In only his second race in the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, Stefan Hodgetts dominated proceedings in a wet Round Eleven at Oulton Park to take his maiden victory, also picking up the first win for the JHR Developments team.
With the starting grid set by the finishing positions from Saturday's race, Nathan Freke and Carl Breeze started on the front row, with Hodgetts third. A strong start for Freke saw him lead into Old Hall, with Hodgetts leapfrogging Breeze into second.
Breeze began to come under pressure for third from Colin White and Adam Morgan, but he held them off and by lap two had begun pulling clear with the front two. White soon began losing places as his car slowed dramatically, leading to an inevitable retirement.
The rain began to fall on lap two and at the front, Freke locked-up under braking for the chicane on lap three, sliding off circuit allowing Hodgetts into the lead. Freke recovered to hold second, ahead of Breeze, Morgan, championship leader Tom Sharp and George Murrells.
Seventh overall was G50 cup leader Tom Ingram, leading Jake Hill and series newcomer Lee Pattison. Lap five saw JHR's Pattison move past Hill for second, before taking the class lead on the next lap at Lodge. However a moment at Druids on lap eight sent him into the barriers and out of the race, with Aaron Williamson emerging from it to move into the lead.
At the front of the G55's Hodgetts had pulled away with a lead of over seven seconds from Freke. Behind Sharp was challenging Total Control Racing's Breeze for third and tagged him at Lodge on lap eleven, though both were able to continue, before Sharp went off on his own at Druids on lap thirteen to slip down the order.
Hodgetts eased off over the final couple of laps on his way to victory from the Century Motorsport's Freke, who set the races' fastest lap and Breeze. Ciceley Racing's Morgan took fourth ahead of Freddie Hetherington, who worked his way through from the back of grid, with Sharp recovering to sixth.
Williamson was seventh overall, taking his maiden G50 win and ending Ingram's run of class wins, the latter ending up finishing behind Hill's G50 and Alistair James' G55 in tenth. Jody Fannin finished eleventh, with Murrells completing the finishers in twelfth after problems.
Hodgetts said: “When the weather is like this it makes everything a level playing field and you just have to drive. The G55 is a fantastic race car, it's built purposely to go fast around race tracks and that's what it does best.
“As I've won, I really hope we can come back and have another go. I can't do much more than what we have today so we'll just have to wait and see if the funding comes in. I'd absolutely love to carry on – it's so much fun!”
Stefan Hodgetts disappears over the fence as he celebrates maiden Supercup win
