in third. Hetherington followed in fourth, ahead of Davies, Tom Sharp, Tyldsley and Adam Morgan. In ninth was former BTCC Matt Allison, making his debut in the series in a one round deal after a two year break from racing, while Alice Powell rounded off the top ten. The unfortunate Benji Hetherington finished a lowly 16^th after another moment later in the race.

With the results of race one determining the grid for race two, it was the two title rivals Breeze and Wrathall on the front row, with Broad and Freddie Hetherington on row two. The race began on a drying track after earlier rain, with Breeze again making the best start to lead the field as they entered Riches for the first time.

He nearly threw away his lead though, a mistake on lap one making him overshoot the Esses, though he just able to get back on track ahead of Wrathall. The main driver to lose out on lap one was Broad, dropping from third on the grid to eighth by the end of the lap.

At the front, the top two were running nose to tail during the early stages, though this was about to change on lap five, with the pair colliding in the braking point of Sear corner. This pitched Wrathall’s car into a spin, dropping him out of the top ten, though Breeze was able to continue in the lead unharmed. This elevated Sharp into second and Morgan into third, the pair both working their way up the field well after starting sixth and eighth on the grid respectively.

The man on the move was Wrathall, keen to work his way up the field for some much needed points after the contact. Dropping as low as 13^th, he was up to ninth by the end of lap seven and overtook Freddie Hetherington for fifth place on lap thirteen.

However at the front, Breeze had no such problems, coasting away at the front to win by over 10 and a half seconds for his seventh victory of the season. Sharp held on for a solid second, with Dynojet’s Morgan third. Davies held off the advances of Wrathall behind for fourth, with Hetherington completing the top six. Aaron Williamson finished seventh, working his way up from twelth on the grid, with Colin White finishing eighth, picking up his second Chairmans Cup victory of the day. Dan Denis and Powell completed the top ten.

After the race, a 10 point penalty was placed on Breeze for his part in the collision with Wrathall, cutting his advantage at the top of the standings to 24 points heading into the third race of the weekend.

The reverse grid for race three saw the top six reversed, putting Century Motorsport’s Freddie Hetherington on pole, with Wrathall joining him on the front row. Davies and Morgan made up row two, with IDL’s Sharp and Total Control Racing’s Breeze on row three.

Hetherington started well to lead in Riches, with Davies passing Wrathall off the line for second. As they approached the Esses for the first time, Davies made a move for the lead, but slight contact between the two pushed them wide, allowing Wrathall to shoot past into the lead. Hetherington held onto second, while Davies lost out, dropping down the order.

Sharp moved into third, ahead of Morgan, Breeze and Williamson. Breeze was quick to make a move up the order, despite suffering from a dislodged bonnet, moving past Morgan for fourth on lap three, before taking third from Sharp a lap later. This pushed Sharp into the clutches of Morgan, the two fighting hard for position before Morgan ran wide at Riches on lap five, dropping him down the order.

Morgan was eager to make up for his mistake and lap seven looked to pass Benji Hetherington for seventh at Riches, but contact between the two pitched him into the barriers, the incident causing retirement for both cars. Also forced into early retirements on lap seven were Powell and Broad.

At the front, Wrathall was pulling away, though was soon to be chased by Breeze, with the Kings Lynn based driver making a strong pass on Hetherington at the Esses on lap eight. Breeze began to close to within a second of Wrathall and looked the quicker driver, though the race was soon to have a premature end.

As they headed around lap nine, a heavy accident at Sear saw the red flags come out and the race ended early. Locking up under braking, Draper tagged the back of Newey’s guest car while attacking for tenth, with Newey’s car put into a spin. Unsighted to this, the innocent Tony Hughes had nowhere to go, hitting the side of Newey’s car, causing substantial damage to both cars. With the doctors quick on the scene, Newey was taken to hospital for precautionary checks after the heavy contact, but suffered no serious injures. Despite two laps under the safety car, with the doctors on scene and considerable debris on circuit, the race had to be red flagged, with the result declared after eleven racing laps.

This gave Wrathall the win, his fourth of the season and first since Brands Hatch in May. Breeze finished a good second, with Freddie Hetherington securing his maiden G50 podium finish in third. Williamson took a solid fourth for FML, with White a superb fifth, winning the Chairman’s Cup honours again in the process. Tyldsley finished sixth, after a great drive through the field from 18^th in the grid, ahead of Denis, Joachim Ritter, Davies and Draper. Contact with Williamson just before the race was ended saw Sharp drop down to 12^th.

After three action packed races, its Breeze who leads the standings, though only 17 points ahead of Wrathall. Despite 12^th in race three, Sharp’s second in race two saw him move into the top three of the championship, with Benji Hetherington dropping to fourth after a tough weekend.

Next up for the G50 stars are three races at the Silverstone National Circuit in Northamptonshire on 21st/22nd August, with fans looking forward to more exciting racing as the championship battle heats up.

Provisional 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd17):
1st Carl Breeze, 495pts

2nd Frank Wrathall, 478pts

3rd Tom Sharp, 328pts

4th Benji Hetherington, 285pts

5th Adam Morgan, 272pts

6th Freddie Hetherington, 232pts

Newey’s race weekend ended after Julien Draper outbraked himself sliding in to the back of Newey’s guest car, the following  Tony Hughes would be unlucky as he rounded the corner and collided heavily with the rear of the spinning Newey.

The Red Bull technical director hasn’t had a great weekend after he received three points on his racing licence yesterday for his part in a collision with Julien Draper.

Lawrence Tomlinson Ginetta Chairman revealed: “Adrian has been taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure after being clipped by Julien Draper of Barwell Motorsport which caused Tony Hughes of Speedworks to have a side on collision with Newey’s DynoJet car. Its testament to the strength of the G50 roll cage that the car withstood heavy impact and there were no serious injuries.”

Having dominated Formula 1 in the 90s with his designs before moving on to Red Bull in recent years Newey can claim credit for over 80 Grand Prix wins and numerous championship titles.

Newey is an avid sports car collector and has participated in Le Mans Legend races amongst others. DynoJet will be hoping that he has better luck than his 2006 Ford GT40 run which saw him emerge from the wreck with only a cut finger, bad luck would follow him as he wrecked a Jaguar E-Type at Goodwood Revival.

He had a more successful run at this year’s Goodwood festival of speed after being awarded his own Red Bull RB5 by the team as a thanks for the hard work he has put in to developing the team in to title contenders.

Wrathall is looking forward to getting back on track

Regular DynoJet driver and team mate for the weekend Frank Wrathall told thecheckeredflag.co.uk how he is looking forward to the weekend: “It is a privilege to have Adrian in the guest car, I’m looking forward to working with someone with his experience and background.”

Before joking: “Hopefully he will be able to give us a few tips with our development front bumper!”

Wrathall gets back on on track this weekend at Snetterton following the summer break and is happy to be back racing.

“Personally I’m looking to get back on top this weekend. The races at this circuit will be very close, so I’m confident there will be some good action. We have worked hard on the car over the break and I’m sure it will pay off.”

Kings Lynn based Breeze dominated the Norfolk round in 2009 while Norwich based Allison is returning to the wheel for the first time since 2008 when he raced in the Clio Cup.

Tom Sharp will be looking to upset the locals as he emerges as a strong contender for race victories after showing flashes of pace in the early part of the year were rewarded with a double win at Croft. Newcomer Adam Morgan will also be in the hunt for more trophies after taking a win at Croft.

Ben Hetherington is currently third in the championship and will be looking to build on his consistent points scoring races.

Stephen Tyldsley switched teams to Charlie Kemp‘s HHC Motorsport squad just before Oulton Park and has seemed to of benefited from this after showing improved form. Others to look out for at Snetterton include Joachim Ritter, Chris Dittman and reigning G20 Champion Mark Davies.

Colin White leads the way in the Chairman’s Cup with Tony Hughes hot on his tail.

Qualifying for the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup takes place at 10.45 on Saturday August 7th with race one, over 11 laps, starting at 13.45. Race two, also on Saturday. Starts at 17.15 and runs for 18 laps, as does race three on Sunday at 13.30

The series started back at the beginning of April at the fastest circuit in the country, Thruxton. The weekend was dominated by the first driver in the guest car, Rob Huff. The touring car ace came, saw and conquered, with 3 wins out of 3, a remarkable feat considering he hadn’t stepped foot in the car before the weekend started. With the guest driver not scoring championship points, it was Wrathall who left Thruxton with the championship lead, after two second places and a seventh, ahead of Chris Dittmann and Breeze.

Wrathall stretched his championship lead at the next round at Rockingham. The Dynojet driver won the first race of the weekend, closely followed by Breeze, with the positions switched for race two. Wrathall got back on the top step in race three, with Breeze again his closest competitor. Behind, Benji Hetherington showed his pace with two third place finishes, with Wrathall’s team mate Adam Morgan picking up the other podium finish for the weekend.

It was at Brands Hatch in early May when the title pendulum first swung Breeze’s way. A victory in the first race was made even better with Wrathall forced to retire with mechanical problems. The second race was Breeze’s again, though a brilliant recovery drive from the back of the grid saw Wrathall come home fourth. In race three, it was Wrathall’s turn to taste the winner’s champagne and Breeze’s turn to face mechanical problems, forcing him to finish a lowly 13^th. Despite this though, Breeze was able to leave with the championship lead, though only holding a small advantage. Apart from the top two, the star of the weekend at Brands was Benji Hetherington, who continued to show his great pace with two thirds and a second, making it five podiums out of six for him.

The series moved onto Oulton Park, a weekend dominated by Breeze, a year after his horrible accident at the same circuit. For the first time in the season, the championship only had two races over the course of the meeting, both of which Breeze won in comprehensive style, with Wrathall scoring two solid second places, limiting Breeze’s advantage at the top of the points standing. It was left to Dittmann and Stephen Tyldsley to complete the podiums, the latter’s first ever G50 podium.

As the series reached the last round before the summer break at Croft, it was left for a couple of new drivers to take the plaudits, with the title protagonists forced to a back seat. First of all it was Tom Sharp, who scored his first ever G50 win in the first race, before doubling his tally in the second. Race three saw Adam Morgan pick up his first ever victory too, making it a weekend for the record books. Behind them, the other star of the show was Stefan Hodgetts, appearing in the guest car for the weekend, who picked up second place in all three races and remained a constant challenger for the wins. This left the title rivals to pick up the scraps, with Breeze picking up three third places, to extend his title lead, with Wrathall getting two fourths and a fifth.

As they enter the summer break, the standings look like this:

The battle for the title looks like it could go all the way. Both drivers look capable of delivering the championship and their battle is sure to be one of the highlights of the 2010 BTCC package. Beyond the title battle, both Sharp and Morgan will be looking to build on their wins and challenge for more wins and podiums, while the likes of the Hetherington brothers, Dittmann and Tyldsley will be looking to get themselves on the podium as often as possible and possibly snatch a win.

Here’s our choice of three drivers to look out for over the second half of the season:

1. Tom Sharp – Sharp has shown some good pace all season, including picking up two second places at Brands Hatch, but was finally able to convert his pace into wins at Croft. Full of confidence, the IDL driver will be looking to pick up some more wins in the second half of the season and will definitely be one to watch. He may be too far back for a charge at the title, but will be trying to upset the odds as much as possible.

2. Adam Morgan – Morgan might turn out to be one of the key players for the remainder of the 2010 season. After showing good pace all season, like Sharp, he was finally able to convert it into a win at Croft. Morgan could be a key in helping Dynojet team-mate Wrathall’s attempts at winning the title. If he can continue his form and secure some more podiums, taking points off Breeze in the process, he could perform the perfect wingman job for the team.

3.  Alice Powell – Moving into the series from the Formula Renaults, Alice encountered a steep learning curve and initially found it hard to establish herself in the series. However as the season has progressed, Alice has grown in confidence and become a consistent top 10 finisher, with her best results a couple of seventh place finishes. Alice will be looking to build on these in the second half of the season and will be one to look out for, as she looks to push on the door of the top five, and maybe even the podium.

Sharp was consistently on the pace all weekend and in qualifying secured his first pole position of the season. Alongside him on the front row was the impressive Stefan Hodgetts, who was in the guest car for the weekend. Behind, Freddie Hetherington qualified third, a career best G50 qualifying performance for him, with Stephen Tyldsley joining him on row two. Row three was made up by the two main title protagonists, Carl Breeze and Frank Wrathall.

The front two were both able to make good starts and entered Clervaux side by side, with Sharp emerging ahead. Behind, contact between Hetherington and Tyldsley while fighting for third left them both taking a trip off circuit, losing multiple places in the process. This promoted Breeze into third, closely followed by Wrathall.

A battle was emerging behind them for fifth place between Wrathall’s Dynojet team mate Adam Morgan and former Ginetta G50 Cup champion Nigel Moore, making his first appearance of season for the Optimum team. After slowly catching him over a few laps, Moore decided to make his move on lap six. Getting better traction out of the final hairpin, he looked to make a move into Clervaux but Morgan shut the door on him. Not to be defeated, he stuck on the back of Morgan’s bootlid and made another move at Hawthorn, this time successfully sliding pass for fifth.

Back at the front, despite being kept under constant pressure from Hodgetts, Sharp was able to hold his nerve to secure victory. Hodgetts came home a clear second, a very impressive drive in his first time out in a G50. Despite being caught over the final few laps, Breeze was able to hold on for third, followed by Wrathall in fourth. Moore rounded out the top five, with Morgan sixth, Alice Powell seventh and Mark Davies eighth. Another series debutant, former British GT Champion Jon Barnes, came hold a solid ninth, with Benji Hetherington tenth. Chairman’s Cup honours went to Colin White, the only runner in the class.

With the grid for Round 13 based on the finishing results of Round 12, Sharp again held the advantage of starting on pole. One again he was able to make a good start and hold off Hodgetts as they entered Clervaux for the first time. The IDL driver then began to try and pull away, but was unable to shake off Hodgetts, who continued to lap closely behind.

Breeze held onto third, but there was a change of position behind for fourth. After having a couple of looks down the inside of Wrathall, Moore was able to make a move stick at Tower Bend on lap five, before setting his sights on ousting Breeze for a podium finish.

Back at the front, Hodgetts continuing pressure on Sharp seemed to pay off on lap eight, with the guest driver able to slide through at Sunny In. However his over exuberance left him running wide out of the bend, allowing Sharp straight back through.

That was to prove Hodgetts only opportunity to get into the lead, with Sharp driving well to hold onto the lead to take his second victory of the weekend and of his career. Another second place in only his second race in a G50 was another great result for Hodgetts. Breeze was able to hold onto third, despite the advances of Moore behind. Wrathall finished fifth, followed by team mate Morgan in sixth, with Optimum’s Davies seventh, Benji Hetherington eighth, Barnes ninth and Freddie Hetherington tenth. As the only competitor taking part eligible, White once again won the Chairman’s Cup honours, finishing twelfth.

With the top six being reversed for Round 15, Dynojet pairing Adam Morgan and Frank Wrathall started on the front row. A solid start by Morgan allowed him to hold the lead, followed closely by Wrathall. Breeze slotted in third, but was overtaken at Tower on the opening lap by Hodgetts, who was looking to make it three podiums out of three for the weekend.

Breeze was to be overtaken again a few laps later, the impressive Moore taking fourth from him on lap four. At the front, Morgan was beginning to pull away, with Wrathall having to defend from Hodgetts behind. Hodgetts pressure paid off on lap five, forcing Wrathall into a mistake, with the Dynojet driver running wide at Sunny In. Hodgetts, Moore and Breeze all capitalised from the mistake, dropping Wrathall to fifth.

After finally getting through, Hodgetts hoped to made inroads into Morgan’s lead, but instead had to begin defending hard from Moore behind, the former champion really getting to grips with car again and showing some good pace. Hodgetts wasn’t able to defend for long though, with Moore sliding his way through at the Hairpin on lap six for second place. However, his hard work was undone a few laps later after hitting a kerb too hard forced him into retirement, a disappointing result after an impressive drive.

The race was to come to an early conclusion after contact between Barnes and Tyldsley at the high speed Barcroft corner left both drivers going off track at high speed, forcing the race to be stopped a lap and a half early.

Morgan finished a comfortable 3.4 seconds clear to record his first win in the series, ahead of Hodgetts, recording his third second place finish of the weekend. Championship rivals Breeze and Wrathall came home third and fourth respectively, with double winner Sharp fifth. Joachim Ritter benefited from Barnes and Tyldsley’s accident to finish sixth, a great result after having to drive through the pain barrier all weekend due to an arm injury. Powell finished seventh after a brilliant drive through the field from 15^th on the grid. Benji Hetherington, Chairman’s Cup winner Colin White and Freddie Hetherington rounded out the top 10.

With the series entering its summer break, there is a seven week gap before the next 3 rounds at Snetterton in Norfolk on the weekend of 7^th/8^th August. Breeze enters the break with an increased championship lead, 18 points ahead of Wrathall. His double victory moves Sharp up the third in the standings, ahead of Benji Hetherington and Adam Morgan.

Click here for: Race 1 results // Race 2 Results // Race 3 Results

“It’s almost a dream,” said a delighted Sharp. “I looked at my dash in qualifying and almost couldn’t believe I had pole position. To then get the win from pole is unbelievable. Everyone has worked really hard, it’s great to finally be here on the top step of the podium.”

The win elevated him to 4th in the championship, while Carl Breeze took the championship lead after a race long battle with title rival Frank Wrathall for the final podium spot, and points for 2nd place due to Hodgetts being ineligible for the championship. Not even a new lap record by Wrathall was enough to overhaul Breeze for 3rd place.

Their task to reach the podium was made much easier when the drivers who started on Row 2 of the grid, Freddie Hetherington and Stephen Tyldsley, collided at the start.

Meanwhile Nigel Moore was making his G50 comeback, battling hard with Adam Morgan for 5th place. A switchback move at the end of Lap 5 at the hairpin eventually failed, but Moore finally found a way past at Hawthorn on the next lap.

Title contender Benji Hetherington had an awful race though, qualifying 13th and only climbing to 10th place by the finish.

Click here for full race results.

Starting on pole once again, Breeze was joined on the front row by main title rival Frank Wrathall. Chris Dittmann qualified third, with Optimum Motorsport’s Mark Davies fourth. As the lights went out, both Breeze and Wrathall started well, but Breeze maintained his lead after holding the inside line for Old Hall. Dittmann followed Breeze on the inside line and was able to squeeze past Wrathall into second. Behind, a spin for Mark Davies dropped him down the field, promoting Stephen Tyldsley to fourth.

Former Grand Prix driver Martin Donnelly made a great start from eighth place, moving into the top six and taking the lead in the Chairman’s Cup category. This was short lived though, as contact at the hairpin on lap three, from his main Chairman’s Cup rival Colin White, ended his race prematurely. It was then White’s turn to face contact a few laps later, with a collision at Knickerbrook with Charlie Butler-Henderson pushing him down the order.

Back at the front, the impressive Dittmann was applying large amounts of pressure to Breeze, looking for ways to try and get past him into the lead. He was pushing his car to its limits in an attempt to find a way by and this proved to be his downfall. On lap ten, he carried too much speed into Old Hall corner, pitching his car into a spin and dropping him down the field. The mistake left Breeze out clear in front, with a comfortable margin over Wrathall and Tyldsley behind.

Further down the order, Alice Powell was impressing the bumper crowd, with the youngster slowly moving her way up the order, from tenth on the grid into the top six.. Her great drive was to come to a heartbreaking end with four laps to go though, with a gearbox problem forcing her to retire.

As the race came to its conclusion, Breeze crossed the line for his fifth victory of the season. Wrathall came across the line second, though only 0.6 seconds ahead of the impressive Tyldsley in third. It was a great performance by Tyldsley, picking up his first ever G50 podium finish. Just outside the podium places were the Century Motorsport duo, Benji and Freddie Hetherington. After his earlier spin, Dittmann crossed the line a frustrating sixth. Phil Broad finished seventh, with Juilen Draper eighth, series debutant Rod McGovern a strong ninth and Adam Morgan tenth. After Donnelly’s and White’s earlier misdemeanours, it was left to Tony Hughes to take the Chairman’s Cup honours in thirteenth.

As the series heads to the “home” of Ginetta Cars, Croft in North Yorkshire, for the next three rounds of the series on June 19/20, Breeze heads the championship, three points ahead of Wrathall. Benji Hetherington remains third in the standings, with Dittmann fourth and Tyldsley moving up to fifth.

Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Breeze started on pole position, with CDR’s Chris Dittmann joining him on the front row. Championship leader Frank Wrathall started behind in third, with Mark Davies producing a season best qualifying performance in fourth.

As the lights went out, no driver was able to make a lightning start, with the top four bunching together as they headed towards Old Hall for the first time. Almost four abreast as they entered the turn, it was Breeze who emerged in front, followed by Dittmann and Breeze. This was to change as they headed through Cascades, with Wrathall pulling off an impressive move around the outside to move into second behind his title rival.

As they headed around to start lap two, the front two began to pull away, with Dittmann behind, followed by a close group of Davies, Stephen Tyldsley and Benji Hetherington. A battle was emerging behind for seventh place, with Tockwith Motorsport’s Alice Powell having to fight hard to hold off Chairman’s Cup leader Colin White, who was closely followed by former Grand Prix racer Martin Donnelly in the championship’s ‘guest car’.

As the race progressed, Breeze began to pull away at front with ease, taking the chequered flag with a five second victory margin. Wrathall, though unable to match Breeze’s pace, comfortably secured second, four seconds ahead of Dittmann in third.

During the closing stages, Davies faced pressure from Tyldsley for fourth, but the Optimum Motorsport driver was able to hold on, with Hetherington following the pair home in sixth. After a great battle during the race, it was White who emerged in seventh, taking the Chairman’s Cup honours once again, followed by Donnelly in eighth. Freddie Hetherington followed in ninth, with the impressive Powell slipping to tenth by the end.

The G50 cup was also able to welcome four new cars into the series, boosting the grid to 21 cars for the race. The highest placed debutant was Charlie Butler-Henderson, who came home twelfth, with Rod McGovern finishing 16^th and Dave McGuire in 20^th. The only retirement of the race was fellow debutant Gary Simms.