BIG HITS AND MUSIC MIX AT CASTLE COMBE GINETTA CHAMPIONSHIP
F1 broadcaster Tony Jardine survives ‘big hits’ to finish two races in the Sony PlayStation Ginetta Boyzone pop star Shane Lynch mixes racing with TV F1 broadcaster Tony Jardine and Boyzone star Shane Lynch indulged their common passion for speed and competition by taking part in Britain’s premier one make series – the ‘cut throat’ Ginetta Cup – which boasts 37 car grids and produces some of the closest racing in the UK.
With the top ten cars separated by just one second and drivers regularly going three abreast into corners fighting for every inch, accidents are inevitable, and F1 broadcaster Tony Jardine ended up in the medical centre at Castle Combe after taking a big hit in a dramatic crash during qualifying in the Sony PlayStation sponsored Ginetta.
Jardine tells the story, “I was determined to get in the top twenty on the grid but overcooked it and ended up going backwards into the tyre wall at 80mph. It was a big hit and I smacked my head against the roll over bar. The doctors did find a brain in there so they let me race the next day!”
Jardine was happy to race after his mechanics spent 10 hours totally rebuilding the back of the car. Under the circumstances he was pleased to take 16th place in race one and improved to finish 13th out of 37 cars in the second race, after some spirited racing.
Shane Lynch confirmed the AVO Ginetta Championship is the cutting edge for any racing driver wanting to learn his craft, “Every good racing driver needs to go back to basics and learn the art of close racing. This is where my racing foundation was. I’m back here tuning up in the series – none other has 37 cars on the grid and I love it – it’s all about great racing.
“My target is to go to the British GT Series next year, GT cars are great, but the bottom line is they don’t produce close racing and the Ginetta’s do – the closest! I finished 14th in race one and got it big broadside in race two - it was like ‘Tokyo Drift’. But I can tell you it’s tough to break into the top ten.”
Lynch went onto describe himself, “I’m a chancer. I love my motor racing but I’m floating in and out of TV and music, if you said go and race that horse or try and be a ballet dancer I’ll give it a go!” Shane was accompanied at Castle Combe by a film crew from ‘Cash in the Attic’ and is also working on future TV projects. Shane demonstrated how competitive he is out of a racing car when he became the Men’s Champion in Channel 4’s popular series ‘The Games’ in 2004.
To illustrate how much in demand this entertaining series is, the Ginetta’s have been asked to race in support of the German Touring Car Championship round at Brands Hatch on 1&2 July when the Sony PlayStation ‘star car’ will appear again.
