Ginetta GT4 Supercup

Wrigley Seals Supercup Title In Nail-Biting Finale

2 Mins read

Tom Wrigley has been crowned the 2016 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion after crucially following home title rival Will Burns to take a third place finish in the season finale.

As Carl Boardley dominated the last race of the campaign, a nail-biting conclusion played out behind as Burns and Wrigley fought their way into the podium positions.

A superb launch off the line for Boardley saw him leapfrog Jack Mitchell for a race lead he wouldn’t relinquish, with the latter staying in second and later playing a key role in the title fight.

Burns and Wrigley made quick progress through the field from fifth and seventh on the grid respectively, each passing Rob Gaffney and Reece Somerfield in the opening two laps.

That put the duo into the top four heading into an early safety car period, which came after Jamie Stanley was beached in the Paddock Hill gravel trap following contact with Callum Pointon.

As soon as the action restarted the battle between the title contenders heated up, with Wrigley heaping Burns under pressure for third – knowing if he finished ahead the title was his.

At the same time, Burns was trying to find a way past Mitchell for second, as the points difference between second and fourth would have been enough to give him the title.

The battle would sensationally go down to the final lap of the season, with Burns making a decisive lunge down the inside of Mitchell heading into Paddock Hill Bend.

Sensing he might be losing the title, Wrigley crucially stormed down the inside behind him and running side-by-side with Mitchell through Druids before making his move stick.

Despite Burns’ best efforts to slow his title rival up and allow Mitchell to get between them, Wrigley was able to fend him off at the chequered flag to be crowned champion.

Boardley meanwhile was 5.2 seconds up the road as he took his second victory in consecutive meetings, while Mitchell narrowly missing out on a second podium of the weekend in fourth.

Somerfield ran fifth throughout, while Mark Davies climbed up from tenth to sixth early on before contact from Ben Green led to his retirement from the race.

That opened the door for his Total Control Racing team-mate Pointon to complete the top six ahead of Green and Gaffney, with debutant Jack Bartholomew in ninth overall.

Only twelve drivers reached the finish, with the other three being the AM class podium finishers in Colin White, Grahame Tilley and Fraser Robertson.

Full race results 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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