Tom Sharp Won A Dramatic Ginetta Supercup Encounter - Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography
Tom Sharp took another lights to flag victory in Round Two of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, a race which saw all his closest rivals suffering disappointing races.
Sharp opened his victory account for the season in the opening race of the weekend and followed this up with another controlled drive to victory, with Andrew Richardson and Tom Ingram retiring after contact together, Josh Wakefield dropping out after an incident of his own and Carl Breeze falling down the field with mechanical woes.
Sharp's victory in the opener gave him pole position for the race and another perfect start from the IDL UK driver saw him lead the field into Paddock Hill, while behind Wakefield got a great start from the second row and looked to squeeze into second past Ingram, but the Century Motorsport driver clipped the edge of the pitwall, ending his race.
This allowed Breeze into second ahead of Ingram, but neither could get onto Sharp's tail who had already started growing his lead. Behind, Richardson got past Fergus Walkinshaw at Paddock on lap three to take fourth and the Richardson Racing driver was soon on Ingram's tail.
With Breeze clearly holding them up, Richardson went straight on the offensive to try and pass Ingram. Richardson got alongside the outside on the pit straight and as they headed into Paddock Hill on lap four, Ingram on the inside hit the kerb hard, causing him to lose the back of his car.
Although Ingram initially got it under control, when he hit the bottom of the hill, his car snapped away from him. With Richardson still alongside, contact was inevitable, with Ingram hitting into the side of Richardson, spinning them both round into the gravel trap and out of the race.
The safety car was brought out to retrieve the stricken cars, as well as the G55 of Marcus Hoggarth, who had spun off at Clearways later around the same lap. After a short break the race restarted, with Sharp, who had seen his five second lead wiped out, leading from Breeze, Walkinshaw, Hunter Abbott and Colin White.
At the restart, Breeze was passed around the outside by Walkinshaw at Paddock, while behind White forced his way past Abbott at the same corner for fourth. Further around the lap White was gaining more ground as he passed Breeze out of Clearways, before a couple of laps later passing Walkinshaw for second. Breeze was starting to suffer from a slipping clutch, the Tollbar Racing with WIRED driver defenceless as he lost places lap after lap through the remainder of the race.
As the G55's entertainment faded, with Sharp holding a comfortable lead, the G50 battle took over in providing the action in the second half of the race. Mark Davies held the early G50 lead, with Richardson Racing team-mate Louise Richardson close behind. Richardson dropped a place to Reece Somerfield in the aftermath of her brother's incident in the G55's and started to drop a few more places after the safety car.
This promoted Ian Parsons into a top three spot and he soon gained another place when he got past Somerfield at Paddock on lap fifteen, with Max Coates also squeezing his way past. Davies continued to hold the class lead until a mistake on the next lap saw him run wide, dropping him five places, giving the class lead to Parsons.
Parsons was instantly under pressure from Coates and the Ginetta Junior graduate forced him into a mistake at Druids on lap eighteen, the Yorkshireman sliding past for the class lead, with Parsons just able to hold off Somerfield for second. A close three way fight developed for the lead, but Coates put a superb defensive drive to hold them back, with it proving easier when Somerfield slid off into the gravel with three laps to go.
At the front, having no such drama was Sharp, the VCARS.co.uk-backed driver cruising home for his second win of the weekend. White and Walkinshaw completed the podium, while Jamie Orton took fourth after a late mistake for Abbott, who ended up fifth. Coates held on to take the G50 class win in sixth overall, a victory on his debut weekend in the championship, with Parsons taking second and Rob Gaffney taking third for his second podium of the weekend. Davies recovered to fourth in class ahead of Richardson, James Owen and a disappointed Breeze, who ended up three laps down after nursing home his broken car.
Max Coates Led Home Ian Parsons In The G50 Class - Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography
