Jamie Orton got his 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup championship challenge off to the perfect start with victory in the opening race at Brands Hatch.
Leading the way in both free practice and qualifying, Orton converted his pole position into a lights-to-flag success on the championship debut of his new team, Triple M Motorsport.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the returning star though, with Tom Wrigley keeping him on his toes throughout the eighteen lap encounter after withholding the early pressure of Rob Wheldon.
As Orton led through Paddock Hill for the first time, Wrigley and Wheldon were running side-by-side behind and it was only at Graham Hill Bend that Wrigley finally got his car infront.
Behind, there was an early change for fourth place as Will Burns slid past Rob Gaffney at Paddock Hill on lap two, with the top five staying the same into a safety car period caused by an off for Ben Green.
At the restart, Wrigley was right onto the tail of Orton and looked to make a challenge on a couple of occasions, but the leader maintained his advantage.
A moment for Wrigley into Druids ultimately ended his chance of the race win, with Orton able to edge away en-route to his seventh victory in the GT4 Supercup.
As Wrigley and the impressive Wheldon completed the podium, the latter’s first in the championship, Burns held off Gaffney and Carl Boardley for fourth.
Mark Davies took seventh on his return to the championship ahead of Callum Pointon, Reece Somerfield and Tom Hibbert – the latter having finished seventh on the road before receiving a penalty for a yellow flag infringement.
In the AM category, defending class champion Colin White took the opening victory with a storming drive through from the back of the grid – having missed qualifying as he raced a Ginetta G57 at Silverstone.
Grahame Tilley and James Guess fought over the class lead for most the race, but slight contact into Graham Hill Bend sent them both wide on lap twelve, just the opportunity White needed to steal the victory.
Full race results can be found here.
