Eight races remain in the 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup season, with Tom Wrigley being the odds on favourite to walk away with the title as he takes a commanding lead into this weekend’s action at Rockingham (27/28 August).
The Rob Boston Racing ace took another big step towards the crown last time out at Knockhill with a stunning hat-trick of wins – his second treble of the campaign moving him 93 points clear at the top of the championship standings.
While there was some disappointment for the 24 year old as contact in race three ended his 100% podium record for the campaign, the three wins before have moved him just two shy of Tom Sharp’s all time championship record of eleven wins in a single season.
Wrigley could equal or even beat that record this time out if he can match his Knockhill heroics, but it’s highly unlikely he will secure the driver’s title with two meetings to spare – a maximum score would only be enough if his closest pursuer score eighteen points or less from the meeting.
That man is Will Burns, who return to the scene of his Supercup debut three years ago as the only driver left who could realistically derail Wrigley’s title charge, though it would be a remarkable turnaround for the Douglas Motorsport star to overturn the deficit in the last three weekends.
Burns heads to Corby with spirits high though as taking his second victory of the campaign with a battling performance last time out, whilst two other podium finishes in Scotland have made it ten so far in an impressive campaign for the third year contender.
One to watch this weekend meanwhile will be Jamie Orton, who returns to action after missing Knockhill as he and his wife celebrated the birth of their first son, with the Triple M Motorsport racer having been the man to beat in his last appearance at Snetterton.
Converting pole position into a pair of lights-to-flag victories had moved Orton joint second in the standings, but with any chance of taking the title having disappeared in his absence, he’ll be focusing solely on adding to his three race victories so far.
Four drivers head to Rockingham with their confidence boosted after enjoying podium success last time out, Mark Davies, Carl Boardley, Ben Green and Tom Hibbert – all of whom have shown potential to break the current stranglehold of the race wins this season by Wrigley, Burns and Orton.
Knockhill marked a real breakthrough weekend for rookie Green in particular, who took top four finishes in all four races in his SuperGreen Racing G55, his most consistent weekend yet including a pair of podium finishes to make it three for the season so far.
Davies also took a podium double as the former triple Ginetta champion continues to close the gap to the front-runners, while Boardley and Hibbert each led races as they took one rostrum apiece, with a maiden win firmly in sight for both.
Reece Somerfield had a weekend to forget in Scotland, only making the finish of one race out of the four, but the former race-winner has the potential to spring a surprise this weekend – likewise Callum Pointon who can build on four top six finishes so far in his first full Supercup season.
In the AM class, Colin White was beaten for only the second time this season last time out, but that has done nothing to dent his considerable advantage at the top of the class standings, with twelve victories so far putting him 90 points clear.
Chris Ingram was the driver to halt White’s eight race winning run with his maiden class victory, a result that has moved him up to second in the standings at the expense of Grahame Tilley, the other class-winner at Donington Park who will unfortunately be missing from action this weekend.
In only his third outing of the season, David Brooks notched his first three podium finishes of the campaign at Knockhill as he continues to make huge progress each time on circuit, whilst the ever-present Mike Newbold has his sights on a first class rostrum of the year.
After dropping to a season-low of fourteen in Scotland, the grid will be two higher with the returns of Rob Gaffney and Chris Car, the latter making his second outing of the campaign with reigning champions Century Motorsport.
The weekend’s action kicks off with qualifying at 10:50 on Saturday, before the opening race, the 150th in Supercup history, at 14:50. Two more races coming on Sunday at 10:10 and 15:12, the second of which is set to be televised live on ITV4 and itv.com.
Full championship standings ahead of the weekend can be found here.
