2015 Ginetta GT4 Supercup Season Preview

The Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup enters its fifth season this year with a competitive entry of at least fifteen cars set to commence battle over 27 races, starting with a triple-header at Brands Hatch next weekend (4/5 April).

A thrilling 2014 campaign saw Charlie Robertson secure the honours in the championship’s first season running with a single GT4 class, a format which continues the year as the series receives title sponsorship from Amigos beer through an expanded tie-up with Global Brands.

While Robertson has moved onto pastures new for 2015 with a Ginetta-Nissan LMP3 drive in the ELMS, his championship-winning team HHC Motorsport are defending their title with a strong driver line-up.

Heading it is Robertson’s closest rival from last year, Carl Breeze. The Ginetta stalwart, who has started all 108 Supercup races so far and won a record-breaking 21 of them, is looking to add a second title to his 2012 success after a mixed 2014 with United Autosports in which he eventually finished third overall.

Breeze Starts 2015 With 99 Podium Finishes In Ginetta Competition To His Name – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Joining him is fellow experienced Ginetta campaigner Jamie Orton, who enters his fourth Supercup season hoping to add to his solitary race win so far from 2013, while HHC’s line-up is completed by second year driver Will Burns, who is targeting a title challenge after a promising maiden campaign that featured four podium finishes.

Century Motorsport are hoping to lead the challenge to HHC as they aim for a first Supercup title, with Tom Oliphant and Ollie Jackson looking to be in the championship mix.

Oliphant will once again combine his Supercup efforts with a campaign in British GT, and will be aiming to build on his two race wins and top five championship finish last year, while Jackson moves across from the BTCC with strong pedigree as a former Porsche Carrera Cup GB Pro-Am 1 champion and British GT4 race-winner.

Jackson is one of two former BTCC racers joining the Supercup grid this year, the other being the reigning British GT vice-champion Michael Caine, who’s driving the Amigos-backed JHR Developments G55 initially intended for Steve Perez. The two-time Porsche Carrera Cup GB runner-up should be a front-runner from the off on his return to one-make racing.

Caine Will Hope To Win Back The Title For 2013 Supercup Champions JHR – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

SV Racing return with an expanded entry for their sophomore year in the series having finished runners-up last year with David Pittard. 2010 Formula Renault BARC champion Mitchell Hale and 2004 Formula Palmer Audi victor Stephen Young lead the SV charge as Ginetta debutants, with a third driver expected to be announced before the opening rounds.

One to watch joining the series this year is multiple Radical champion Bradley Smith, who makes a late Supercup move after a LMP3 drive fell through. Running with his family team Mectech Motorsport, Smith is a potential race-winner once he gets to grips with his new car.

At the other end of the Ginetta experience spectrum is Reece Somerfield, who is targeting podium finishes in his fourth Supercup campaign as a privateer. Dan Norris-Jones is also hoping to move up the grid meanwhile in his third season with Priocept Racing, while reigning Kumho BMW champion Tom Wrigley could impress after making a strong Supercup debut in the 2014 season finale.

After a successful trial at the end of last year, the AM class format is returning this year aimed at Gentleman drivers. Three names are signed up so far, Ginetta Challenge graduate Osamu Kawashima with Century Motorsport, privateer Fraser Robertson, who steps up from a G50 last season to a G55, and Douglas Motorsport’s Chris Ingram.

Provisional 2015 Ginetta GT4 Supercup Entry List: