The inaugural season for the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship has served up plenty of action and drama through the opening three events of the season, and there’s sure to be more twists and turns at Silverstone as the drivers contest no less than seven races across G Fest.
Round four – cancelled due to heavy rain during the Silverstone British GT event last month – has been added to Friday’s schedule to give the drivers three races on the Grand Prix circuit, followed by four outings on the National layout over the weekend.
The driver to beat over the three meetings to date has been Luke Reade (Wolf Motorsport). The 2022 GT4 SuperCup ‘G55 Pro’ champion won each of the opening six races of the season, leading every single lap in the process, with only a mechanical issue ending his winning streak at Donington Park last weekend.
Reade’s problem led to a thrilling four-way battle for victory, with former GT4 SuperCup and GT5 Challenge racer Conner Garlick (Xentek Motorsport) emerging with his first Ginetta win. Callum Davies (SVG Motorsport) was one of those in the mix as he continued a brilliant start to his maiden car-racing campaign.
Ruben Hage will start the rearranged race on Friday from pole position and will hope to set the pace again this time out as he bounces back from a tough Donington Park, while his Breakell Racing team-mate Carl Garnett has enjoyed double podiums at both Oulton Park and Donington.
Ginetta stalwart Colin White (CWS 4×4), who has more than 300 starts to his name in one-make Ginetta racing, made a welcome return to the podium at Donington. Liona Theobald (SVG Motorsport) and Shawn Fleming (SF Racing) also enjoyed seasons’ best results in fourth and fifth respectively.
The GTP grid is bolstered by the return of Gary Wager (SF Racing) and debuts for two drivers with Breakell Racing; GT Academy graduate Gilbert Yates and Blake Angliss, who went toe-to-toe with Reade for the G55 Pro title last season and is aiming for race wins this weekend.
Reigning GT Challenge Pro champions Xentek Motorsport are on course to successfully defend their crown with three drivers in contention. Luke Garlick has taken four wins to Ella Lloyd’s three so far, with impressive consistency netting him a strong points lead, while team-mate Sam Harvey has been close to a maiden success.
Multiple GT5 Am race-winner Karim Sekkat (Breakell Racing) has taken three podiums so far on his step up to the Pro class, while Lexie Belk (Privateer) got her first silverware at Donington. Will Rochford (TCR) is back for his second appearance of the season, while 2022 race-winner Nat Hodgkiss (Race Car Consultants) makes a welcome return to the grid.
Bal Sidhu (Xentek Motorsport) has been the driver to beat in GT5 Am this season having won five of the six races to date. He will face stiff competition this weekend from fellow race-winner Pablo Jequier (Race Car Consultants) and returning 2022 front-runner Paolo Santi (Raceway Motorsport).
Follow the action across the weekend on social media, @GinettaCars.
Weekend Timetable:
Friday 02 June – Rescheduled Race, 09:00; Qualifying One, 10:48; Race One, 12:42; Race Two, 16:13
Saturday 03 June – Qualifying Two, 09:30; Race Three, 11:55; Race Four, 15:05
Sunday 04 June – Qualifying Three, 09:30; Race Five, 11:55; Race Six, 15:05
All seven races will be streamed live on Ginetta’s YouTube channel, while live timing and results will be available here: www.tsl-timing.com/event/232221
