The weekend began with an incredibly close qualifying session on Saturday morning, with less than two tenths of a second splitting the top four drivers. Rattican (Elite Motorsport) headed that pack for his first pole position in the championship ahead of team-mate Smalley and Miracco (Preptech UK)
Kellett (Century Motorsport) was fourth as he made a welcome debut in the series, while in Pro Am it was the returning Dan Morris (Simon Green Motorsport) who set the pace from another series newcomer, Ginetta GT Academy graduate Darren Leung (Assetto Motorsport).
Smalley got the better launch off the line in race one that afternoon, however Rattican kept him at bay through Redgate for the first time. That proved to be the pivotal moment of the race, as he went on to lead every lap en-route to a brilliant third win of the season.
As the race developed, Smalley’s attention had to turn to Kellett behind. Slipping back to sixth on lap one, the two-time GT5 Challenge champion fought back superbly and ended up picking off Smalley into Redgate two laps from the finish for second.
That result means Kellett joins Smalley and George Gamble as the only drivers in Ginetta history to have taken podium finishes in the Juniors, GT5 Challenge and GT4 SuperCup. Smalley ended up third, meaning he’s finished in the top three at Donington in all three series’.
Steve Roberts (Rob Boston Racing) and Reece Somerfield (Breakell Racing) had enjoyed spells in third place across the first half of the race, with a strong run from the latter ensuring he matched his seasons’ best result in fourth position.
Roberts ended up sixth at the chequered flag meanwhile behind Miracco, while seventh went the way of Tom Hibbert (Rob Boston Racing). The title contender impressively gained seven places across the race, having started at the back of the Pro field following issues in qualifying.
Andy Spencer (Century Motorsport), Joe Marshall (Team HARD) and James Blake-Baldwin (AK Motorsport) rounded out the top ten in a race that saw front-runners Tom Emson (Elite Motorsport), Luke Reade (Rob Boston Racing) and Blake Angliss (Century Motorsport) all fail to make the finish.
Like Rattican at the front of the field, Morris led Pro-Am from start to finish for a second win of his part-time campaign. Carl Garnett (AK Motorsport) ran second in the early stages before losing out to Colin White (CWS Motorsport), with those two going on to complete the rostrum.
Leung battled back well to finish just three tenths of a second adrift of Garnett at the finish, while another close battle for fifth in class went the way of Garry Townsend (AK Motorsport) ahead of Luke Warr (Race Car Consultants).
The first of Sunday’s two races belonged to Kellett. A great launch off the line moved him ahead of pole-sitter Rattican and he went on to lead every lap of the race, ending with a four second winning margin as he became the sixth different race-winner this season.
Smalley also got ahead of Rattican at the start and held the place to the finish, though he had to work hard for it as his team-mate fought back and got alongside him at one stage late on. Right on their tail at the chequered flag was Roberts, taking another good finish on his series return.
Some of the best action of the race came in a duel for fifth place between Miracco and Somerfield, with the duo running side by side all the way from Redgate to McLeans on one lap. Somerfield eventually secured the position.
Equally action-packed was a battle for seventh, with Blake-Baldwin making late progress to pick up the position ahead of Hibbert. Late drama for Reade and Marshall opened the door for Angliss and Emson to round out the Pro top ten ahead of Henry Dawes (Century Motorsport).
A good opening lap from Garnett moved him into the Pro Am lead, however he lost out to White soon after and the reigning champion went on to take the win. Garnett followed him home, with Leung picking up a maiden podium from Morris and Stewart Lines (Rob Boston Racing).
The partial reverse grid draw for race three placed Miracco on pole position in front of the live ITV4 television cameras. He took full advantage too, leading every lap of the race on his way to a second win of the season so far.
A fast start from Roberts moved him up to second into Redgate for the first time, with Smalley and Blake-Baldwin following him past Somerfield. Rattican soon joined that group as the field headed into an early safety car period.
When the action resumed, Blake-Baldwin immediately made a move on Smalley at Redgate. Three laps later he passed Roberts at the same corner for second, with the latter running across the gravel and dropping back to fifth position.
As Blake-Baldwin secured a third podium finish of the season, a last corner dive from Rattican secured him third place from Smalley. That ended the championship leader’s run of eight consecutive podium finishes, though fourth still further extended his points lead.
Kellett got ahead of Roberts for fifth place, with Somerfield eventually settling for seventh. A surprisingly subdued weekend for Hibbert ended with an eighth place finish ahead of Emson and Reade, the latter bouncing back from a race two retirement.
In Pro Am, Morris moved from third on the grid into the lead on lap one. White was the man on the move in the class though, passing Garnett and Lines to get into second, before picking off Morris after the safety car to record his 16th class win of the season.
Morris and Garnett ended up completing the podium, the latter now having 19 for the season, with Lines and reverse grid pole-sitter Warr next up. The class order was completed by Fraser Robertson (AK Motorsport), who was making his first GT4 SuperCup appearance since 2017.
The 2021 Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup season finale takes place in two weeks’ time (23/24 October) at Brands Hatch in Kent.
Full race results for the weekend can be found here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/214003
Find out more about the championship’s title sponsor, Millers Oils, at https://www.millersoils.co.uk/
