Tom Sharp is proving totally untouchable in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, taking yet another win in Round six of the series at Donington Park. After two lights to flag wins earlier in the weekend, he had to work harder for this victory, moving up from fifth on the grid to win.
With the top five reversed from the results of round four, it was Colin White who started on pole. The CWS driver shot into an early lead, holding off Century Motorsport's Freddie Hetherington and Optimum Motorsport's George Murrells.
They were soon to come under pressure from Sharp though, the IDL driver getting up to fourth on the opening lap, before passing Murrells next time round. He was soon pushing Hetherington hard and got past on lap five, before working on catching the leader.
Working their way up from the back of the field after running into trouble in the previous race were Carl Breeze and Nathan Freke, the duo up to sixth and eighth respectively after only four laps. Lap six saw Breeze make his way past team mate Joachim Ritter, with Freke also passing him as well as Murrells to take sixth.
At the front, Sharp finally made his way past White on lap seven, with the latter eventually dropping to the lower end of the top ten a few laps. Benefitting from this, as well as a retirement for Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan from fourth, was Breeze, who found himself in third place, with Freke still close behind in fourth.
In the G50 class, Louise Richardson took an early lead, but she was soon to lose two places to Jake Hill and Jody Fannin. Andy Richardson was soon into fourth after passing Beacon Racing's Connaire Finn, who soon lost a few places with a spin at McLeans, before retiring on lap eight.
This promoted Tom Ingram up to fifth, with the reigning Ginetta Junior champion soon dispatching Richardson Racing’s Andy Richardson for fourth, before passing his sister and team-mate Louise for third on lap thirteen. The Plans Motorsport driver then continued his progress up the field, passing Fannin three laps later.
Ahead, Sharp managed to overcome a late safety car period to take yet another victory, continuing his incredible run. Hetherington followed to take his first podium in the Supercup, while behind Freke managed a last lap overtake on Total Control Racing’s Breeze to take third, though lost the place again after being given a thirty second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage. Fifth place went to G50 winner Hill, his first class win of the year, ahead of his team-mate Murrells.
Ingram was next and was followed home on the road by Fannin, but the Pyro driver was disqualified after the race for a technical infringement. G55's drivers White and Ritter were next up, followed by G50 trio Louise Richardson, Rob Gaffney and Aaron Williamson, who completed the class top five after gaining two places from Fannin's disqualification and a late retirement for Andy Richardson.
Commenting on his weekend, Sharp said: “We've made really good progress with the car. It's not doing anything out of the ordinary but it is doing everything I want it to. It hangs on in there and I'm able to keep delivering good lap times at the end of a race as well as early on. Winning the first six races is something we never dreamt of but it's a great feeling to have done that.
“I think I have clicked more with the G55, the front splitter has really helped as I don't like a car that understeers and the G50 was more inherently under-steery. The splitter has done away with that problem and it seems to suit me well, it's a different way of driving. You definitely have to look after the tyres and we've been able to do that.”
