World Touring Car Championship race winner Rob Huff made a huge impact on the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup at Thruxton, Saturday, 3rd April, by taking a clear race victory during the first round of the 2010 season at the wheel of the Dynojet-prepared ‘guest car’.
Although having never driven a modern rear-wheel drive sportscar prior to this weekend, Huff’s quality shone through and was telling during both qualifying and racing – a dominant pole position followed by a, largely unchallenged, win from team-mate Frank Wrathall.
As Huff was driving the ‘guest car’ he was ineligible to score in the championship, meaning Wrathall takes full points for the win even though he was second on the road. Third place went to the rapid Chris Dittmann who just managed to fend off Tom Sharp after an outstanding race-long duel.
Equally impressive was Carl Breeze’s charge through the field into the top five from 14th on the grid, the TCR returnee producing lap times second only to race winner Huff, and a fine top six finish from former Caterham and GT racer Rachel Green.
Speaking on his winning return to the British Touring Car Championship race package, Huff said: “I want to say a big thank you to the team for setting the car up so well for me, it was a pleasure to drive and the Dynojet guys are a great bunch to work with. I got a fairly good start, from there I managed to get my head down, find the grip and get the win. It’s really nice to be part of a BTCC weekend again and I want to thank Ginetta for the opportunity, I’m really enjoying it.”
Qualifying was a gamble for the teams and drivers with some running slicks early and others using treaded wet-weather tyres and pitting for slicks later on in the session. Huff and Wrathall opted to post respective times on wets before changing to dry-rubber for the final portion of the session.
That approach worked a treat with Huff taking pole position by six 10ths of a second from Wrathall and the 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Vice-Champion finishing a full second ahead of third placed Sharp. Green was a superb fourth fastest ahead of Dittmann, Phil Broad, Ginetta Junior graduate Aaron Williamson and Benji Hetherington.
Several drivers though missed the window of opportunity including Breeze, reigning Ginetta G20 Champion Mark Davies and Stephen Tyldsley. Tyre choice also looked likely to play a role for the race itself today but the track remained damp enough to mean wet-weather rubber was the only realistic option – as Dan Denis found out to his cost when slicks proved to be almost 20 seconds off the pace!
Making a clean start, Huff managed to repel Wrathall into the complex with the pair trying to pull clear of Sharp, Dittmann, Green and Broad. Williamson was unable to benefit from his fourth row starting slot after struggling to get away from the line and he eventually finished in 14th position.
Breeze made an excellent start and delivered a searing opening lap to scythe his way past seven cars and move into front-running contention early on before battling his way past a determined Green on lap four at Allard. Behind, former Ginetta G20 racer Matt Bell was also making progress from 13th on the grid and on the fourth tour he was into the top eight.
At the front, Huff continued to extend his advantage over Wrathall as the pair started to look in a league of their own with their pursuers falling further behind. Sharp continued to keep Dittmann at bay as Breeze edged ever closer but on lap eight Dittmann made his move at the complex and took third place.
Although pushed back to fourth position, Sharp wasn’t finished and he made Dittmann fight tooth and nail for the final spot on the podium all the way to the chequered flag on lap 11, the pair split by just 0.545 seconds at the finish.
Huff’s winning margin was five seconds in the end with Wrathall making it a Dynojet one-two, the latter 15 seconds clear of third-placed Dittmann. Sharp was within half a second of the podium and Breeze likewise to fourth place. Green finished in sixth ahead of Bell with Hetherington taking eighth, Julien Draper ninth and Broad in 10th place.
Colin White was the only Chairman’s Cup contender on the grid at Thruxton today and therefore won the class without too much difficulty! Even so, his race wasn’t straightforward and resulted in him being shown the black flag after failing to serve a drive-through penalty.
The second and third rounds of the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup will take place at Thruxton tomorrow, Sunday, 4th April, at 10.45 and 15.45 respectively. Live action will be broadcast on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4 – please check listings for full details.
Provisional 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup Championship Positions (after Rd1):1st Frank Wrathall, 36pts; 2nd Chris Dittmann, 30pts; 3rd Tom Sharp, 26pts; 4th Carl Breeze, 23pts; 5th Rachel Green, 20pts; 6th Matt Bell, 18pts
