Charlie Robertson leads the way in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup with seven races to go, but heads into the eighth meeting of ten this weekend at Rockingham with Ginetta stalwart Carl Breeze hot on his heels.
The last meeting at Knockhill proved to be a record-breaking affair for Breeze, with a double win seeing him match then beat Tom Sharp’s all-time Supercup win record of 20 on a weekend in which Breeze and Ginetta celebrated a landmark 100th Supercup race.
Those wins, plus a second place, means Breeze has without doubt established himself as Robertson’s main adversary for the championship, with the United Autosports man’s pursuit of the title showing similarities to his 2012 success, when he chased down a deficit of over 100 points to Sharp to win.
Robertson isn’t being phased by his more experienced rival’s recent form though, and the HHC Motorsport driver limited the damage in Scotland by shadowing Breeze’s every move, finishing directly behind him in each race for a podium treble of his own.
The 2012 Ginetta Junior champion lost 17 points from his lead over the weekend, meaning his advantage stands at 29 heading to Rockingham, a circuit both the championship top two last won at in 2011.
While it’s looking set to be a two-horse race for the title, Andrew Watson still feels he is in with a chance and will be looking to put a spanner in the works of the top two at Rockingham as he aims to take a chunk out of his 101 point deficit to Robertson.
The Irishman has endured a tough run of form in recent meetings, with just one podium finish in the last nine races, and will be hoping for a turnaround in his fortunes and a big points haul from the weekend to get himself back in the title picture in his Douglas Motorsport G55.
Pittard (Left) And Watson (Right) Need To Reignite Their Title Challenges – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Heading to Corby in a similar situation too is David Pittard, who is currently tied third in the standings with Watson. The SV Racing ace is enduring a tough run of luck, with mechanical failure causing retirement from pole position at Snetterton before contact in race three at Knockhill lost him further ground.
Pittard has more retirements, two, than podium finishes, one, in the last ten races, and is keen to change that at Rockingham, a circuit he is confident of performing well around after taking a double podium finish there in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge last season.
One driver who has seen his title chances slip away meanwhile is Tom Oliphant after a race one accident at Knockhill derailed his weekend, leading to a DNF and two ninth place finishes that halted the momentum he’d gathered from a podium treble at Snetterton earlier in August.
With the championship all but mathematically out of his sights now, the Century Motorsport racer will be aiming to add to his two wins in a hugely impressive first full campaign so far at the circuit he made his Supercup debut at twelve months ago.
Another driver returning to the scene of his Supercup debut this time last year is Will Burns, and the Academy Motorsport racer heads back to the banked circuit as one of the in-form drivers in the championship.
Bouncing back from a tough start to the season, Burns is currently on a fantastic run of ten consecutive top five finishes, a feat no other driver in the championship has matched this season, and his target now is on securing a maiden Supercup victory to add to his four podiums so far.
Burns Is On An Impressive Run Of Form With Academy – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Burns’ fellow Ginetta GT5 Challenge graduate Luke Davenport tasted the winners champagne for the second time this year meanwhile at Knockhill, leading home a United Autosports one-two to move the team to the brink of securing the Teams Championship honours.
While his mind will be on helping them wrap up the Teams title, Davenport also heads to Rockingham hoping for more consistent front-running results as he looks to consolidate his top six championship standing.
Jamie Orton prepares for his third meeting with HHC Motorsport with a second podium result of the campaign in his sights, Dan Norris-Jones will hope to improve on his best finish of eighth so far, while Knockhill trouble-makers Fergus Walkinshaw and Reece Somerfield are likely to be on their best behaviour this time out.
While Knockhill debutant Rory Bryant will not be re-appearing this weekend, the grid continues to grow back towards its early-season heights with three new additions in the form of former Ginetta Junior racer Tom Howard, Ginetta GT5 Challenge front-runner Dennis Strandberg and motorsport commentator John Hindhaugh.
For the first time this season, this weekend’s action will feature only two races rather than the usual triple header. Qualifying is scheduled to take place at 12.10 on Saturday, with both races to follow on Sunday at 09.40 and 15.12.
The championship standings heading into the meeting are as follows:
