Now in its third season, the Ginetta GT Academy is once again serving up some entertaining racing this year as the class of 2023 prepare for three races at Donington Park this weekend (27/28 May).
At the front of the field, we’re looking set for one of the most exciting title duels in recent Ginetta history with Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) and Ravi Ramyead (Century Motorsport) having shared the opening five race wins of the season at Oulton Park and Silverstone.
Reigning rookie class champion Ramyead has edged out his adversary three victories to two so far in the races, however White has prevailed in qualifying with three pole positions out of four and a 100% podium record means he sits at the top of the early points standings.
A number of drivers are ready to break their strangehold over the top step of the podium. Ed Acres (Century Motorsport) has been right in the mix across the start of his third season in the series, securing a GTA class podium finish at both events so far.
Mackenzie Walker (Assetto Racing) was a podium finisher at Donnington Park last year and bounced back from a tough Oulton opener to qualifying on the front row and notch a first top three result of the campaign at Silverstone last time out.
Thomas Shelley (Century Motorsport) was a podium finisher at Oulton Park, while fellow rookie class graduate Jon Kearney (Raceway Motorsport) is on the cusp of a podium breakthrough with a best result of fourth in class so far.
Fellow 2022 rookie Marc Elman (SVG Motorsport) is another to acquit himself well in the headline GTA class, while long-time Ginetta racer Phil McGarty (Alastair Rushforth Motorsport) has performed strongly since moving across from the GT5 Challenge and Paul Livesey (Xentek Motorsport) enjoyed a competitive Ginetta debut at Silverstone.
In this year’s rookie intake, Matt Shaw has been the standout performer so far. Mixing it at the front of the grid with a trio of overall top six finishes so far, he set the rookie class pace in qualifying at Oulton Park and has picked up four class wins in five races.
Amy Tomlinson has enjoyed a fantastic start to her car-racing career with five consecutive podium finishes. She’s one of three Tomlinson siblings on the grid, with sister Emma having also secured a podium result and Lucy being close to her first, while Charlotte Lowe is another rookie to have taken home class silverware so far.
Weekend Timetable:
Saturday 27 May – Qualifying, 11:20; Race One, 15:25
Sunday 28 May – Race Two, 11:05; Race Three, 16:25
All three races will be streamed live on Ginetta’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, while live timing and results will be available here: www.tsl-timing.com/event/232105
Follow the action across the weekend on social media, @GinettaCars.
