Racecar client Charlie Robertson secured a hat-trick of podium finishes at Knockhill in Fife over the weekend, 23rd/24th August, to remain in control at the top of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup championship standings in front of a partisan crowd – the biggest at the venue in 15 years.Finishing a very close runner-up in the opening two races, the HHC Motorsport driver went on to claim his 13th podium of the season in round 20 on Sunday afternoon – which was televised live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD – with a third place finish from fifth on the grid.Qualifying on Saturday morning was unbelievably tight with the 17-year-old just missing out on a ‘home’ pole position by the ludicrously small margin of 0.007 seconds. So evenly matched were the leading competitors, just 0.061 seconds split the top five.Lining-up on the front row alongside pole-sitter Carl Breeze for round 18, Charlie held second off the start before the Safety Car was deployed due to an early incident. When the action resumed, and with the skies looking ever more threatening, Charlie ran close behind race leader Breeze but within a handful of laps the Safety Car reappeared due to a car off the circuit.Prior to the second cautionary period, rain started to fall but it wasn’t enough to require a change to wet-weather tyres. Breeze and Charlie, therefore, circulated at the head of the pack and with the race limited to 20 minutes it seemed the action would conclude under Safety Car conditions.However, the green flags were shown with time for just one final racing lap and Charlie made a terrific re-start to pressure hard for the lead. Getting a good run through Leslie’s and Scotsman, the Whyteleafe-based driver managed to get alongside his rival but Breeze pushed Charlie out onto the grass and so he had to settle for second place.“I didn’t expect the race to be re-started at the end to be honest”, he explained, “I had to be ready for it, though, when the Safety Car lights went out. It was either going to be the chequered flag or another lap. I saw the green flag at the end of the pit-straight and I was hoping for another lap to try and get Carl [Breeze] as I knew I was good in the tricky conditions.“I was alongside him, I got a really good run out of the 90 degree right at the bottom of the hill, pulled alongside him but he nudged me, well hit me quite hard, onto the grass and that ended my challenge for the win. It’s a bit annoying, if he’d left me space we could have been side-by-side into the chicane and sorted it out there. I was lucky to finish really after that, so second is really good.”Beginning Sunday morning’s dry race from second again, the Investigo and Blackstar-supported racer made a decent getaway and closed up to within just 0.5 seconds of pole-starter Breeze by the end of the opening lap.Thereafter, the gap between the two leaders fluctuated between 0.8 seconds and 1.2 seconds with both sharing the fastest lap at various points. With their respective pace incredibly evenly matched, into the final few laps Charlie settled for second place and another major haul of points.“I got a good start, then we both drove away from the rest really”, said Charlie, “David Pittard and Will Burns had a little battle behind me, so I was able to get away from that and then just focus on trying to catch Carl [Breeze]. We were so similarly matched, our pace was almost identical every lap and I wasn’t getting any closer. In the end, I let it go and focused on saving tyres for race three.”Starting the ‘reverse grid’ third race from fifth position, Charlie moved up to fourth on lap two and remained there throughout the 24-lap contest. However, a five second penalty for Andrew Watson, as a result of a track limits infringement, meant Charlie finished in third.Rockingham ISSC near Corby in Northamptonshire will host the next event of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup season just two weeks from now on 6th/7th September. Before then, Charlie will make his endurance racing debut in the VdeV series next weekend, 30th/31st August, as part of the Team LNT squad at Motorland Aragon in Spain.Provisional 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Driver Standings (after Rd20):1st Charlie Robertson, 526pts
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