The newest member of the BTCC package was another Ginetta series, this time in the form of the G50 Championship, which was new for 2008 and for that year was on the British F3/GT bill. The G50's replaced the Seat Cupra Championship which had been canned at the end of 2008. Seat Cupra drivers Carl Breeze and Fulvio Mussi joined the G50 grid along with Formula Ford driver Nathan Freke, while Frank Wrathall returned for a second season in the G50's.
The start of the season saw Breeze take an early advantage as he was used to the standing start format because of his experience of the Seat Cupra Championship, while Freke and Wrathall were used to the rolling start format, and after 6 races, Breeze had claimed 4 out of 6 wins, with Wrathall taking one at Brands Hatch and Dan Welsh, another driver who had raced in the Seat Cupra Championship taking a win in a one off appearance at Thruxton.
Donington Park saw the pendulum swing in Freke's favour as he took the first hat trick of wins in the G50 cup, and went unbeaten for 6 races.
Oulton Park was the defining moment of the season. Race 2 saw Carl Breeze spin coming out of Old Hall Corner and be hit in the side of the car by the unsighted Mark Proctor, writing off both cars and causing injuries to both Carl and Mark. Mark retired from racing after this accident, while Carl resumed at Croft.
Carl's final wins of the season came at his home track at Snetterton, where he was untouchable and took all but 2 of the Championship points available. After his triple win, Carl would record only 2 more podium finishes.
From Knockhill onwards, the championship was between Nathan Freke and Frank Wrathall, who would share the victories between them, Frank claiming a double win at Rockingham before a Race 3 DNF which saw Nathan win and lead home a Century Motorsport 1,2 ahead of Benji Hetherington.
Nathan secured the 2009 title at Brands Hatch in the opening race and took another hat trick of wins. He was only a single point away from taking maximum points for the weekend – 3 poles, 3 fastest laps and 3 wins equalling 111 points.
The overall top 3 after round 28:
1. Nathan Freke – 856 points
2. Frank Wrathall – 731 points
3. Carl Breeze – 629 points
Former oval racing champion Colin White finished 8th overall with 287 points and top Chairmans Cup racer, a Championship for the older racers in the G50 Cup.
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
