Charlie Robertson increased his lead in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup standings to 48 points at Rockingham in Northamptonshire over the weekend, 6th/7th September, after scorching to his seventh victory of the season in round 21 and taking his podium tally for the year to 15 in round 22.Marking his third back-to-back weekend of race action, following on from the previous Ginetta GT4 SuperCup outing a fortnight ago at Knockhill and his endurance racing debut last weekend in the V de V series at Motorland Aragon in Spain, the Scottish 17-year-old was in typically strong form.Rapid from the outset, Investigo and Blackstar-backed Charlie posted the second fastest time during pre-event practice on Friday, 5th September, before going on to claim the round 21 pole position in qualifying on Saturday by 0.2 seconds.At the start of race one on Sunday morning, the Whyteleafe-based driver made a great start to hold a clear lead through Turn One of the banked Rockingham oval and although heavily locking-up the brakes into Deene Hairpin, Charlie still emerged from the corner safely in first place.Building his lead to over a second by the start of lap three, the HHC Motorsport driver’s advantage was briefly cut by the pursuing David Pittard but from lap five onward Charlie continuously increased his cushion at the front.Fully into his stride at mid-distance, he took the chequered flag on lap 18 over three seconds clear to secure win number seven of his maiden season in the GT4 SuperCup. Charlie also posted the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1m22.710 seconds (84.43mph).Starting round 22 on pole position, by virtue of his earlier victory, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star made a textbook getaway and by the end of lap one his lead was already 1.2 seconds. The Safety Car was deployed on the fifth tour due to a car stranded on track and at the re-start a couple of laps later, Charlie started to come under increasing pressure from Andrew Watson.With better tyres than those at Charlie’s disposal, Watson sought a way past and into Turn One of the banked oval on lap 10 he was able to slice past as the series leader gave him room. Happy to settle for second, Charlie focused on remaining far enough ahead of the pack and at the chequered flag on lap 17 he crossed the line over three seconds clear of his nearest pursuer.“Taking a win and a second place this weekend is awesome really”, reflected Charlie, “In the second race I knew [Andrew] Watson was catching me so I just had to give him the place really, otherwise it could have ended in tears. I just had to concentrate on my own race really and I could see I was able to keep the gap to Carl [Breeze].“The lock-up in race one didn’t really have much of an impact to be honest, the tyre felt OK during the race and it held up quite nicely. After the team examined it, though, we had to put a spare on for race two but it wasn’t too bad. Overall, I’m pleased with the weekend and a bigger points lead.”Next on the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup schedule is the penultimate event of the 2014 season, rounds 23 and 24, which will take place at Silverstone National Circuit on 27th/28th September.Provisional 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Driver Standings (after Rd22):1st Charlie Robertson, 593pts
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