Wednesbury-based Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup and ELF Renault Clio Cup team Total Control Racing had one of its most difficult days of the year at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday, 30th August, but the squad still managed a podium finish in the G50 Cup thanks to the efforts of Carl Breeze.

During the opening race of the day, round 22 of the Ginetta G50 Cup, Fulvio Mussi managed to steer himself into fourth ahead of Breeze off the start while behind there was bitter disappointment for Joachim Ritter who spun into retirement following contact with Tom Sharp at Becketts.

During the early laps, Mussi and Breeze closed on third placed Chris Dittmann and placed him under a lot of pressure but on the 11th tour contact between Mussi and Dittmann, as the former was attempting a pass at Brooklands, caused major front-end damage to the TCR car.

Although Mussi continued, the Colchester racer had to fight the car hard and this gave Breeze his best opportunity to get by which he did on lap 12. Breeze pressed on and secured his 14th podium of the campaign with a deserved third place. Mussi, meanwhile, did slip to fifth behind Rob Austin but the result was good considering the damage to the front of his G50.

The second Ginetta race of the day was the replacement for the rescheduled 11th round, a race cancelled at Oulton Park in May after the huge accident involving Breeze and Mark Proctor which seriously damaged the Kings Lynn racer’s title ambitions. Mussi lined up fifth on the grid with Breeze seventh and Ritter 11th.

With light rain having made the circuit damp prior to the final encounter of the weekend, drivers were unsure whether to run with dry weather ‘slick’ tyres or treaded wet-weather rubber. Breeze and Mussi both elected to run with the latter and this proved to be the wrong decision in the end as the rain stayed away and the track progressively dried.

Slipping out of contention fairly quickly, the luckless pair dropped right down the order with Breeze eventually finishing in 16th position and Mussi 18th, albeit a couple of laps down having pitted for slick tyres late-on in the race.

Danish team-mate Ritter flew the flag well for TCR though on his slick tyres and he fought his way into a fine top 10 placing with one of his best performances of the season. Lapping within nine 10ths of a second of the outright pace, his points for 10th place helped consolidate 10th position overall in the driver standings.

“Obviously we’re pleased Carl got onto the podium in the first of Sunday’s races but the second one just went wrong from the start for us”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “We made a gamble on the weather and it was the wrong decision, simple as that. All we need to do now is put that part of the weekend behind us and move on to Rockingham in a few weeks. Joachim did a good job though, he raced well."

Robinson sets new lap record in Clio CupAlthough the bad luck of a puncture during the opening minutes of qualifying did threaten to ruin Mike Robinson’s weekend, he bounced back superbly in round 16 as he did during Saturday’s race to record a superb 10th place finish having fought through from 21st, and last, on the grid.

Showing impressive pace throughout, the Effingham-based driver carved his way through the order very well indeed and on lap 12 he bettered his fastest lap from the first race of the weekend to post a brand new Clio Cup lap record of 1m05.502 seconds (90.07mph).

Sam Tordoff was the highest placed TCR driver, coming through well from ninth on the grid into the top six while fellow category rookie Daniel Lloyd emerged from a very robust encounter in ninth position, a good result having been tagged on numerous occasions throughout the course of the 21-lap race. At one stage he was as high as third and a maiden podium looked a realistic possibility.

For Alex MacDowall, the weekend concluded on a sour note when he was squeezed at Copse on the opening lap and the resulting damage to his car forced him into an eventual retirement on lap six. He still maintains second position in the championship though and will be looking to get back on the podium trail at Rockingham in three weeks.

Brookes added: “In the Clios we had some ups and downs, a bit of bad luck. For Alex it was a real disappointment as there was nothing he could do to avoid picking up the damage he did. He got squeezed at the first corner and that was it.

“Daniel did well and had very good pace again, there was quite a bit of pushing and shoving which cost him some places but we’re pleased with the progress he’s making. Likewise for Sam, he did well to come through into the top six and both he and Daniel were very evenly matched.

“Mike’s pace was outstanding again and it showed once more what could have been on for him if he hadn’t had the puncture in qualifying. With the pace he had all weekend, we know he should have been on the first couple of rows and he would have been fighting for the podium. Taking a top 10 after starting at the back was a great job and to get the new lap record was a nice little bonus.”

Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit in Northamptonshire will host the penultimate race meeting on the 2009 calendar three weeks from now, 19th/20th September, with rounds 23, 24 and 25 of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup and rounds 17 and 18 of the ELF Renault Clio Cup.

Provisional 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup Standings (after Rd16):Drivers: 2nd Alex MacDowall, 351pts; 6th Mike Robinson, 239pts; 8th Sam Tordoff, 204pts; 10th Daniel Lloyd, 187ptsTeams: 2nd Total Control Racing, 697pts

Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Standings (after Rd22):Drivers: 3rd Carl Breeze, 547pts; 4th Fulvio Mussi, 377pts; 10th Joachim Ritter, 227ptsTeams: 1st Total Control Racing