Ravi Ramyead dominated proceedings in the Ginetta GT Academy on the opening day of G Fest at Silverstone, taking both race wins to increase his tally for the season so far to seven.
Ramyead (Century Motorsport) laid down a marker for the day ahead with a double pole position in qualifying for the second consecutive event. Mackenzie Walker (Assetto Racing) was his closest challenger, albeit almost a second adrift on the times, while Matt Shaw topped the rookie class in a seasons’ best third overall.
The opening race provided a comfortable victory for Ramyead, who shot clear of the field on the opening lap and managed a gap to the field throughout. Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) moved up to second on the opening lap from Walker and they stayed in close proximity all race.
Shaw dropped back to fifth off the line, but fought back to fourth past Ed Acres (Century Motorsport) as he secured the rookie class win. Marc Elman (SVG Motorsport) rounded out the top six ahead of Thomas Shelley (Century Motorsport), who fought back after losing ground on lap one.
Emma Tomlinson finished second of the rookies ahead of GTA contender Paul Livesey (Xentek Motorsport), with Richard Just completing the rookie podium on his return to the championship after missing the last rounds at Donington Park.
Phil McGarty (Alastair Rushforth Motorsport) just missed out on the top ten overall as the final GTA class finisher, with siblings Lucy and Amy Tomlinson completing the top five in the rookies ahead of Ben Cooke, Charlotte Lowe and Harry Cooke.
Reigning rookie champion Ramyead went on to complete his double for the day with another lights-to-flag success in race two. Successfully negotiating a safety car restart, he benefitted from battling behind to pull clear to a four second victory.
The action behind came as White mounted a fightback after dropping to sixth on the opening lap. After impressively passing Walker and Shelley on the same lap, he then challenged Acres for second and went on to grab the position coming out of Aintree onto the Wellington Straight on the last lap.
Acres ended up dropping to fourth as Walker completed a perfect replica of the race one podium, with Shelley in fifth. Just was on course for his second rookie win of the season, however an unfortunate last lap issue dropped him back to fourth in class.
Shaw therefore emerged with the win after a brilliant comeback drive, having spun to last on the road during a dramatic opening lap that saw class rivals Amy and Emma Tomlinson both retire. Their sister Lucy went on to finish in second for her third podium finish of the year, with Lowe also picking up silverware.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/232221
Both races can be watched back as part of the G Fest coverage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5gDHWtnNzM
The G Fest action for the Ginetta GT Academy continues with four races on the Silverstone National circuit over the next two days (03-04 June).
