Stefan Hodgetts proved his undoubted class as one of the hottest talents in British motorsport at Oulton Park today, Sunday, 5th June, with a magnificent victory during the 11th round of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup – only the JHR Developments driver’s second race in the category.
Renowned as one of the very best tin-top and sportscar racers around, the perennially under-funded Hodgetts dominated the wet race at the 2.2-mile Cheshire track to also give debuting squad JHR its maiden victory.
Round 10 winner Nathan Freke finished second for the player.co.uk/Century Motorsport while Carl Breeze was third for Total Control Racing, the latter eating yet further into Tom Sharp’s diminishing championship lead.
“When the weather is like this it makes everything a level playing field and you just have to drive”, said Hodgetts, “The G55 is a fantastic race car, it’s built purposely to go fast around race tracks and that’s what it does best.
“As I’ve won, I really hope we can come back and have another go. I can’t do much more than what we have today so we’ll just have to wait and see if the funding comes in. I’d absolutely love to carry on – it’s so much fun!”
Hodgetts lined-up third on the grid for round 11 behind pole-sitter Freke and Breeze on the front-row, the starting order set by the finishing positions from Saturday’s encounter. Freke got away well to lead but Breeze wasn’t able to keep ahead of Hodgetts into Old Hall so the latter went through.
Breeze then came under pressure for third from Colin White with Adam Morgan, George Murrells and Tom Sharp queuing up behind but the order remained the same until the end of the lap when points leader Sharp took sixth off Murrells at Lodge.
Into lap two, Freke, Hodgetts and Breeze began to pull clear of the rest with fourth-placed White losing ground and coming under increasing pressure from the gaggle of G55s behind. Soon enough, White was demoted and on lap three his car slowed dramatically before an eventual retirement on lap five.
Back at the front, Freke locked-up under braking for the chicane as it started to rain but he did manage to rejoin in second place ahead of Breeze, Morgan, Sharp and Murrells with Tom Ingram leading the G50 Cup class in seventh overall ahead of rivals Jake Hill and newcomer Lee Pattison.
Several of the drivers had minor excursions or moments with the rain getting progressively worse but for Hodgetts there were no such mistakes as he cruised to a victory that looked far easier than it realistically was.
On lap five Pattison started to pick-up his pace and after passing Hill for second in the G50 class, he then moved ahead of Ingram for the lead on the very next tour at Lodge. Pattison immediately began to pull clear but an unfortunate moment at Druids on lap eight sent him into the barriers.
Williamson secures maiden G50 Cup victory...Through it all emerged Aaron Williamson in his FML car to take to the G50 lead ahead of Hill and Ingram. Back in the headline G55 class though, Hodgetts had increased his lead to over seven seconds as Freke, Breeze and Sharp closed-up in the battle for second.
At Lodge though on lap 11, Sharp unintentionally tagged Breeze under braking and although both continued without a problem the championship leader went off at Druids all by himself on lap 13 to slip down the order to an eventual finish of sixth behind Freddie Hetherington – the latter racing superbly from the back of the grid after a non-finish in round 10 on Saturday.
Easing off over the final couple of laps with the win in the bag, Hodgetts celebrated a dominant success while second place for Freke – coupled with a bonus point for fastest lap – solidified his top six placing in the driver standings.
Third place for Breeze, his ninth podium from 11 races, means he is now within 25 points of Sharp in the championship while Morgan was fourth for another consistently big score.
Williamson, driving in a new G55 this weekend after writing-off his previous car in a shunt at Thruxton during the previous event, held off the attentions of Hill, G55 runner Alistair James and Ingram to record a maiden victory in the G50 Cup – his first success since graduating from the Ginetta Junior Championship at the end of 2009.
“On the grid I got the team to stiffen the car just a tad as it looked dry but it was only on the green flag lap that the rain really started to come down”, explained Williamson, “It only has to be a little bit of rain for it to plaster your windscreen so visibility was an issue as well.
“I was surprised how much grip there was in the wet on the slicks, if you can keep the heat in them they really do grip well. It’s a great result for me and the team, it’s my first win since I left Ginetta Junior to race in an adult formula. It’s definitely been an up and down couple of years but I’m really happy with this, thanks to the team for doing such a fantastic job and giving me a great car.”
There is now a two-week break in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup calendar with rounds 12, 13 and 14 of the season scheduled to take place at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire, the ‘home’ track for Leeds-based Ginetta Cars, on 18th/19th June.
Provisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup Championship Positions (after Rd11):1st Tom Sharp, 314pts; 2nd Carl Breeze, 289pts; 3rd Adam Morgan, 257pts; 4th George Murrells, 230pts; 5th Colin White, 182pts; 6th Nathan Freke, 167pts
Provisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup ‘G50 Class’ Championship Positions (after Rd11):1st Tom Ingram, 328pts; 2nd Jody Fannin, 247pts; 3rd Jake Hill, 234pts; 4th Aaron Williamson, 205pts; 5th Robert Gaffney, 186pts; 6th Louise Richardson, 136pts
