Jamie Orton is the man to beat in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup as the paddock heads south for Rounds Seven, Eight and Nine of the season around the high-speed Thruxton circuit this weekend.
Orton followed up his double victory at the Brands Hatch season opener with another superb showing at Donington Park last time out, the HHC Motorsport racer picking up a pair of second place victories alongside a third win of the campaign so far.
That has secured Orton an early fifteen point championship lead heading to a circuit he finished on the podium at in 2013 – a meeting in which his current team-mate and closest championship contender Carl Breeze took a double win as part of a podium hat-trick.
Breeze sits second in the standings having matched Orton’s run of five podium finishes in the first six races, the 2012 Supercup champion having taken his first win of the season at Donington to add to a trio of second places in the season opener.
HHC have been the team to beat so far this campaign, with Will Burns joining his team-mates at the head of the field with three podium finishes so far. Those have put him fourth in the points at present, with a maiden Supercup win the continued target for the sophomore racer.
Just pipping Burns to third in the standings is Tom Oliphant, the Century Motorsport racer notching his first win of the campaign at Donington. Oliphant is the only driver to finish in the top four in every race so far this season, a run he’ll be aiming to extend at Thruxton.
Michael Caine started to show his potential with a first podium finish of the season last time out and the former British GT champion will have more top three finishes in his sights, as will Bradley Smith and Mitchell Hale who are candidates to break into the podium positions for the first time.
Brands Hatch race-winner Reece Somerfield, fellow privateer Tom Wrigley and former BTCC racer Ollie Jackson are top six contenders, as will be former British GT champion Bradley Ellis who had mechanical issues ruin his Supercup debut at Donington.
One to watch this weekend meanwhile will be guest driver Gaetan Paletou. The Frenchman, who is a graduate of Nissan’s GT Academy, is making a one-off appearance in the Supercup with Douglas Motorsport alongside his current drive in a Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan LMP3 in the ELMS.
In the AM class meanwhile, Colin White is the driver to beat with five class wins in six races so far. The only driver to best him so far is Osamu Kawashima, and he, Fraser Robertson and Chris Ingram will be hoping to overhaul the Ginetta stalwart this weekend.
The Supercup field will have a busy day on Saturday, with qualifying at 09:30 followed by Round Four at 14:25 and Round Five at 16:50. Round Six will be televised live on ITV4 on Sunday at 13:45.
The championship standings ahead of the weekend can be found here.
