Charlie Robertson pinched pole position for Round Four of the 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup in the final seconds of a red-flag shortened qualifying session at Donington Park.
With a couple of entries missing from the opening weekend at Brands Hatch, fourteen cars took to the track for the overcast twenty minute session around the Leicestershire circuit.
HHC Motorsport’s Robertson, who made a race-winning debut in the category at Brands, led the way in the early part of the session, topping the timesheets as the red flag came out after Fergus Walkinshaw’s Ginetta G55 GT4 ground to a halt with an electrical problem on the Dunlop Straight.
As well as Robertson, Pepe Massot, Jamie Orton and championship leader Andrew Watson were all in the mix for pole position when the session resumed, though Robertson and Massot’s efforts were disrupted by having times disallowed for exceeding track limits.
With two minutes to go, Century Motorsport’s Orton grabbed provisional pole, but less than a minute later Robertson returned to the top with a time of 1m 09.245 seconds, a lap he posted mere seconds before the red flag emerged once again.
This time it was caused by a trip into the gravel at McLeans for Reece Somerfield, and with only a minute left on the clock, the session was ended early.
This confirmed Robertson’s pole, with Orton securing second, finishing up just 0.031 seconds behind the poleman. A strong third fastest was Harry Woodhead, the reigning Ginetta Junior champion setting a best time of 1m 09.431 seconds.
Massot and Watson dropped to fourth and fifth respectively, the top five split by just 0.323 seconds, while completing the top six on the grid for the opening race will be 2012 Supercup champion Carl Breeze with United Autosports.
Ginetta GT5 Challenge graduates Will Burns and David Pittard will share row four, with Tom Oliphant and Sean Huyton behind them. Brands race-winner Luke Davenport was a frustrated eleventh ahead of Walkinshaw, Somerfield and Dan Norris-Jones, the latter having ended his own session early after suffering a large flatspotted tyre.
Full qualifying results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2014/141603g50.pdf
