Ginetta GT4 Supercup

PREVIEW: Wrigley Storming Clear As Supercup Prepares For Oulton Park

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Following a lengthy seven week break since their last outing, the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup returns to action this weekend (04/05 June) at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit with all eyes on runaway early championship leader Tom Wrigley.

The Rob Boston Racing ace made championship history last time out at Donington Park as he became only the third driver in the series to record a treble victory on a weekend, with two dominant lights-to-flag successes followed by a battling win in the reverse grid encounter.

With a podium treble at the Brands Hatch season opener preceeding his Donington hat-trick, the Wrexham-based racer holds a fifty point lead already in the championship standings – an advantage he’ll be keen to extend with more success at his local circuit Oulton.

While Wrigley has stormed clear of the pack in the points, hardly anything can separate his closest challengers Will Burns and Jamie Orton, the former leading his 2015 team-mate by eight points courtesy of one more top four finish than his adversary.

Both drivers have a single victory to their name so far this campaign from Brands. Orton converted pole position to victory in the opener, while Burns secured a long-awaited maiden success in the final race – achievements both will be looking to replicate this weekend.

While the top three have been a step ahead of the field so far this year, there have been opportunities for a quartet of other drivers to breach the podium, notably Ben Green, who carded a maiden top three finish in only sixth outing in senior car-racing at Donington.

Another new Supercup podium finisher has come in the form of former Radical racer Rob Wheldon, who stormed into the top three in the opening race, whilst Reece Somerfield and Carl Boardley have used their G55 experience to good effect with podium finishes of their own.

Knocking firmly on the door of the top three meanwhile are privateer Tom Hibbert, who secured a pair of fourth place finishes at Donington, Total Control Racing pair Callum Pointon and Mark Davies, and Rob Gaffney, who have all featured in the top six so far this campaign.

An addition to the entry this weekend is a familiar face in Declan Jones. The Liverpudlian joins the grid with reigning champions Century Motorsport for his first outing since a one-off outing in the 2014 season finale, when he impressively secured a podium finish in a top five treble.

Colin White has produced a superb start to the defence of his AM Class title, with five victories in the opening six races giving him an early 24 point lead, but James Guess is keeping on his heels with six consecutive podium finishes, with only the top step alluding him so far.

It was Grahame Tilley who interrupted White’s winning run, with a strong start to his maiden Supercup campaign producing three podium results, with Chris Ingram and Fraser Robertson joining him as top three class finishers so far this year.

After such a long break, the two Friday practice sessions will be crucial to the teams and drivers as they get back in the groove and fine tune their setups ahead of the all-important qualifying session at 11:35 on Saturday.

The Oulton weekend will feature only two races compared to the regular three, with one each day. Round Seven on Saturday is scheduled to start at 16:35 with Round Eight, to be televised live on ITV4, set for 16:05 on Sunday.

Full championship standings ahead of the weekend can be found here.

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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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