Post matching 'G56 GT4 SuperCup'
As Smalley overcame the challenge of Tom Hibbert and Josh Rattican to become a two-time Ginetta champion, adding to his Juniors success in 2018, White scored a record-breaking fourth class title in the GT4 SuperCup as he impressively defended his Pro Am crown.
The meeting was a milestone one for the GT4 SuperCup. A decade on from the inaugural season of the championship, which started at Brands Hatch, the current era was coming to an end ahead of the introduction of the Ginetta G56 GT4 next year.
The honour of the final pole position in the current G55 GT4 went to James Kellett (Century Motorsport), who continued his impressive start in the series with a pole margin of three tenths of a second over Rattican (Elite Motorsport).
Steve Roberts (Rob Boston Racing) qualified a seasons’ best third overall ahead of Carlito Miracco (Preptech UK), while Smalley (Elite Motorsport) had to settle for sixth. That was still enough to confirm his position as the best qualifier on the grid this season.
The opening race came on Saturday afternoon, with Kellett turning pole position into a commanding lights to flag victory. The two-time Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion was unchallenged as he impressively followed up a win on his debut at Donington Park two weeks’ prior.
A slow launch off the line for Rattican opened the door for Roberts to grab second place at the start. He held off a determined Rattican through the race to cross the line in second, however a ten second penalty for a false start cost him what was potentially his best result in the series.
That penalty elevated Miracco to the final podium place, while Joe Marshall (Team HARD) was rewarded for an early charge from ninth on the grid with fourth. A subdued race for title contenders Smalley and Hibbert (Rob Boston Racing) saw them round out the top six.
A special subplot for the weekend was the return of Nathan Freke (Century Motorsport) to the grid for the first time in eight years. A title contender during the opening season of the GT4 SuperCup back in 2011, Freke marked his comeback with a seventh place finish.
James Blake-Baldwin (AK Motorsport) pulled off an early move on Blake Angliss (Century Motorsport) to secure eighth, with those two split in the final result by Roberts. Tom Emson (Elite Motorsport) and Reece Somerfield (Breakell Racing) just missed out on the top ten.
In Pro Am, Carl Garnett (AK Motorsport) took an impressive fourth pole position of the year. He led the class field through the opening lap, however a trip across the gravel next time around opened the door for Dan Morris (Simon Green Motorsport) to seize control of the class.
Morris went on to comfortably lead to the finish for his third win of a partial campaign. White (CWS Motorsport) crossed the line next, with the podium result being enough to confirm his second Pro Am crown to add to his back-to-back Am titles in 2015 and 2016.
As Garry Townsend (AK Motorsport) completed the class podium, his team-mate Garnett had to settle for fourth ahead of the returning duo of Nick Halstead (Fox Motorsport) and Eric Boulton (Team HARD), plus Darren Leung (Assetto Motorsport) and Luke Warr (Race Car Consultants).
Race two followed on Sunday morning, with Kellett continuing to dominate proceedings in the Kent sunshine. From pole, he once again wouldn’t be headed as he made it three wins from his first five races in the championship.
A quick launch from Miracco allowed him to jump front-row starter Rattican off the line, which proved to be a decisive move as they ran in formation to the chequered flag. Marshall held fourth on the road to the finish, however a false start time penalty dropped him to seventh.
Smalley therefore took fourth on the revised results, which was enough to secure him the title with a race to spare, with Hibbert and Emson completing the top six. Roberts was next up, one of a number of drivers having to fight back after a chaotic opening lap.
Another one of those was Blake-Baldwin, who got back to ninth ahead of Luke Reade (Rob Boston Racing), Seb Melrose (Team HARD) and Freke. Henry Dawes (Century Motorsport) and Somerfield were the Pro contenders forced to retire after getting caught up in first lap incidents.
The Pro Am order was dramatically shuffled around on lap one as the top two on the grid, White and Morris, saw their races end almost immediately. Garnett therefore came through from fourth at the start to a third win of the season ahead of Halstead and Boulton.
The final race of the season was televised live on ITV4, with Emson starting from the reverse grid pole position. The Ginetta Junior graduate took full advantage of it and led from start to finish to record his maiden victory of the series and become the sixth different race-winner this year.
Emson led home an Elite Motorsport lockout of the podium, the first time they’ve achieved that feat this year. Rattican passed Smalley late on as he secured the runners-up spot in the championship, as well as the honour of ending the season with more podium finishes than anyone else.
Miracco passed Hibbert on the last lap for fourth place, with local racer Reade taking a best result of the weekend in sixth. Blake-Baldwin gained a couple of positions to seventh ahead of Roberts, Freke, Somerfield, Melrose and Dawes.
Townsend started on the reverse grid pole in Pro Am and held the lead into an early safety car period. White got ahead on the restart though and went on to sign off his title-winning campaign with a remarkable 17th win out of 23 races.
As Townsend eventually dropped back to sixth, his AK Motorsport team-mate Garnett fought through to second. A last lap move from Leung got him the final podium position ahead of Warr and Boulton, with Halstead and Morris suffering late retirements.
Adam Smalley – 2021 Pro Champion: “I can’t believe it. I’m over the moon. People don’t realise how much hard work and effort has gone into getting on the grid, so to go on and win the title is unbelievable. Thank you to Elite Motorsport for everything they’ve done on this journey.”
Colin White – 2021 Pro Am Champion: “I’m delighted. I absolutely love my racing and it’s been a really good, fun year in the Pro Am class. My team have been great and without them I couldn’t achieve this, so thank you to them. There’s a new car next year and maybe we’ll go for a fifth title.”
Full race results for the weekend can be found here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/214203
Find out more about the championship’s title sponsor, Millers Oils, at https://www.millersoils.co.uk/
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