Shane Stoney claimed victory in just his second race of his Ginetta GT5 Challenge career as he held off the charge of Lewis Brown and Max Bird to claim victory in race two of the weekend.
Stoney would lead from the very first lap of the race as Nick Zapolski in second, and Bird in third, couldn’t find a way past on the relatively narrow Oulton Park circuit.
The privateer held on in the face of tough pressure from Brown, Bird and Zapolski who combined forces to turn their squabble for second into a three-car effort to oust Stoney from his lead.
That effort worked for a time until Zapolski, in the Xentek entry, went into Cascades too hot and took a trip across the grass. After that, Stoney escaped a fraction as Brown turned his attention on getting second place off Bird on the last lap. Sticking his nose in front at Lodge, Brown made the move stick going up Deer Leap but didn’t have the distance to pass Stoney as well – Brown eventually finishing 0.159s behind.
Bird finished third and Zapolski eventually crossed the line three seconds behind in fourth with race one pole-sitter Oliver Wilkinson ending in a remote fifth.
Ryan Hadfield crossed the line sixth after a somewhat eventful race for him. On the first lap he ran wide at Old Hall and was very fortunate to keep the car pointing in the right direction as he lost a handful of places. From there he picked off Katie Milner for seventh place – she stayed in eighth for the remainder of the race – and Alex Toth-Jones & Simon Traves on lap two to claim fifth. He crossed the line sixth after losing fifth late on to Wilkinson.
Of note elsewhere in the field, Toth-Jones retired on lap three of seven after running wide going through Island Bend and hitting the tyres on the inside of the entrance to Shell Oils. He got out unharmed, but the car looked decidedly second hand.
