Ginetta GT4 Supercup

Double Win For Freke As Sharp Moves Back To Top

3 Mins read

Nathan Freke confirmed his status as a real threat in the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship battle with a superb double win at Knockhill, while Tom Sharp who left Scotland with the championship lead after taking his first race win since April.

Round 18

Freke secured pole in qualifying by 0.143 seconds from Sharp and made it count with a good start, leading into the opening corner from IDL's Sharp. An early safety car, caused by a multi-car tangle including Fergus Walkinshaw, who had qualified a superb third, kept the front two bunched together.

theplayer.co.uk/Century Motorsport driver Freke looked to breakaway at the restart, but Sharp kept the pressure on him throughout, but Freke didn't put a wheel wrong and came home for the victory, with Sharp having to settle for second. In third was points leader coming into the weekend Carl Breeze, who took his twelfth podium of the season after a relatively quiet race.

Fourth place was Adam Morgan, who was unable to challenge the breakway front three for a podium, while taking a popular fifth place was Marino Franchitti, the American Le Mans Series racer making a guest appearance in the series at his home circuit. Colin White rounded out the top six after a strong drive through the field, having started from the pitlane.

In the G50 Cup, Aaron Williamson took his third win of the season after a race-long battle with Tom Ingram and Jake Hill, with the latter taking second after a last lap move to take the place, with championship leader Ingram settling for third ahead of title rival Jody Fannin.

Round 19

The grid for Sunday's first race was made up from the results from race one, with Freke getting a good getaway from pole to lead the field, once again followed by Sharp. Like the race before, Sharp put him under huge pressure early on, but this time Freke was able to see him off as the race progressed and went on to win the race by 2.1 seconds, making it six wins in the last ten races for the 2009 Ginetta G50 Cup champion.

Sharp held second, while in a battle for third, Total Control Racing's Breeze held the place early on before Ciceley Racing's Morgan got past on lap twelve to take his thirteenth podium of the season, with Breeze settling for fourth. Taking fifth overall after a stunning performance was G50 class winner Fannin, the Team Pyro driver celebrating his 18th birthday in style with his third win of the season.

Williamson had led the G50 field for a lot of the race, but lost out on lap thirteen and settled for second in class and sixth overall, with Ingram behind him completing the class podium, ahead of the G55's of Walkinshaw and Franchitti.

Round 20

The reverse grid for the weekend's final race put Fannin on pole position, the first time this season a G50 has started from pole. A great start for Fannin saw him lead away, while a poor start for fellow front-row starter Breeze saw him drop to third behind Morgan. Breeze tried to fight back at the Hairpin and got ahead with a late lunge, but was slow to pull away at the exit, ending up in contact with Morgan, spinning him into the gravel.

This promoted Sharp to second ahead of Freke, with Morgan now fourth ahead of G50 runners Williamson and Ingram. Sharp soon closed on Fannin, but his progress was halted by a brief safety car period caused by Breeze, who had got out the gravel on the opening lap, but then ended up back in the same trap.

At the restart, a mistake by Fannin saw him outbrake himself at the Hairpin before they crossed line, allowing a bunch of cars through. He got across the line second in class and fifth overall, before falling another place to Ingram a few laps later, who went on to challenge Williamson for the lead, taking it on lap sixteen. Williamson then later lost a place to Hill, who worked his way through the pack to take second.

Ahead, Sharp held the overall lead and despite being caught late on, held on for his seventh win of the season and his first since the second meeting of the season at Donington Park in April. Freke took second to cap off a superb midfield, while a superb drive through the field from guest driver Franchitti saw him take third from Morgan and Lee Pattison, with G50 winner Ingram sixth overall ahead of Hill, Williamson, Connaire Finn and Fannin, a disappointing result after such a promising start.

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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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