Breeze Consolidates Ginetta Supercup Points Lead

Total Control Racing's Carl Breeze consolidated his lead in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, with fourth place in round 17 of the season - for AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK front-runner James Dixon though, the event ended in disappointment.Off the back of a superbly successful outing at the Norfolk track on Saturday, 6th August, where Breeze took a win and second place in the first two Ginetta GT races and Dixon secured victory in the opening Clio Cup encounter, on day two the racing proved a little more challenging.For Kings Lynn-based Breeze, racing through from fifth on the grid into a top four finish capped off a very impressive weekend in which he increased his 2011 tally of podiums to 12 and his number of wins for the season to three.Although concentrating on bringing his car home safely after an early challenge for the podium, during the last couple of laps the TCR man came into contention for the rostrum once again as rivals Nathan Freke and Tom Sharp tripped over each other while duelling over second position.At the finish, Breeze crossed the line just 0.8 seconds shy of the podium placings and the result means he heads to the next three rounds at Knockhill in Scotland four weeks from now with a 31 point lead at the top of the championship.Team principal Lee Brookes commented: "Ginetta-wise we've pulled plenty of points this weekend and extended our lead overall so we're very pleased with that. Yes, you always want to win - that's why we go racing - but Carl did a great job all weekend and to have a win, another podium and a fourth place is fantastic."In the Clio Cup, Dixon headed the points standings going into round 12 - after his superb victory from fifth on the grid during Saturday's race - but his weekend ended in abject disappointment when he was taken out of the race at the first corner with steering damage.Having made a good start from the third row, Dixon attempted to stay out of trouble despite being in the middle of the leading pack but as he turned into the first corner, Riches, his front-left wheel was tagged by Jake Packun and he was forced off the track. Although able to recover to the pits, the damage was too severe to be allowed back out by the team.Even though he wasn't able to score in the second of the two Snetterton encounters, Dixon is still in the championship top three with four races now remaining in the battle for the 2011 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK title.Mark Proctor enjoyed one of his most competitive races since debuting in Clios at the beginning of the season and secured the Masters Cup class victory with a top 12 finish overall. Forced to fight through from the back of the grid after suffering a driveshaft failure in qualifying on Saturday, the former touring car driver produced a typically strong race performance.Rookie team-mate Nicolas Hamilton yet again delivered a hugely impressive account of himself with a 13th place finish. In terms of his lap times, the first year racer was a match for the front-runners in the first two sectors of the lengthy 2.97-mile circuit and he was able to match Proctor to the same 10th of a second overall.Following his highly unfortunate final corner accident during round 11 on Saturday afternoon, category returnee Andy Jordan - who had only had one previous run in Clios with TCR in 2010 - was unable to take part in Sunday's action with his car beyond repair."James was just trying to stay out of trouble at the start and he was unfortunate to have the contact to his front-left wheel", said Brookes, "It was disappointing having taken the championship lead back on Saturday but he just has to go out and try and win as many of the remaining races as he can."If Mark can manage to qualify a bit higher he'll start racking up some really good results as he always races well and this weekend he did another good job. Nic is going to be one to watch as the year goes on, his sector times were fantastic. If he can do that now, with such little experience in racing, when he gets everything together he's really going to spring some surprises."We're really disappointed Andy's weekend ended how it did on Saturday, he did a really good job in the race and tried very hard. Sometimes these things happen but he gave a good account of himself and certainly deserved better."  Next on the agenda for TCR is a visit to Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for a non-championship Clio Cup event, the 'Cross Channel Challenge, on 20th/21st August - the races forming part of the annual World Series by Renault festival. After that, the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup will be back in action at Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend 3rd/4th September.Provisional 2011 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK Driver Standings (after Rd12):3rd James Dixon, 249pts; 9th Tom Grice, 150pts; 16th Mark Proctor, 79pts; 17th Nicolas Hamilton, 76ptsProvisional 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup Driver Standings (after Rd17):1st Carl Breeze, 449pts; 8th Joachim Ritter, 124pts; 15th Tim Harvey, 35pts


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