Tom Wrigley was crowned the Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Brands Hatch, a third place in the final round of the championship enough to secure victory. Will Burns put up a strong fight, but couldn’t find enough to snatch the title from the Rob Boston Racing driver.
Race One
It was advantage Burns going into the first race of the weekend, the Douglas Motorsports driver taking pole for the race alongside newcomer Jack Mitchell. Wrigley would have a tougher time, starting tenth.
Burns almost threw away that advantage at the start, though, falling back behind Mitchell off the line. The championship contender battled back though and took back the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Mark Davies was on the attack. The TCR driver found his way past Mitchell and was soon challenging Burns, coming alongside the race leader.
The hectic weather conditions at Brands Hatch were starting to come into play though as Burns searched the track for cooler areas. Davies was practically on Burns’ tail, but the two different lines the pair were taking was making overtaking hard, but Davis managed to find a way past to take the lead of the race.
Wrigley had spent the start of the race working his way through the field, joining the back of a battle between Tom Hibbert and Callum Pointon, who were fighting over fifth position. He couldn’t find a way past and a small mistake for the championship contender lost him time.
Back at the front of the field, Davies was in trouble. The race leader ran wide at two corners in a row, but managed to keep the lead from Burns. Burns was trying to find the inside line, a late breaking manouver putting him in the lead of the race.
Davies tried to find a way back, but Mitchell was right on his tail, and he had to focus on defending over attacking.
Burns would take the race win, Wrigley finishing seventh.
White took the AM class win ahead of Ingram and Tilley.
Race Two
The race one finishing positions would determine the starting positions for race two, meaning it would again be Burns on pole, whilst Wrigley would have the slightly better than race one position of seventh.
But, once again, Burns struggled off of the line, dropping back to third in the first few seconds whilst Tom Hibbert and Carl Boardley sped ahead. The pole sitter now had Mitchell and Wrigley right on his tail, a difficult position to be in.
Boardley had taken the lead of the race, but a slip up for the race leader saw Hibbert snatch the lead.
Back with Burns, and the championship contender had managed to build up a small train, Wrigley, Mitchell, Somerfield, and Orton all trying to find a way past. Wrigley and Orton made contact, the latter being sent into the gravel, but Wrigley kept going. He lost a place to Somerfield, unable to challenge Burns, but Mitchell kept the Douglas Motorsports driver pressured.
In the AM Class, Colin White was in trouble. The AM superstar had spun, his car stranded sideways across the track, bringing out the safety car.
On the restart, Wrigley managed to find his way past Mitchell, but the overtake was put in danger when the championship contender ran wide. Mitchell was struggling to hang on, though, and didn’t take the place back. Rob Gaffney was ready to pounce, though quickly finding his way past Wrigley.
Jack Bartholomew joined the pair in a battle that lasted for most of the remainder of the race, until Batholomew s[an and ran hard into the barrier.
At first, the safety car was brought onto the track, only to be replaced by a red flag.
The race would end with Burns in fourth, after Mitchell found his way past, and Wrigley down in eighth.
Race Three
The championship contenders were now split by only seven points going into the final race of the weekend.
Burns would start ahead of Wrigley for the final race. The former lined up fifth on the grid, with Wrigley right behind him in P7.
Mitchell would take pole position, but it didn’t take long for Boardley to take the lead of the race. The Century Motorsport driver managed to stay P2 though, ahead of Burns and Wrigley, who had moved into third and fourth.
That would mean Wrigley would still take the championship win, should the race end in that position. Burns needed to find his way past Mitchell. Burns took that opportunity as quickly as he could, but it came just after the safety car was set onto the track.
Burns found his way past, but was forced to hand the place back, meaning Wrigley was still in the lead of the championship.
Burns spent the rest of the race still trying to find his way past Mitchell whilst Wrigley stuck close to his tail, always looking for a gap to consolidate his championship.
On the final lap of the race, Burns finally made his move. He dived down the inside of Mitchell at Paddock Hill bend, but Wrigley wasn’t going to let him go that easily, and he followed his rival through.
The three drivers ran three abreast, a drag race to the finish.
Burns managed to keep Wrigley behind him, and get ahead of Mitchell. But Burns really needed the Century Motorsport driver between the two of them if he was going to take the championship. Unfortunately for him, Mitchell couldn’t hold onto third as Wrigley swept past him to take third.
Up ahead, in an easy face, Boardley had snatched the race win, but the championship win would go to Wrigley, Burns finishing three points behind him.
Image credit: Ginetta
