A year after a horror smash at Oulton Park left his 2009 Championship hopes in tatters, Carl Breeze returned to the venue in style with a faultless victory in Round 10 of the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup. Leading from start to finish, the victory moves him to within two points of the championship lead.
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 16th and Dave McGuire in 20th. The only retirement of the race was fellow debutant Gary Simms.
