Tom Wrigley taken the lead of the Ginetta GT4 SuperCup championship as Will Burns and Carl Boardley moved up to second and third.
Knockhill was probably not the weekend any driver wanted to miss, with four races taking place at the Scottish track, but family commitments – the birth of his first child – meant Jamie Orton would have to miss out on the valuable weekend.
Race One
Race one at Knockhill was the rescheduled race three from Snetterton.
Races earlier in the schedule overrunning at Snetterton meant the reverse grid race was postponed.
Tom Hibbert started on pole with Burns alongside him. The two leading drivers managed to get a good start, leaving those behind them to battle for the rest of the places.
Boardley and Wrigley started behind them, and didn’t get such a fantastic start. The championship contenders fell back through the order whilst Reece Somerfield was promoted to third.
It seemed like it was going to be an easy race for Hibbert and Burns at the front of the race. No trouble meant they were able to build up a big advantage to the battle for the bottom step of the podium. But Burns wasn’t going to settle for second place.
Five laps into the race, he made a move on the race leader, but it didn’t quite go to plan. Hibbert was forced to retire from the race and Burns didn’t fare much better. He suffered a broken steering rack, but managed to complete the race, four laps behind everybody else.
Whilst Hibbert and Burns fell back, the battle for third was promoted to the battle for first. Boardley took the lead of the race, with Somerfield in second and Wrigley behind him. Mark Davies was also fighting for the lead of the race.
On the ninth lap, Wrigley managed to get past Somerfield, Davies following behind him, and the number 12 car was demoted to third.
Finally, on lap 14, Wrigley managed to pass Boardley into the lead of the race. This time Davies wasn’t able to follow and Boardley kept P2.
The race ended without the top three positions changing, making it a Wrigley, Boardley, Davies podium.
It looked as if Somerfield would finish fourth when, on the final lap, Ben Green pulled off an optimistic move that took him past the Pelsall based driver.
Green had made his way slowly up through the field after starting thirteenth. He took his opportunitiy as Somerfield struggled to get past lapped AM drivers on the final lap.
There were few surprises in the AM class.
Colin White took another dominant win, even after running through the gravel at Duffus Dip.
Chris Ingram finished second in class whilst David Brooks took his first class podium.
Race Two
Championship leader Wrigley took pole for the second race of the weekend. Though Burns started further back, his impressive start meant he was fighting for the race lead on the opening lap, but Wrigley managed to stay ahead.
The fight was neutralised when Somerfield and Boardley came together on the opening lap. Both drivers retired from the race and the safety car was brought out to clear up the damage.
On the restart, Wrigley was able to keep Burns behind him and the two drove off into the distance whilst a three-way fight for third began.
Hibbert was looking to recover from a disappointing race one, whilst Green and Davies also fancied their chances for the bottom step of the podium.
Hibbert managed to keep Green and Davies behind him for the majority of the race but, four laps before the chequered flag, Green managed to find a way past. Davies passed Hibbert a lap later, demoting him to fifth.
The fight wasn’t over though. On the last lap, Davies made an impressive move at the final chicane, pulling up alongside Green. It was a drag race on the final stretch of tarmac and Davies just snatched the final podium position, beating Green by 0.026 seconds.
Hands up who would be surprised to find Colin White took the AM class win, again ahead of Ingram in second. Tilley took third place.
Race Three
The results of the second race determined the grid for the third, which put Wrigley on pole and Burns in second. It was a relatively boring race for the two drivers, who had an untroubled race. They finished without a change of order and eight and a half seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Davies and Green restarted their battle from race two, Green taking third place in the opening lap. Hibbert stuck close behind the pair and, on the twelfth lap, managed to get past Davies and up into fourth.
Carl Boardley started at the very back of the grid, but soon shot up through the field, in eighth by the end of the second lap. After five laps of trying to find a way past Callum Pointon – who had moved backwards on the opening lap – Boardley finally made it up to seventh, where he would have to get past AM leader White to continue to challenge the PRO drivers.
The fight with White lasted three laps and ended with contact. Boardley was able to make up the place, but White was forced to retire with damage to his wheels. It was White’s first retirement of the season and only the second race he hasn’t taken the class win.
The race ended early, when AM drivers Robertson and Newbould came together at the final chicane four laps before the end of the race. The two cars became stuck in the gravel and the red flag was brought out to clear up the damage. With so few laps left, the race was brought to an early end.
That meant Ingram would take the class win – the first of his career, with Tilley and Brooks joining him on the podium.
Race Four
The final race of the weekend was another reverse grid. This time the draw put Davies on pole, but it didn’t really do him much good. The TCR driver was forced to pit after the warm up lap because of a problem, which meant Hibbert would effectively be on pole.
Burns started in fourth (third, with Davies missing) and a great start and a swift move at the hairpin brought him up to second by the end of lap one.
The battle for the final step of the podium was once again on. Davies had the advantage going into lap two, but Wrigley and Boardley were close behind. As Boardley tried to get past Wrigley, the two made contact. Wrigley was forced to retire and Pointon, who also got caught up in the drama, found himself at the back of the field.
The race was briefly neutralised as the safety car came out. The order was Hibbert, Burns, Green but Hibbert’s lead was gone.
The Grantham based driver had been so close to a race win all weekend and this time he didn’t want to let that go. Hibbert managed to keep Burns at bay all the way to the eighteenth or twenty six laps, but he didn’t have enough. Burns took the lead of the race and Hibbert would have to settle for second place.
Behind them, Green had no problem keeping his third place, whilst Boardley claimed fourth.
Wait until you hear who took the AM class win though. After starting thirteenth – the penultimate spot on the grid – White recovered to an impressive fifth overall, taking the class win ahead of Chris Ingram and David Brooks.
Wrigley now has a 93 points lead over second place in the championship Burns. Orton’s absence drops him to fourth in the championship battle.
Shockingly, White still leads to AM class competition.
Results
Race one
1 – Tom Wrigley – Pro
2 – Carl Boardley – Pro
3 – Mark Davies – Pro
4 – Ben Green – Pro
5 – Reece Somerfield – Pro
6 – Colin White – AM
7 – Chris Ingram – AM
8 – Callum Pointon – Pro
9 – David Brooks – AM
10 – Mike Newbold – AM
11 – Grahame Tilley – AM
12 – Will Burns – Pro
13 – Fraser Robertson – AM – DNF
14 – Tom Hibbert – Pro – DNF
Race two
1 – Tom Wrigley – Pro
2 – Will Burns – Pro
3 – Ben Green – Pro
3 – Mark Davies – Pro
5 – Tom Hibbert – Pro
6 – Callum Pointon – Pro
7 – Colin White – AM
8 – Chris Ingram – AM
9 – Grahame Tilley – AM
10 – David Brooks – AM
11 – Fraser Robertson – AM
12 – Mike Newbold – AM – DNF
13 – Carl Boardley – Pro – DNF
14 – Reece Somerfield – Pro – DNF
Race three
1 – Tom Wrigley – Pro
2 – Will Burns – Pro
3 – Ben Green – Pro
4 – Tom Hibbert – Pro
5 – Mark Davies – Pro
6 – Carl Boardley – Pro
7 – Callum Pointon – Pro
8 – Chris Ingram – AM
9 – Grahame Tilley – AM
10 – David Brooks – AM
11 – Fraser Robertson – AM – DNF
12 – Mike Newbold – AM – DNF
13 – Colin White – AM – DNF
Race four
1 – Will Burns – Pro
2 – Tom Hibbert – Pro
3 – Ben Green – Pro
4 – Carl Boardley – Pro
5 – Colin White – AM
6 – Chris Ingram – AM
8 – Tom Wrigley – Pro
9 – David Brooks – AM
10 – Fraser Robertson – AM
11 – Callum Pointon – Pro
12 – Reece Somerfield – Pro – DNF
13 – Grahame Tilley – AM – DNF
14 – Mark Davies – Pro – DNF
15 – Mike Newbold – AM – DNF
Image Credit: Ginetta
