Callum Davies and Ruben Hage shared the race wins as the inaugural season of the Protyre
Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship came to a close at Donington Park (21/22 October), while
Luke Garlick secured the GT5 Pro class title.
The pressure was off for Luke Reade (Wolf Motorsport) after wrapping up the headline GT Pro title
last time out at Brands Hatch, and he duly scored a double pole position for the third time this
season. Davies (SVG Motorsport) was hot on his heels, with just 0.116s between them.
A brilliant debut qualifying for McKenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport) saw him finish third fastest, with
Liona Theobald (SVG Motorsport) in a very impressive seasons’ best fourth. In the GT5 ranks, title
rivals and Xentek Motorsport team-mates Ella Lloyd and Luke Garlick took a pole position each.
Davies produced a lightning getaway to race one and led the field through Redgate for the first time.
A three-car train quickly developed at the front of the field as Reade and Douglass chased the leader,
with Conner Garlick (Xentek Motorsport) then closing onto their tail too.
After running close together for a number of laps, it was Douglass who managed to make a move
stick with a dive down the inside of Reade into Redgate for second. The Junior graduate pushed hard
to dethrone Davies, but the latter held on to secure a long-awaited first win of the season.
Reade held off Conner Garlick in the closing laps to complete the podium, his 13 th consecutive top
three result, with Hage (Breakell Racing) finishing fifth. After punctures took Blake Angliss (Xentek
Motorsport) and Carl Garnett (Breakell Racing) out of contention, Bal Sidhu (Xentek Motorsport)
came through to complete the top six ahead of Theobald.
In GT5, Luke Garlick moved into the class lead on the opening lap and held it throughout for a crucial
victory. Lloyd finished second, but had to work hard for it after a mid-race spin dropped her to
fourth at one stage. Sam Harvey completed a Xentek Motorsport podium lockout ahead of Will
Rochford (TCR).
The second race on Sunday morning began with a slow launch for Douglass off the line, which
opened the door for Davies to challenge Reade for the lead into the Old Hairpin. A dramatic moment
saw both slide wide, with the champion ending up in the gravel trap and out of the race.
Hage took full advantage to charge into the lead heading through Schwantz Curve, with Davies
holding second until contact from Douglass at the Melbourne hairpin spun him round. As the safety
car came out, Hage was leading from Conner Garlick, Colin White (CWS 4×4) and Angliss.
When action resumed, Conner Garlick was immediately on the offensive and swept around the
outside of Hage around Goddards. His advantage didn’t last long though, a slide through the Old
Hairpin on the next lap allowing Hage back to the front.
Those two ran nose-to-tail through to the chequered flag as Hage scored his seventh win of the
campaign, while Garlick dropped to fourth with a track limits penalty. Angliss therefore came home
second, having dived past White into Goddards for third on the road and then fending off Douglass
until the latter suffered a retirement. Davies recovered from his spin to fifth ahead of Sidhu and
Theobald.
There was opening lap drama in the GT5 class also, as points leader heading into the race Luke
Garlick span into the Old Hairpin gravel trap. With Lloyd delayed as well, Harvey stormed into the
lead and went on to secure his first class win in the championship.
Lloyd fought back to second, with Rochford completing the podium. After completing the top six in
class in the opener, Pablo Jequier (Race Car Consultants) and Karim Sekkat (Breakell Racing) failed to
finish race two after a lap one incident of their own.
The final race of the season started with Angliss launching himself into the race lead from the
outside of the front row. Pole-sitter Hage tucked in behind him, as race two podium finisher White
lost early ground to Davies, Conner Garlick and Garnett.
Hage got a run on Angliss coming out of the Esses though and got back to the front of the field into
the Melbourne hairpin. The top two ran closely for a few laps before Angliss tried to make a move
into the Old Hairpin, however a subsequent loss of momentum allowed Davies ahead.
Hage was the next to make an error exiting the Esses, which gave Davies the opportunity to take the
lead ahead of Angliss and Reade. The champion was on a mission from tenth on the grid and passed
Angliss for second, before challenging for the lead.
Unfortunately an incident with Davies led to Reade skating across the grass and into the Melbourne
gravel trap. The leader was able to continue though and scored his second win of the weekend, with
Hage taking second on the road before receiving a track limits penalty.
Conner Garlick and Angliss therefore completed the podium, a double top three for Xentek
Motorsport, with White classified in fourth ahead of Hage. Theobald completed the top six ahead of
Sidhu and Garnett, the latter bouncing back having missed out on race two entirely.
Luke Garlick confirmed himself as the 2023 GT5 Pro champion with a brilliant charge from fifth on
the grid to class victory. Early leader Harvey completed his best weekend of the season in second, as
Sekkat passed both Rochford and Jequier through the race to get the final podium spot.
Full GT Championship 2023 wins can be found at: www.tsl-timing.com/event/234205
All three races can be watched back at: www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
