Charlie Robertson confirmed his championship potential in the 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup with a second win of the season in a rather quiet Round Four at Donington Park.
Robertson started the twelve lap encounter from pole position, and after seeing off an early challenge from Pepe Massot, the HHC Motorsport driver had a comfortable run to a 1.632 second victory.
Massot’s challenge came after the Spaniard produced a superb launch from the line to snatch second from Jamie Orton heading around Redgate for the first time, with Orton also losing out to championship leader Andrew Watson.
Mounting a challenge over the first couple of laps, Massot nearly snatched the lead at Redgate on lap two, but from then on some worn tyres meant he was left to settle for his first podium of the season in second.
“The first couple of laps was unexpected, but I managed to hold it off and defend well,” Robertson told TCF. “Once I’d built the gap, it was a case of not making a mistake, maintain the advantage and bring the car home for victory. I’m delighted.”
“We needed to get some points on the board and recover from Brands,” added Massot. “To make a move on Charlie [Robertson] in the first two laps was possible, I was so close to him, but it was risky. I couldn’t afford to though, I need to score some points, and then I can start racing again.”
The tight battle for third came to blows at the end of the opening lap. Brake problems for Watson forced him to straight line the final chicane, his loss of momentum bunching up the pack heading into Redgate on lap two.
While Harry Woodhead was able to edge ahead and grab third, contact in the pack caused a spin for Orton, the Century Motorsport driver falling to the tail of the field. With Watson slowed in avoidance, Carl Breeze dived up to fourth ahead of the Irishman.
Woodhead found himself unable to bridge the gap to the front two, running third for the remainder to take his first podium finish of the season, the Douglas Motorsport driver bouncing back well after having started sixth following a three place grid penalty from Brands Hatch.
Breeze was unable to challenge him meanwhile, the United Autosports ace left a frustrated fourth after struggling with understeer throughout. Watson took fifth, with Breeze’s team-mate Luke Davenport completing the top six.
A fantastic scrap developed behind meanwhile between David Pittard and Tom Oliphant, with the latter making a number of attempts to get ahead, ultimately proving unsuccessful.
Rounding out the top ten behind them meanwhile were Academy Motorsport team-mates Sean Huyton and Will Burns, the latter having slipped from seventh to eleventh on the opening lap due to a slow getaway.
Orton recovered to eleventh ahead of Reece Somerfield and Dan Norris-Jones, while the final finisher after another race plagued with problems was Fergus Walkinshaw.
Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2014/141603g50.pdf
