CHAMPION’S PERFORMANCE SEALS 2009 TITLE FOR VICTORIOUS FREKE
Nathan Freke fittingly sealed the 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup title with a true champion’s performance at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, Saturday, 3rd October – a brace of largely unchallenged wins handing the Kidderminster racer a deserved championship triumph.
At the wheel of his Century Motorsport entered G50, the 26-year-old started the weekend in perfect style by taking pole position for both of today’s encounters and in the races he was never headed en-route to his 13th and 14th victories of the campaign.
Freke claimed his first Ginetta G50 win at Donington Park in mid-May and after moving into the championship lead a month later at Croft in North Yorkshire, there was no looking back for the former UK Formula Ford Champion.
Reflecting on a fantastic title victory, Freke said: “I’m pretty pleased! In the week leading up to this event we knew the 10 points we needed to make sure of the title wasn’t a lot to get but I’ve seen leads like that taken away before. I’ve always loved Brands Hatch, the car was sublime on Friday in the test and to win and take the championship in style is fantastic.”
Lining up on pole position at the start of the first race of the day, round 26, Freke knew he needed just a handful of points to make sure of the title but he was determined to secure the championship in winning ways. Getting away cleanly from the grid, second placed starter Fulvio Mussi did pressurise into Paddock Hill Bend but Freke held on to the lead on the run to Druids for the first time.
Frank Wrathall attempted to wrest second off Mussi at the hairpin but as the cars headed down to Graham Hill Bend, the Yourracingcar.com driver managed to hold on. Into Surtees though, Mussi lost out while running three abreast with Wrathall and Tom Sharp and ended up being forced wide which, in turn, allowed Benji Hetherington to also move ahead.
Before the start of lap two, the Safety Car was deployed due to a lap one accident at Paddock Hill Bend involving Joachim Ritter and Chairman’s Cup campaigner Colin White. The re-start came at the beginning of the fifth tour and Freke never looked likely to put a wheel wrong, even though Wrathall was never much more than a second adrift all the way to the chequered flag on lap 10.
The Dynojet driver continued to press on but he wasn’t able to force a mistake from the soon-to-be-crowned champion. Sharp raced well to his third podium of the year thanks to a fine drive while Hetherington fought well to keep Mussi at bay – just seven 10ths of a second splitting the pair.
Chris Dittmann, returning for the season finale having missed the previous event at Rockingham, rounded out the top six ahead of one-time championship hopeful Carl Breeze and the impressive Adam Morgan. Richard Sykes, meanwhile, won the Chairman’s Cup once again in 10th place overall.
Second placed finisher Wrathall commented: “I found it tough in qualifying, we had a couple of issues with the handling of the car and that was pretty much the same story in the race. What Nathan has done this weekend, taking pole and winning, is exactly why he’s champion. He’s a nice person and Century is a nice team as well, they deserve it.”
Win number 14 for unstoppable FrekeIn round 27, Freke won a by a clearer margin of almost two seconds from Mussi as the latter enjoyed one of his best races of the season on his way to a deserved fourth podium of the year. Third position went the way of Wrathall who shadowed the TCR driver all the way to the chequered flag.
At the start pole-sitter Freke and fellow front-row starter Wrathall made an even getaway but with the inside line his, the new champion held on to the lead. Mussi held on to third place ahead of Sharp and Dittmann while further back, Morgan slid off the circuit exiting Druids and made contact with the barriers but did manage to recover – eventually finishing in 13th place.
Seventh placed category newcomer Ben Jackson – who had finished ninth in the earlier encounter on his G50 Cup race debut – did well to hold off a queue of cars headed by Breeze, with rear-end damage to his car causing bodywork to rub on the right-rear tyre. Battling on valiantly, Jackson had to succumb though on lap three when forced to pit.
Back at the front, Freke continued to lead Wrathall and Mussi as Hetherington got the better of Dittmann for fifth place at Paddock Hill Bend with an outstanding piece of late braking. Behind, Breeze moved into seventh due to Jackson’s enforced pit-stop while Sykes held on to eighth where he remained for another Chairman’s Cup victory.
The battle for second place intensified at mid-distance and on lap 10, Mussi made the move into Druids to grab the place from Wrathall who, to be fair, gave plenty of racing room. Wrathall and Sharpe did press Mussi all the way to the finish on lap 14 but he held on.
Speaking after the race, Mussi said: “We’ve proven we’ve had the pace since Snetterton really and then, at Knockhill, everything came good. We had some problems at Silverstone and then Rockingham didn’t go as well as we’d hoped but here, qualifying went well and we were quick from the off. It’s great to be back on the podium.”
Along with newcomer Jackson, an influx of other fresh faces are competing in the Ginetta G50 Cup this weekend – namely Stephen Tyldsley, Rachel Green, Jeff Davies, the returning Michele Tommasi and Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship graduate Emily Fletcher. Jackson, of course, was the best of the bunch in round 26 with ninth place while in round 27, Tyldsley took the same position.
Round 28, the last race of the 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup, will start at around 13.30, Sunday, 4th October, and will be broadcast live across the UK on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4.
Provisional 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd27):Champion: Nathan Freke, 820pts; 2nd Frank Wrathall, 701pts; 3rd Carl Breeze, 615pts; 4th Fulvio Mussi, 479pts; 5th Tom Sharp, 442pts; 6th Christian Dick, 389pts
