Carl Breeze got his championship bid back on track with two much needed wins in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Thruxton, with Adam Morgan benefitting from tyre woes for his rivals to take the other win during Rounds Seven, Eight and Nine of the 2011 season.
The weekends first race saw Breeze line up on pole, while his Total Control Racing team-mate Joachim Ritter was set to line up fifth, but retired into the pits at the end of the formation lap with a broken drive-shaft. Breeze led the field into Allard for the first time, with a good start for Morgan seeing him leapfrog front row starter Nathan Freke into second place.
Championship leader Tom Sharp held fourth place, with Colin White fifth and George Murrells sixth, until the Optimum Motorsport driver missed the chicane on the opening lap, dropping him behind the leading G50 runners. In that battle, it was Plans Motorsport's Tom Ingram in the lead, leading Aaron Williamson and a quick starting Andrew Richardson.
A battle for fourth in the G50's emerged between Jake Hill and Louise Richardson, ending with contact between the two at the complex on lap six, with Hill not giving enough room to Richardson who had got up the inside, ending up with Hill spinning to the back of the field.
At the front, Breeze was pulling away and took the win by over five seconds, with Ciceley Racing's Morgan just holding off Freke for second. Sharp took fourth, ending his six race winning streak, with G50 winner Ingram fifth, passing the G55 of White late on. Williamson took second in class with seventh, ahead of Alistair James' G55 and Andrew Richardson's G50. Murrells completed the top ten, with Jody Fannin, Rob Gaffney and Louise Richardson next up, the latter dropping a couple of places late on when losing her bonnet. Mark Steward and Hill rounded out the finishers.
With race two's grid based on race one's results, Breeze once again started on pole and led into the Complex for the first time, pursued by Morgan and Freke. The front three instantly began to break away from IDL's Sharp in fourth.
In the G50 class, Ingram once again led the way, with Andrew Richardson up to an early second. Behind a fight for third was on between Williamson and Hill, with Poor Boys backed Hill making a move on lap seven, but ending up hitting FML's Williamson and spinning to the back for the second race running. Williamson recovered and got past Richardson two laps later for second.
At the front, Freke became the man on the move, getting past Morgan at Goodwood on lap twelve for second, before passing Breeze for the lead at Noble a lap later. Morgan was soon past Breeze also, as the 2010 vice-champion began suffering from tyre wear on his G55.
Freke looked set to take the win, but electrical issues on the final lap forced him to pull over and retire. This gifted the win to Morgan, who finished eight seconds clear of Breeze, who just held off White in third, taking a maiden outright podium. Murrells took fourth ahead of James, with Ritter finishing sixth after driving through from the back of the grid.
Adam Morgan picked up a win in the weekend's second race
G50 winner Ingram finished seventh, ahead of IDL's Sharp, who dropped back late on with severe tyre wear. Williamson took another second, with Fannin taking third after passing both Andrew Richardson and Gaffney when they made contact at the complex on lap thirteen. They finished fifth and sixth in class respectively, with Louise Richardson taking fourth.
The reverse grid for the final race saw James on pole, with Murrells alongside him. The polesitter stalled though and unsighted G50 frontrunner Williamson was unable to avoid him, ploughing into the back of the G55, before being collected himself by Louise Richardson, all three retiring instantly.
After a delay to move the stricken cars off track, the grid was re-formed, with Murrells getting a good start from second, but a great start for White saw him move into a brief lead, before a great move by Breeze saw him dive up the inside of both at the Complex to take first .
Up to second early on was Morgan and he began closing on Breeze over the course of the race. Starting at the back of the grid after accepting a grid penalty for fitting brand new tyres was 19-year-old Sharp, who used them to good use, getting up to eighth on the opening lap, before picking off the drivers ahead and slotting into third on lap eight.
Ahead, Breeze was just able to hold off the quick Morgan to take the win, with Sharp finishing third for his seventh podium of the season. Murrells took another fourth to keep himself on the edge of the title battle, with Ritter fifth and White sixth.
Ingram took a hat-trick of G50 wins in seventh overall, his fifth class win of the season. Hill took second, a strong finish after a tough weekend, while Fannin took another podium in third. Steward's G55 and Gaffney's G50 completed the finishers in a race that saw five retirements, Freke and Andrew Richardson adding their names to the first lap drop-outs, both suffering mechanical woes early on in the race.
Tom Ingram, the reigning Ginetta Junior champ, swept the G50 class with three wins to build a healthy points lead
Provisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup Championship Positions (after Rd9):
1st Tom Sharp, 280pts
2nd Carl Breeze, 232pts
3rd Adam Morgan, 213pts
4th George Murrells, 198pts
5th Colin White, 162pts
6th Joachim Ritter, 110pts
Provisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup 'G50 Class' Championship Positions (after Rd9):
1st Tom Ingram, 265pts
2nd Jody Fannin, 205pts
3rd Robert Gaffney, 186pts
4th Jake Hill, 173pts
5th Aaron Williamson, 144pts
6th Louise Richardson, 136pts
