Mike Taylor and Julian Wantling have been crowned the 2024 Ginetta GT Academy champions following a brilliant final round of the season at Brands Hatch (28/29 September).
Both class titles were up for grabs over the season finale weekend, with Taylor (W2R) emerging as the rookie champion over Harry Gamble (Elite Motorsport), while Wantling (E3 Sport) won the GTA title after a thrilling duel with Marc Elman (SVG Motorsport).
Saturday
Title contenders Taylor and Gamble were the quickest of all in qualifying, with Taylor edging out his rival by 0.187s for a double overall pole position. In the GTA ranks, less than a tenth of a second split the top two as Elman secured the class pole from Wantling.
Under the Kent sunshine, Taylor led through Paddock Hill Bend for the first time in race one before Gamble dived down the inside into Druids to seize the advantage. James Nicholas (W2R) latched onto their tail, making it a three-way battle for the lead in the early stages.
Behind, Wantling climbed up to sixth overall and grabbed the GTA lead in the process ahead of Emma Tomlinson (W2R). Elman had slipped to third, and there was worse to come a few laps later, as an incident with Peter Thompson (W2R) put them both in the Druids gravel trap.
The red flags came out to allow for the retrieval of the cars, bringing the race to an early conclusion. Gamble therefore emerged with the victory ahead of Taylor and Nicholas, with Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) and Thomas Balfe (W2R) completing a rookie lockout of the top five.
Prior to the red flag, Tomlinson had managed to get ahead of Wantling to ultimately secure the GTA win. Mike West completed the class podium, having crossed the line behind his E3 Sport rookie team-mate Jamie Caudle, who maximised the limited racing laps to climb from 17th on the grid to eighth.
Paul Thomas (W2R) had qualified a seasons’ best sixth, however contact on lap one sent him across the gravel and dropped him to tenth in the end, while Lucie Hodgson (W2R) converted her best-ever qualifying of 12th into an equal-best race result of 11th.
The three guest drivers on the grid for the final weekend finished up together on circuit, with Robin Grimwood (E3 Sport) leading Charlotte Lowe (W2R) and Oliver Fordham (Fox Motorsport), who completed his first ever car race. Gilbert Verdian (SVG Motorsport) completed the finishers.
Sunday
The second race of the weekend saw a supreme lights-to-flag victory at the front of the field from Taylor. Keeping his rookie rivals Gamble and Nicholas at arms’ length in the early laps, he then edged away to a near four second victory in the end – his eighth rookie success of the season provisionally securing the class title.
Nicholas pulled off a brilliant move around the outside of Gamble at Graham Hill Bend to take second on the road, however a five-second track limits penalty put him back to third in the final result. Shaw ran fourth early on, however he unfortunately had to pit into retirement, promoting Balfe to fourth ahead of Thomas.
It was all change in the GTA class on the opening lap, with Wantling dropping from pole to fourth behind West, Elman and Tomlinson. As West secured his first class win of the season in sixth overall, Tomlinson pulled off a last lap move on Elman to take second in class behind.
Thompson took the chequered flag in ninth overall ahead of Caudle, the latter making good progress again from 16th on the grid to the top ten ahead of Wantling, who provisionally wrapped up the GTA crown. Lowe was the leading guest driver in the early laps, however Grimwood got ahead on lap five and picked up the class victory.
The final race of the weekend started with a brave move around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend netting Gamble the lead from pole-sitter Taylor. Nicholas slotted in behind them and the top three rookies stormed clear of the chasing pack.
Gamble put in a composed drive to keep his pursuers at bay to record his fifth win of the season and a milestone 30th Ginetta victory for the Gamble family. Behind, there was a change for second as Taylor made a trip across the grass at Graham Hill Bend, giving Nicholas the position.
Thomas grabbed fourth on the opening lap from Balfe and held the place for the majority of the race. There was a late incident with Shaw however, who had charged from 15th on the grid to fifth, which resulted in Thomas dropping to eighth and Shaw settling in the Clearways gravel trap.
Caudle therefore finished up fourth after passing Balfe late on, those two completing the top five. An exciting battle in the GTA class saw Tomlinson and West trading the lead in the first half of the race, before a slide onto the grass for West secured Tomlinson her fifth win of the season.
West recovered to second in class, crossing the line behind rookies Thompson and Thomas, while Elman confirmed his runners-up position in the GTA standings with a 16th podium of the year. Behind, Grimwood completed a clean sweep of the guest trophy honours.
In the Chairmans Cup, a class for drivers aged 45 and over, there was a win each for Wantling, West and Thompson over the weekend. West enjoyed a hat-trick of podiums in class, while Wantling, Thompson and Hodgson took home a couple of trophies each.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/243905
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
