The high-speed Thruxton circuit always provides action-packed racing, and that was certainly the case once again in the third meeting of the 2015 TOCA season as the Ginetta Junior Championship, Renault UK Clio Cup, Ginetta GT4 Supercup and MSA Formula series tackled the unique Hampshire track.
The 2.36 mile circuit is renowned as being difficult to master, but four talented racers did just that with double victories over the course of the meeting, and they’re the drivers we at TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk have picked out as our drivers of the weekend:
Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Ginetta Junior Championship – Sophia Floersch
This year’s batch of rookie drivers in the Ginetta Juniors appear to be the most talented bunch yet in the series’ history, and at Thruxton it was the turn of German teenager Floersch to hit the headlines with a star performance.
Having shown glimpses of her pace in the opening weekends with some Rookie class podiums, Floersch stepped up a level at Thruxton. After qualifying second, some fast, fearless and intelligent racing saw her lead both races from start to finish despite immense pressure from behind.
Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Renault UK Clio Cup – Ash Hand
Race wins seemed to be like buses for Hand, who after having to wait until his 37th Clio Cup race to secure his maiden win, has now made it three wins in four races with a dominant double at Thruxton.
After topping pre-event testing last month, Hand took a pair of pole positions in qualifying, which he converted into a breakaway win in race one and a close fought success in race two, with a pair of fastest laps completing a maximum points haul from the weekend.
Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Ginetta GT4 Supercup – Carl Breeze
During a mixed 2014 season for Breeze, he showed that when he was bang on form he was virtually untouchable, and that proved to be the case again at Thruxton as he stormed into the championship lead with a dominant weekend.
Breeze topped qualifying by over half a second, and went on to lead the first two races from lights-to-flag with ease. A third place finish in race three makes it eight podium finishes in nine races so far this year, results that have made him the man to beat in the series.
Credit: Sandy Mitchell Racing
MSA Formula – Sandy Mitchell
Mitchell got his breakthrough weekend in the championship at Thruxton with his first two pole positions and race wins in the category, plus a second place to boot – having only previously finished in the top ten once in the first six races.
After slipping from pole to third in race one, the TRS Arden racer fought back for the win, before superbly climbing from ninth to second in race two. The final encounter was a more routine affair with a lights-to-flag win, the results moving him from fourteenth to fifth in the points.
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Who else impressed?
Two fourths and a second gave Ricky Collard the MSA Formula championship lead, while Rafael Martins got a deserved first outright podium finish after cruelly missing out on a couple of occasions previously. In the Clios meanwhile, Ashley Sutton followed Hand closely in both races for a pair of second places whilst Dan Holland starred in qualifying with a pair of third place grid starts.
Michael Caine used all his experience to snatch a maiden Ginetta GT4 Supercup win on the final lap from Will Burns, who himself impressed with a podium treble, while also in the Ginetta paddock Dan Zelos got his Junior title bid back on track with a first podium finish of the season, as Scholarship winner Stuart Middleton continued to star with a maiden pole position and outright podium finish.
