Carl Breeze Leading Tom Sharp At Brands Hatch - Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Carl Breeze took two wins during the latest rounds of the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup to move into the championship lead, while title rival Adam Morgan kept himself in contention with the other win at Brands Hatch. In the G50 class, Aaron Williamson took a triple victory, but three podiums for Tom Ingram means he secured the 2011 Ginetta G50 class title.
Round 23
Total Control Racing's Breeze snatched a late pole position in qualifying for the first race and converted it to a great lights to flag victory, giving him the championship lead. A good start saw him lead into Paddock Hill for the first time, ahead of championship leader heading into the weekend Tom Sharp, Morgan and Nathan Freke.
With the G50 of Jake Hill ending up in the Stirling's gravel trap, Breeze wasn't able to break away instantly as he had to negotiate an early safety car period. At the restart, Breeze build a small advantage over his rivals behind, while a great battle for fifth emerged between guest driver Patrick Watts, series returnee Phil Broad and CWS regular Colin White.
Watts, on his first outing in a G55 and first competitive outing on slick tyres for a decade, defended well, but eventually lost the place on lap eight, Broad and White getting by at Paddock Hill and Graham Hill respectively.
At the front, Breeze wasn't able to have the comfortable race he hoped, as those behind traded fastest laps, but held on for victory, 0.7s ahead of Sharp and Morgan. Freke took fourth, ahead of Broad and White, though stewards later switched those positions as they adjudged Broad to have gained an unfair advantage.
Watts took a good seventh, while taking eighth overall and winning the G50 class was Williamson, after passing class runner up Andrew Richardson on lap five, Richardson having produced a lightning start to move from fifth to the class lead at the start. Ingram battled through from sixth on the grid to complete the podium, ahead of Louise Richardson, Jody Fannin, category newcomer Gary Duckman and series returnee Rob Gaffney.
Round 24
Breeze followed this up with another lights to flag success during the opening race on Sunday morning. Starting from pole again, Breeze got away well to lead from Sharp, while White stormed through to take third ahead of Morgan and Century Motorsport's Freke.
Breeze and Sharp broke away, while White held up those behind for a couple of laps. Morgan got by on lap four, but was then too far back to challenge Sharp. Freke and his team-mate Broad eventually worked there way past White too, who then had to defend from Watts.
At the front, Breeze cruised through to his sixth win of the season, setting a new lap record for the Brands Grand Prix circuit in the process, with IDL's Sharp taking a clear second. Morgan took third, ahead of Freke and Broad, with White just holding off Watts for sixth.
In the G50's, Williamson once again after producing a superb defensive performance to keep Ingram at bay, while a superb drive from seventeenth and last on the grid saw Hill take the final podium place.
Round 25
Broad led early on, but got passed by Freke on lap one, before Sharp got by at Paddock on lap two. This put Sharp on the tail of Freke, with a great run down Pilgrim's Drop putting Sharp on the outside at Hawthorns. Slight contact occurred, sending Sharp off heavily into the barriers, ending his race.
Slightly delayed by the incident, Freke lost the lead to Ciceley Racing's Morgan, with Broad now third ahead of Breeze and White as the safety car came out. Watts ran in eighth, but received a drive through penalty for a jump start, dropping him down the field.
Morgan got away well at the re-start and led the remainder of the race to take his third win of the season, moving him to second in the championship standings. 1.6s behind was Freke, with Broad taking his maiden G55 podium in third. White set the fastest lap on his way to fourth, after a slight mistake from Breeze allow him through, the championship leader ending up fifth.
Williamson took the G50 win once again to complete his Brands clean sweep, but all eyes were on Ingram behind, as the Plans Motorsport driver came second to secure the 2011 G50 class title, his second championship in two years after winning the Ginetta Juniors in 2010. Third in class was Hill, the Tollbar Racing driver getting past Andrew Richardson on the final lap.
New G50 Champion Ingram said: “It's absolutely phenomenal, I'm lost for words. It's fantastic to win the championship. This isn't only me, there are so many people behind the scenes I have to thank for making this year happen. It's a huge team effort, massive thanks to Plans Motorsport and to all my family.
“All of us have given up so much to win this championship, we've been living off 12p supermarket meals for the past four months just so we can go racing. It's such a family effort and such a team effort, it's great everything has come together a round early – we're going to celebrate now!”
Provisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup Championship (after Rd25; inc. drop scores):
1st Carl Breeze, 640pts
2nd Adam Morgan, 632pts
3rd Tom Sharp, 613pts
4th Nathan Freke, 592pts
5th Colin White, 407pts
Provisional 'G50 Class' Standings (after Rd25; inc. drop scores):
Champion: Tom Ingram, 664pts
2nd Aaron Williamson, 583pts
3rd Jody Fannin, 554pts
4th Jake Hill, 514pts
5th Andrew Richardson, 392pts
6th Louise Richardson, 262pts
