The Ginetta G56 GT4 has been taken to its first overall podium finish in the British GT Championship in the 2023 season opener at Oulton Park. Raceway Motorsport’s Michael Crees and Thomas Holland took a brilliant third place in their debut race.
An exciting expansion for the new 2023 British GT championship season sees no less than four G56 GT4’s competing in one of the world’s foremost domestic GT championships. There are two cars apiece for Raceway and Toro Verde GT within the competitive GT4 category.
A stellar driver line-up across the two squads includes former Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner turned 2017 British GT4 champion Stuart Middleton, one-time BTCC racer and double Ginetta champion Michael Crees, plus ex-DTM racer and newly named Ginetta brand ambassador Esmee Hawkey.
It was Crees and Holland who put in the headline performance over the traditional Easter bank holiday weekend season opener at Oulton. In their #55 Raceway Motorsport machine, they starred in inclement weather to storm up the order from ninth on the grid to third overall in GT4, winning the Pro-Am class in the process.
Podium results
The overall podium finish is a breakthrough result for the G56 GT4, following two years of development work with the car in the championship. It cements the car’s status as one of the leading contenders in the competitive GT4 class and continues a rich legacy for Ginetta in British GT following huge successes in the past with the G50 and G55 models.
The podium result for Crees and Holland was backed up by a brilliant weekend for Ian Duggan and James Townsend in the #86 Toro Verde-prepared G56 GT4 too, as they enjoyed a pair of victories in the GT4 Am class.
Ginetta’s new racing talent
The weekend successes serve to further highlight Ginetta’s incredible track record for nurturing new racing talent. Crees started his career in the GRDC in 2017 and went on to win titles in the G40 Cup and GT4 SuperCup, and Holland has risen up the Ginetta ladder through the GRDC, G40 Cup and GT Academy, while Duggan and Townsend have both competed in the GT5 Challenge and GT4 SuperCup.
In fact, over the course of the two races at Oulton Park, no less than 16 drivers stood on the British GT podium that had previously competed full-time in one-make Ginetta championships. This includes 2019 G40 Cup champion Chris Salkeld, 2016 GT4 SuperCup champion Tom Wrigley and the last two victors in the Juniors, Aston Millar and Josh Rowledge.
