WRATHALL KEEPS FREKE AT BAY TO BAG FOURTH WIN OF 2009
Frank Wrathall broke Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup championship leader Nathan Freke’s latest winning streak with an outstanding drive during round 23 of the season at Rockingham’s International Super Sports Car Circuit Saturday, 19th September, to seal his fourth win of the year.
The Dynojet-entered star, who is gradually pulling clear of third placed Carl Breeze in the driver standings, was in superb form from the off at the Northamptonshire track today and grabbed pole position for the first of the weekend’s trio of races by a mere 0.005 seconds from Freke.
At the start of this afternoon’s 10-lap ‘sprint’ race, Wrathall came under immediate pressure from Freke as they rounded the oval banking at Turn 1 and while it initially looked as though the series points leader would nose ahead, Wrathall held the inside line well and maintained first place.
Freke’s Century Motorsport team-mate Benji Hetherington produced a rocket of a start to leap past both Tom Sharp and Breeze into third place and he managed to pull out a good margin over the chasing pack throughout the race to claim his maiden Ginetta G50 Cup podium.
Into lap two Sharp readied himself to challenge Breeze for fourth position at Deene Hairpin and although making the pass, the IDL driver was unable to make it stick as he ran wide which allowed the former championship pace-setter back through in his Total Control Racing machine.
At the front, there was nothing to spilt Wrathall and Freke with each driver producing a faultless performance, as has become customary in recent rounds. In the end, Wrathall soaked up every bit of pressure from the ex-UK Formula Ford Champion and took a memorable and richly deserved fourth win of the season by just three 10ths of a second.
The top two were in a class of their own but Hetherington’s third place could well have marked a breakthrough moment for the youngster. He concluded the race 5.1 seconds shy of Freke but 2.6 seconds clear of Breeze.
Fulvio Mussi steered the yourracingcar.com entry to fifth position, having started sixth, by getting head of Sharp on the penultimate tour. Sharp did try to fightback on the final lap but Mussi held firm and the result keeps him almost 30 points clear of his rival in the championship.
Christian Dick, making yet another return to competitive action in the category, finished in seventh place ahead of Chairman’s Cup winner Richard Sykes. Julien Draper and Joachim Ritter rounded out the top 10 positions. The day, though, belonged to Wrathall as he kept the title battle alive.
“It was very close at the start but I knew how important it was to be first into the first corner”, said Wrathall, “I went for the inside line, managed to hold it, and kept it under control from there. I didn’t make any mistakes and I knew as long as I kept my head I could get the win.
“Obviously I’ve followed Nathan (Freke) in a lot of races this year, we’ve been so close, and over the last three rounds there’s been nothing between us. He’s just managed to have a slight edge but it’s great to have beaten him today. I think tomorrow we’ll see another good battle between me and Nathan in both races.”
Third placed finisher Hetherington commented: “This result is absolutely fantastic, I’m over the moon. We’ve had the pace at other meetings but it just hasn’t come together. It all went great today though, I made a good start and then had a nice, clean race to third. The G50 is a fantastic car and I’m really enjoying the racing. For tomorrow, I’m confident we can fight for the podium again.”
The result means Freke’s series lead has been cut ever-so slightly to 89 points over Wrathall with Breeze a further 40 points adrift but around 170 points ahead of team-mate Mussi.
In the team’s championship, TCR has already been officially declared the champion entrant after putting the title beyond reach at the Silverstone event three weeks ago – a tremendous achievement for the West Midlands squad in its debut season in the category.
Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd23):1st Nathan Freke, 698pts; 2nd Frank Wrathall, 609pts; 3rd Carl Breeze, 569pts; 4th Fulvio Mussi, 397pts; 5th Tom Sharp, 368pts; 6th Christian Dick, 341pts
