Tom Oliphant has expressed his delight after carding his maiden victory in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup in the second meeting of the season at Donington Park.
Oliphant’s win came in a dramatic final race of the weekend. The 23 year old was set to start second on the reverse grid, but a last minute decision saw Oliphant join the majority of the field in being pushed into the pits to change to slicks on an unexpectedly dry track.
As they took to the track, the Century Motorsport driver led the slick running pack. Once he got his tyres up to temperature, he started catching the wet-tyred runners who didn’t make a pitstop by four seconds a lap.
The former Formula Renault BARC racer took the race lead on lap seven, and quickly built up a three second advantage that he maintained to the end for his first victory.
That win came after he bounced back from a difficult qualifying session to finish eighth and fifth in the first two races, the latter coming thanks to a superb recovery drive after spinning to eleventh early on.
“It’s been an up and down weekend,” said Oliphant after his win.“Qualifying didn’t go that well and race one was difficult but we finished eighth. Race two in the wet was really positive, dropped back to eleventh but got back up to fifth, I raced really well.
“For the final race we started from the pitlane and carved through on slicks and managed to keep it nice and tidy to get my first win, I’m over the moon. I can’t quite believe it but I’m sure it will sink in soon!”
