Another session topped from Ollie Chadwick saw him clinch the pole position points at Donington Park. The 2016 Ginetta GT5 Challenge Champion had lead the majority of qualifying only coming under fire in the final few moments.
To the surprise of few it was Chadwick who topped the beginning of the session as the drivers looked for space on the damp Donington track.
It wasn’t long before the grass welcomed the Ginetta cars with Alexis Taylor the first off. He was soon joined by #25 Chris Babbington of the GRDC+ category. A red flag was called soon afterwards to clear some debris, halting the flow of many drivers.
Chadwick, winner of twelve races this season, was the man to beat as the session went green once again. Adrian Campbell-Smith had been the main reason for the delay in proceedings though still made it back to the pits on his own power.
The Hadfield brothers were the first to do so as Ryan Hadfield went top with five minutes to run. Sadly for him it didn’t last long as Chadwick soon found himself in front with Ryan and Jonathan Hadfield behind.
Joining the usual suspects at the top was Chadwick’s team-mate Jac Constable. The Xentek Motorsport driver ran as high as second as he settled into fourth with a minute to go.
With his final lap R. Hadfield temporarily took pole, though was denied a dream end by Chadwick who was the only driver below 2 minutes 2 seconds with a time of 2min 01.657seconds.
So Chadwick’s pole ensured he extended his gap at the top further despite already claiming the GT5 title. Ryan beat brother Jonathan Hadfield to take second, while Constable completed the second row.
Behind them, a strong showing from late entry Wilkinson sees him line up fifth with regular Nick Zapolski alongside. Completing the top eight will be Matt Flowers and Matt Chapman.
In the Am category, Richard Evans was the quickest driver, lining up eleventh overall. While in GRDC+, Richard Smith was the quickest competitor. He’ll be twenty-first on the grid.
