Total Control Racing continued its podium-finishing momentum in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 10th/11th August, with Jake Giddings taking a double rostrumalthough he was desperately unlucky not to claim his maiden win.
Team-mate Callum Pointon, meanwhile, delivered another excellent showing for the Wednesbury team and posted a seasons best finish of fifth place during the final encounter on Sunday afternoon, round 18, as he gets ever closer to the podium placings himself in his first year of car racing.
Lining-up second on the grid for the first race of the weekend, round 16, Giddings, who only missed out on pole position by 0.2 seconds, held station off the line and after pressuring pole-qualifier Oli Basey-Fisher for the lead he made the breakthrough at Paddock Hill Bend on lap two.
Even though battling hard at the front, the two leaders were able to pull well clear of the chasing pack. The decisive moment for the Wisbech driver came on the last lap at Druids when Basey-Fisher got ahead to prevent Giddings claiming his first Ginetta Challenge win by only 0.2 seconds. The TCR driver also only just missed out on the fastest lap by a mere 0.028 seconds.
Team-mate Pointon started round 16 from 11th position and climbed into the top 10 before being edged back to 11th on lap three. Remaining there until the seventh tour, the Cheddleton driver did slip to 12th but quickly regained the position where he stayed to the finish.
Beginning round 17 from second on the grid again, Giddings held the runner-up spot prior to an early Safety Car period caused by a multi-car tangle at Paddock Hill Bend on the opening lap. When the action resumed on lap four, Giddings and Basey-Fisher continued their tooth and nail tussle from race one and traded fastest laps along the way.
Leading by lap six, the TCR racer fought wheel-to-wheel for the victory once more but unfortunately lost out on the final tourfrustratingly by the slimmest of margins, a tiny 0.097 seconds, across the line in a near dead heat.
Pointon, who started in 12th place, made fantastic progress on the opening lap to climb into seventh and then moved into the top six on the fourth tour. Although elbowed back to seventh a couple of laps later, he just missed out on sixth place by only 0.048 seconds on the drag to the finish line.
Beginning the final Brands Hatch race from second and seventh respectively, Giddings and Pointon both impressed once more but the former lost out on a podium hat-trick after being stung by a time penaltyofficials adjudging Giddings, as one of several drivers, to have exceeded track limits.
Actually taking the flag in second position for the third time on the weekend, the TCR racer was dropped back to 10th position in the final classification. Pointon profited from Giddings misfortune after being elevated from sixth place into fifth position, marking his best result yet in the series.
Jake should have had at least two wins, we definitely seemed to lack power from the engine compared to the driver in front [Basey-Fisher], said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, Wed get past through the corners, pull away, but then hed drive straight back past on the straights. Theyre good results, two podiums isnt bad, but its a shame about the last one as the penalty for track limits was harsh.
Callum is edging ever closer to the front, taking fifthafter Jakes penaltyin the last race was his best finish of the year so were pleased with that. Hes a fast young driver, hes learning all the time, and its even more encouraging how hes moving forward considering hes hardly done any testing.
There is now a substantial eight-week break in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge calendar ahead of the season finale, which will take place at Donington Grand Prix Circuit in the East Midlands, on 5th/6th October.
In the meantime, TCR will be back in action next Saturday, 17th August, in the Britcar Production Cup at Snetterton in Norfolk with the squads Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup team resuming its season on 24th/25th August at Knockhill in Scotland.
Provisional 2013 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge Standings (after Rd18):7th Callum Pointon, 231pts; 11th Jake Giddings, 178pts
