Following an entertaining and intriguing season opener, the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship rolls into Silverstone this weekend with a packed grid of V8-powered Ginetta G56 GTP8’s set to battle it out.
A bold new era for the GT Championship got underway at Donington Park earlier this month, with the introduction of not only a new car but also a fresh weekend format featuring one sprint and one endurance race. For this weekend though, due to the unique Silverstone timetable, the series will run a pair of 25-minute sprint encounters.
The star of the show at Donington Park was Archie Clark (MDD Racing). The Ginetta Junior graduate stormed through the pack in impressive fashion to secure the opening two race wins of the campaign and the early points advantage in the process.
Joining Clark on the PRO class podium in both of the season opening races were Robert Cronin (Elite Motorsport) and Jack Collins (E3 Sport). Cronin secured a best result of third overall, while Collins excelled with top five overall finishes in his first ever car-racing weekend.
Two drivers who will be keen to bounce back from mixed opening weekends will be Hadley Simpson (Xentek Motorsport) and Cameron Pratt-Thompson (SVG Motorsport). They both showed they have the pace to be podium contenders in the competitive PRO class.
There’s a big name returning to the PRO grid from this weekend onwards too, as reigning champion Mckenzie Douglass kicks off his title defence with Fox Motorsport. The Welshman enjoyed an exceptional run to top honours last year, with 14 class wins and four further podium finishes.
Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) saw his challenge for a third consecutive Ginetta title get off to a good start at Donington Park, with an impressive class win in the inaugural endurance race earning him the early points lead in the hotly-contested PRO-AM class.
He faces stiff competition though from two of the leading lights from the GT Academy last season, Mike Taylor (Triple M Motorsport) and Harry Gamble (Elite Motorsport). They both started their season with overall top three finishes and double class podiums. Car-racing newcomer Alex Duncan (Xentek Motorsport) will be hoping to score his first podium this weekend meanwhile.
Luke Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) was another GT Academy graduate to begin their season on a high note. He enjoyed a perfect start in the AM class with a dominant double victory, while he was right in the mix at the sharp end of the grid too with an overall top six finish.
Four other drivers emerged from the opening weekend with class podium finishes. That group included two more GT Academy alumni, with Emma Tomlinson (DTO Motorsport) and Ali Juffali (Elite Motorsport) marking their GT Championship debuts with silverware.
One-time British GT racer Dominic Paul (Triple M Motorsport) joined them in visiting the rostrum on his maiden weekend, while reigning class vice-champion Peter Mangion (Elite Motorsport) enjoyed a good start to his second season in the championship.
The talented AM class entry also includes former British GT class champion James Townsend (SVG Motorsport), two-time GT4 SuperCup class vice-champion Carl Garnett (Breakell Racing), GT Academy graduate Amy Tomlinson (Raceway Motorsport) and Ginetta newcomer Oliver Fordham (Fox Motorsport).
Completing the class entry meanwhile is Ginetta veteran Colin White with his own CWS team. A late entry to the grid at Donington Park, he will be one to watch as he gets to grips with the G56 GTP8 and looks to add to his phenomenal tally of 77 class wins and 149 podium finishes in Ginetta racing.
Follow the action across the weekend on social media, @GinettaCars.
Provisional Timetable:
Saturday 26 April: Qualifying 09:00; Race One 14:30
Sunday 27 April: Race Two 16:22
Both races will be streamed live on Ginetta’s YouTube channel, while live timing and results will be available via TSL Timing.
