A dramatic start to the meeting saw the rain begin to fall just three laps into qualifying, meaning it was all about who hit the ground running in the dry. Posting the quickest early lap was Smalley (Elite Motorsport) to secure his third pole position from four events this season.
He led an Elite one-two ahead of Josh Rattican, while Blake Angliss (Century Motorsport) took advantage of the weather change to score a seasons’ best third. In Pro Am, Nick Halstead (Fox Motorsport) was one of only four drivers to improve their times in the wet to take the class pole.
Smalley converted his pole position into a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in the opening race. Getting the edge over the field on the opening lap, he wouldn’t be troubled by team-mate Rattican as they ran in formation throughout to replicate their qualifying one-two.
The main action of the race came in the battle for third. Angliss was forced wide at Clarks on lap one, with Carlito Miracco (Preptech UK) gaining the spot. He was soon under pressure from Hibbert (Rob Boston Racing) though, who got ahead at the second attempt through the final hairpin.
Miracco fended off Tom Emson (Elite Motorsport) and James Blake-Baldwin (AK Motorsport) in the closing stages to take fourth at the chequered flag. Joe Marshall (Team HARD) gained three places through the race to secure seventh position.
Luke Reade (Rob Boston Racing) made a last lap move on Angliss for eighth, with Reece Somerfield (Breakell Racing) completing the top ten in the Pro class ahead of Scotland natives Henry Dawes (Century Motorsport) and Seb Melrose (Team HARD).
Colin White (CWS Motorsport) picked off Pro Am pole-sitter Halstead on the opening lap and went on to dominate the race as he won the class by over 11 seconds. Halstead finished up second, having kept Carl Garnett (AK Motorsport) at arms’ length through the second half of the race.
Race two began with Smalley once again leading the field down Duffus Dip for the first time. A rocket launch for Hibbert promoted him to second, albeit only briefly as Rattican got back ahead going through McIntyres.
Smalley went on to lead every lap once again to double his win tally for the day. Rattican followed him home, however a 10 second time penalty for a false start dropped him down the final result. That opened the door for Emson to finish second, having passed Hibbert four laps from the finish.
As Hibbert completed the podium, Mirraco finished up fourth ahead of Rattican. A late move from Marshall got him sixth ahead of Blake-Baldwin, while Dawes benefitted from a late incident between Somerfield and Reade to finish eighth overall. Andy Spencer (Century Motorsport) took a weekend best finish of 11th.
In Pro Am, White dropped from pole position to the back of the field on a dramatic lap one. He fought back through the field superbly though to win by 11 seconds from Garnett. Garry Townsend (AK Motorsport) scored a maiden podium in third ahead of Luke Warr (Race Car Consultants).
The partial reverse grid placed Rattican on pole for the final race, which was televised live on ITV4. He held the lead through the opening couple of laps, but was soon under pressure from Hibbert, who had produced a trademark rocket start to move into second.
A good run out of the hairpin secured him the race lead into Duffus Dip on lap four and he went on to lead the remaining laps for a fourth win of the season so far. Rattican stayed in second, while Miracco sat third throughout for his first podium of the weekend.
Blake-Baldwin pulled off a move on Smalley into the hairpin at two-thirds distance to secure fourth, with Reade completing the top six after a good battle with Somerfield. Marshall was eighth, whilst Melrose matched his best result in the championship so far with ninth.
White survived a spin to complete a perfect hat-trick in Pro Am, meaning he has now impressively taken 11 class wins in the last 13 GT4 SuperCup races at Knockhill. Warr picked up a seasons’ best second place in class ahead of Halstead, whilst a puncture ended Garnett’s 100% podium record for 2021.
The Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup season continues in two weeks’ time (28/29 August) with a visit to the fastest circuit in the UK, Thruxton.
Full race results for the weekend can be found here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/213203
Find out more about the championship’s title sponsor, Millers Oils, at https://www.millersoils.co.uk/
