Carl Breeze says he and the HHC Motorsport gave the 2015 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup championship battle “everything we could” after finishing the campaign as the series vice-champion for the third time in five years.
Breeze linked up with the 2014 champions for his fifth consecutive season in the Supercup, kicking off the campaign with eleven podium finishes in the opening thirteen races to hold the championship lead at the halfway point of the season.
The 36 year old would take wins at Donington Park, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Rockingham and Brands Hatch GP across the season, finishing the year with a double victory at the season finale last month to make it eight wins as part of eighteen podium finishes across the season.
Those results ultimately weren’t enough to see him stop Tom Oliphant taking the title, but it marked Breeze’s second-best season in the Supercup behind his successful 2012 campaign, as he continued his run of finishing every season in the championship top three.
“It’s been a sensational year overall. I’ve won more races in a season than I ever have before and myself and the team gave the championship battle everything we could,” Breeze told TCF at Brands Hatch.
“It’s nice to finish the season with the same amount of wins as the champion and to beat him in all three races across the season finale. I’m pleased to add to the Ginetta legacy with plenty of podiums and wins, and I think when the media come to do their season reviews it will be difficult to separate me and Tom [Oliphant].”
Breeze’s Ginetta GT4 Supercup Career So Far:
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Breeze highlights two mechanical failures in the middle of the season as being the key moments that stopped him taking the title. A driveshaft failure in qualifying at Croft left him on the backfoot that weekend, before an engine cut-out in the opening race at Snetterton led to race-ending contact.
“We lost a hell of a lot of points in the mid-season due to mechanical problems, both in the races themselves and then the knock on effect in the next races, and ultimately that cost us the championship,” Breeze explained.
“I don’t think we would have beaten Tom [Oliphant] in qualifying at Croft, but we would have been close and would have got some good points from the weekend. Snetterton as well, we didn’t quite have the pace but again we would have scored strong points were it not for the problems.
“It probably didn’t help us either that we had three quick drivers in the team. When Tom was dominant, there was no-one else on his level to take points off him so he was cleaning up the wins, but when we were dominant, me, Jamie and Will were all taking points off each other.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s still been a great season and I don’t want to take anything away from Tom and Century. A massive congratulations to them, finishing in the top four in almost every race is a fantastic achievement.”
Breeze has competed in one-make Ginetta racing for seven years now, making history by competing in every race of the GT4 Supercup era so far, securing a record 29 wins, 82 podium finishes and 23 fastest laps in his 135 starts.
Breeze Added Plenty Of Silverware To His Collection This Season – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
With his two seasons in the G50 Cup included, Breeze has a total of 45 wins and 117 podiums in Ginetta racing to his name. Following the successful spell on the BTCC support package, Breeze feels he is ready to move up the GT racing ladder next season.
Breeze reflected: “From a personal point of view, I’ve still never been beaten by a team-mate in twelve years of racing and I had some great ones this season, whilst I’ve finished inside the top three in the Supercup every year so far which I’m pleased about as it’s a tough series to be successful in.
“Drivers that I’ve beaten on track like Adam Morgan and Tom Ingram are now doing the business in the British Touring Cars, while Tom Sharp is winning races in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Charlie Robertson is a European Le Mans champion, so it shows the calibre of driver this series has and to win races against them is a great feeling.
“I’m proud of my history in this championship and Ginetta racing, and I have some fond memories of my time here, but I’d like to move on now for next season and I’m looking to get a GT3 drive together and progress in my career.
“That will need me to find help from a Gentleman driver to put some money in. We’ll have a chat with Bluechip and see which way they want to go, they’ve been fantastic to me over the years, and hopefully we can add some more sponsors to the pot to make it achievable.”
