In qualifying on Saturday morning, Gus Burton (Century Motorsport) became the first driver to score a second pole position of the season so far. He just edged out Adam Smalley (Elite Motorsport) by eight hundredths of a second, the latter recording a seasons’ best qualifying result in second.
There was a dramatic start to the opening race between those two however, as contact at the complex on lap one led to retirement for both. Falvey (Motion Capital Racing) came through to take the race lead from Will Burns (Rob Boston Racing) and Reece Somerfield (Privateer).
After a safety car period, Falvey produced a textbook restart and pulled clear to a maiden victory by over two seconds. Second for Burns was Rob Boston Racing’s 100th overall podium finish in the championship, while there was a last lap change for third behind.
Hibbert (Triple M Motorsport) got ahead of Somerfield for the 30th podium of his GT4 SuperCup career to date. Behind, there was an epic battle for the Pro Am spoils as Tom Emson (Elite Motorsport) led from his third pole position in three weekends since joining the class.
Emson dropped back to third on the opening lap however, but a great fight back after the restart culminated in him passing Chris Salkeld (Assetto Motorsport) on the penultimate lap for the win. Colin White (CWS Motorsport) slipped past on the last tour for second meanwhile.
In the Am class meanwhile, Carl Garnett (AK Motorsport) recorded a first class pole position in the series and duly converted it into a lights to flag win. Stewart Lines (Triple M Motorsport) and Lee Goldsmith (Assetto Motorsport) completed the podium.
Sunday’s opening race featured an action-packed start, as a slow launch for front-row starter Burns led to contact with Somerfield. This opened the door for Hibbert to storm through to second place ahead of Smalley and the fast starting Burton, who climbed from seventh to fourth.
Ahead, Falvey capitalised on the action behind to build an immediate lead at the front of the pack and he held that throughout with a faultless drive to his second win of the weekend. Behind, Hibbert ran second for a long spell before losing out late on.
Smalley got a run out of the final chicane and dived down the inside at Allard, with Burton and Burns taking advantage of the gap formed to follow him through. Those three ran in those positions to the finish, while Hibbert had to ultimately settle for fifth.
After a frustrating last corner spin whilst challenging for fourth in race one, Joe Marshall-Birks (Rob Boston Racing) hit back with a top six result. Hot on his heels was Emson, who led the Pro Am class throughout, while Salkeld passed White early on for second in class.
The Am class went the way of Garnett once again, leading from start-to-finish for his fourth win in a row. After missing Saturday’s race due to a technical issue, Nick Halstead (Fox Motorsport) came back well to finish second after an unfortunate spin for Lines.
The reverse grid for the final race of the weekend put Hibbert on pole from Burns, Burton and Smalley, with those four going on to run in close formation for the majority of the race. In the early stages, the leader had to soak up a fair bit of pressure.
A challenge from Burton for second at the complex gave the leader the chance to build a gap, but Burns fought back in the closing laps and less than half a second split them at the finish. That third win of the season ensured Hibbert ends the weekend atop the point standings.
Burton held off a late charge from Smalley to finish third; the seventh time this season that those three have shared the overall podium. Falvey finished up fifth ahead of Somerfield, who made his 200th GT4 SuperCup start – the first driver in the series to reach the milestone.
Emson capped off a perfect weekend with his third Pro Am win ahead of White, Salkeld and debutant Eric Boulton (Team HARD), while also completing a class win hat-trick was Am star Garnett. Halstead was second, while Lines came through to third from a pitlane start.
Full race results for the weekend can be seen here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TOCA/2020/203803g4c.pdf
The 2020 Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup continues in three weeks’ time at Croft in North Yorkshire (10/11 October).
