Conner Garlick scored the biggest race win in Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship history. He shared the spoils with his brother Luke Garlick at Silverstone (27/28 April).
Scott McKenna was a star performer during the Oulton Park season opener with a pair of race victories. However, a change for the second round saw his younger brother Ben McKenna behind the wheel of the MDD Racing prepared Ginetta G56 GT Pro.
Some other changes to the grid saw father and son duo Peter and Harry Mangion return to Ginetta racing. They are racing with Raceway Motorsport alongside GT Academy graduate Jon Kearney. Martin Thomas (Xentek Motorsport) and Dan Reeve (W2R) also making their series debuts.
Luke Garlick (Xentek Motorsport) topped the times in official testing on Friday. He went on to replicate that performance the next day to secure a brilliant double pole position. This is only his second ever GT Championship qualifying session.
Mckenzie Douglass (Fox Motorsport), the other race-winner at Oulton Park, was 0.142s adrift ahead of the quickest Am class runner Nick White. He led a trio of Raceway Motorsport cars. Harry Mangion and Matt Shaw split by just nine thousandths of a second behind.
The opening race of the weekend began with Luke Garlick successfully converting pole position into the early race lead ahead of Douglass and White. A tough first lap for Harry Mangion saw him drop back to eighth. Fast-starting McKenna gained two places to fourth.
At the front of the field, Garlick fended off the challenge of Douglass in the early laps before starting to pull away. The 2023 GT5 Challenge Pro champion went on to control the race. He scored his first win in the championship by over two seconds.
Douglass enjoyed a comfortable run to second place as White secured a dominant Am class win in third overall. The most exciting battle of the race came behind, as McKenna defended fourth position from 2023 race-winner Conner Garlick (Xentek Motorsport).
A brilliant defensive drive from McKenna got him the place on the road, however a track limits time penalty dropped him back three places in the final result. Garlick therefore took fourth place overall and the final place on the Pro class podium.
Shaw was classified fifth in the final result as he finished second in the Am ranks. That class podium was completed by Kearney on his series debut. Harry Mangion ended up recovering to sixth overall after his early issue. His father, Peter, took ninth overall after a close duel with Thomas.
After heavy rainfall earlier in the day, it was a damp but drying circuit that greeted the field for race two on Sunday. Whilst most of the grid opted for wet tyres, there was a bold call for slicks by Conner Garlick. This ultimately proved to be a masterstroke as the race played out.
It was Luke Garlick who led away from pole position. He immediately stamped his authority on the race, building up a lead of nine seconds by the end of lap four. He was aided by an early battle for second between McKenna and Douglass. The latter gog the spot at Brooklands on lap two.
White swept past too and led a four-car train for third, with McKenna, Harry Mangion and Thomas in hot pursuit. They were soon joined by Conner Garlick though, who was on his charge from last on the grid and lapping comfortably faster than his competitors.
Picking off Mangion, White and Douglass in a single lap, he then closed a near 11 second gap to his brother in less than two laps. From there, he stormed into the distance to take the victory by 20 seconds to set a new championship record.
Luke Garlick finished seven seconds clear of Douglass as they completed the Pro class podium. A late move from 2021 GT5 Challenge Am champion Mangion netted him fourth ahead of White. While also completed a double Am class win for the weekend.
Shaw and Peter Mangion joined him on the class podium. They took the chequered flag ahead of Kearney and Reeve. Thomas sadly didn’t make the finish to sign off his first Ginetta appearance since an outing in the GT4 SuperCup back in 2011.
You can find full race results at www.tsl-timing.com/event/241705
You can watch the two races at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The 2024 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship continues with three races at Donington Park next month (25/26 May).
