Ginetta GT Academy rookie front-runners Harry Gamble and Mike Taylor shared the race victories across the penultimate weekend of the 2024 season at Donington Park (07/08 September).
Saturday
James Nicholas (W2R) set the quickest time in pre-event testing and it was his name on the top of the timesheets in qualifying as he secured a double pole position for the fourth time this season. Rookie points leader Taylor (W2R) was hot on his heels, less than two tenths of a second separating them.
Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport), the pole-sitter on the first visit to Donington Park in May, was third fastest overall ahead of Ali Juffali (Elite Motorsport) in a seasons’ best fourth. Fastest in the GTA class meanwhile was Emma Tomlinson (W2R) in eighth overall.
The opening race began with an unfortunate moment at Redgate corner, as contact from Shaw spun around pole-sitter Nicholas and triggered more incidents in the pack. The race was red flagged, with Shaw, Emma Tomlinson and Peter Thompson (W2R) unable to take the restart.
Nicholas had a trouble-free run through Redgate on the restart and led through the opening lap, however a trip across the Old Hairpin gravel trap on lap five dropped him back to fifth. Taylor took advantage to assume the race lead ahead of Gamble (Elite Motorsport).
Taylor edged away from his pursuers as the race developed, with Gamble coming under pressure from Juffali. Those two would get caught out by sudden rainfall at Coppice corner though, spinning into the gravel and bring out a race-ending red flag.
Taylor therefore came away with the race victory, while Nicholas had recovered to second on the road ahead of Thomas Balfe (W2R). The countback to the final completed lap before the red flag stoppage swapped those positions though, with Balfe classified second ahead of Nicholas.
GTA points leader Marc Elman (SVG Motorsport) rose to fourth overall as he secured a class victory ahead of Paul Livesey (MDD Racing), who impressively gained ten places from his original grid position. Jamie Caudle (E3 Sport) rounded out the top six overall ahead of fellow rookie Paul Thomas (W2R).
Julian Wantling continued his GTA title challenge with a hard-fought class podium ahead of his E3 Sport team-mate Mike West, who was running second in class early on before slipping back. Fellow GTA contender Amy Tomlinson (W2R) was next up, finishing fifth in class.
Further back, W2R pair Ben Cooke and Charlotte Lowe would take what proved to be their best results of the weekend with seventh in the rookie and GTA classes respectively.
Sunday
The second race of the weekend on Sunday morning proved to be one of the most entertaining of the season so far. Nicholas held off Taylor at the start to convert pole into the early lead, with a trip across the gravel for Taylor at the Esses dropping him back to sixth.
Thompson therefore settled into second place ahead of a fast-starting Emma Tomlinson, while a fun battle behind saw Balfe, Gamble and a recovering Taylor switching places. That group soon pounced on Tomlinson and Thompson, with Caudle and Juffali joining the action pack.
Gamble was up to second by mid-distance and once in clear air, he closed down a seven second gap to leader Nicholas within three laps before seizing the advantage into Redgate corner. As he immediately broke clear, the next drivers to challenge Nicholas were Caudle and Juffali.
Juffali passed Caudle into Coppice and then Nicholas at the next corner on lap nine to move into second place, eventually taking the chequered flag nine seconds behind Gamble for an Elite Motorsport one-two and his maiden podium finish in the championship.
Caudle completed the rookie podium after fending off a last lap challenge from a rampant Shaw, who produced a brilliant comeback drive after spinning back to 18th place on the opening lap. Nicholas ended up fifth at the finish ahead of Balfe and the GTA winner Elman.
Wantling had grabbed the class lead from Emma Tomlinson at mid-distance, but after some close racing in the final stages, Elman got ahead on the last lap. Close behind was Livesey, who was another driver to fight back after an early issue to go from 19th at the end of lap one to the GTA podium.
Taylor nursed home a wounded car to tenth overall ahead of Thompson, Thomas and Emma Tomlinson, who had to settle for fourth in GTA in the end. Phil McGarty (Xentek Motorsport) took a weekend best result of fifth in GTA ahead of Amy Tomlinson and rookie Lucie Hodgson (W2R).
The final race proved to be an action-packed conclusion to the weekend’s action, beginning with a frenetic run through Redgate for the first time. As a fast-starting Caudle shot into second behind Gamble, contact from Nicholas spun Juffali round, with the unsighted Shaw collecting the latter.
After a safety car period to retrieve Shaw’s damaged car, the action restarted with Gamble leading the way. The driver to watch behind was Taylor as he went on a charge from tenth on the grid, picking off drivers one by one to climb his way into the top six and beyond.
After passing Balfe at mid-distance for third, he then dispatched of Caudle for second. By this point Gamble had built up a healthy lead at the front though and he finished with a seven-second victory from Taylor.
Caudle was set to complete the podium before he slowed exiting Melbourne for the penultimate time, resulting in Balfe making contact with the rear of his car. The same driver then made contact with Elman one corner later at Goddards, knocking him out of the GTA lead.
As Caudle and Balfe ultimately retired from the race, Thompson took full advantage to secure his second rookie podium of the season in third overall. Thomas was close behind as he finished a seasons’ best fourth, while Wantling secured an important GTA class win in fifth.
Heading onto the penultimate lap it was Elman and Livesey running first and second in GTA, however that all changed with Elman’s incident and a spin into the gravel for Livesey at the Old Hairpin. Emma Tomlinson and West therefore picked up GTA silverware, the latter having climbed from 19th on the grid to ninth overall.
After dropping back to 11th after the first corner incident, Nicholas had a rollercoaster race as he climbed back to sixth, before slipping back to 11th again and ultimately coming home seventh ahead of Juffali. Elman meanwhile was able to continue after his late incident and finished up tenth from Amy Tomlinson, McGarty, Hodgson, Lowe and Cooke.
In the Chairmans Cup, a class for drivers aged 45 and over, there was a win each for Livesey, Wantling and Thompson. Wantling finished on the podium in all three races, as Livesey, Thompson and West each picked up a couple of top three finishes.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/243605
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
Only three races remain in the 2024 Ginetta GT Academy season, taking place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of 28/29 September.
