2024 class champions Mckenzie Douglass and Nick White shared racing wins of the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship season at Brands Hatch (28/29 September).
Saturday
Provisional 2024 champions Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport) and Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) scored pole position in the PRO and AM classes respectively in qualifying. Douglass topped the timesheets overall by four tenths of a second from Luke Garlick (Xentek Motorsport).
Douglass stormed away from pole position at the start of race one. There was drama behind at Druids as Matt Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) made contact with the rear of Luke Garlick. It sent them both into the gravel trap. While Garlick continued, Shaw’s race was over.
After a safety car period to retrieve his car, the action resumed with Douglass storming clear at the front of the field. As he went on to take a 14th PRO win of the season by almost eight seconds, there was a close battle for second between White and one of the guest drivers on the grid, Robert Cronin (Fox Motorsport).
White held on to finish second overall and secure the AM win in the process, with Cronin winning the guest trophy on his debut. Harry Mangion (Raceway Motorsport) survived early contact to finish second in PRO ahead of former GT Academy racer Ed Acres (SVG Motorsport) on his debut.
Callum Noble (Xentek Motorsport) came home second in the AM ranks, with American racer Seth Henry (Breakell Racing) making good progress on his debut to seventh overall ahead of AM podium finisher Peter Mangion (Raceway Motorsport).
It proved to be a dramatic race for the Garlick siblings. Luke recovered from the lap one incident and a trip to the pitlane to tape up some damage to finish for third in PRO. His older brother, Conner Garlick (Xentek Motorsport), had been on course for the podium before suffering a puncture.
Sunday
Douglass once again led the field away from pole position in race two. An early change behind saw White capitalise on a mistake from Luke Garlick to grab second. As the laps ticked by, a three-way battle for second developed with Cronin catching onto their tail.
Cronin got ahead of Luke Garlick through Sheene on lap seven for third overall. This soon became second when a puncture for the race leader Douglass forced him to the pitlane. Losing a lap in the process, he ended up back in fourth in PRO at the flag.
Cronin had his sights set on a maiden Ginetta win in the closing laps. But, White soaked up the pressure and held on to finish first overall and top of the AM class. Cronin was the top guest driver again, while Luke Garlick picked up the PRO category win in third overall.
Harry Mangion and Conner Garlick swapped positions back and forth through the race, going on to finish second and third in PRO respectively. Noble made a late move on Acres for sixth overall. Those two ended up second of the AM’s and guest’s respectively.
The final race of the season started in dramatic fashion. Contact between Cronin and Luke Garlick into Paddock Hill Bend on lap one ended the latter’s race in the gravel. As the safety car was called, racing ended for Douglass too as he pulled off circuit.
When action resumed, it was White leading the way. He maintained his advantage throughout to finish first overall for the third time this season and score his 20th consecutive AM win. Conner Garlick picked up his second PRO victory of the year. Acres won the guest trophy in third overall.
The main action of the race came in a thrilling three-way battle behind between Henry, Harry Mangion and a recovering Cronin. Henry slipped behind both to sixth at one stage. Cronin went on to mount a challenge for fourth from Mangion into Druids.
Mangion fought back at the next corner however. This then opened the door for Henry to pick off Cronin too for fifth. That’s how they eventually finished, whilst behind them the AM podium was completed by Noble and Peter Mangion.
Full Brands Hatch racing results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/243905
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
