Oli Basey-Fisher is the 2013 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge Champion after a weekend of high drama, and incredible unpredictability, at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit.The 18-year-old, in only his second season of car racing at any level, went into the final event of the campaign at the East Midlands track third in the driver standings but produced two superb podium finishes in rounds 19 and 20 on Sunday, 6th October, to seal the title by nine points.“I don’t think this will sink in for six months”, said the new champion, “After starting out in [Ginetta] Juniors less than two years ago, I certainly didn’t think I’d be here as Ginetta Challenge champion. It really is something I didn’t think was possible at the beginning of the year – it’s just fantastic.”Nobody could have scripted the eagerly awaited championship finale which began with just three points separating Oli and chief title rivals Brad Bailey, the series leader going into the weekend, and Academy Motorsport team-mate Will Burns.Oli’s chances of capturing his first car racing title received a timely boost during the all-important qualifying session on Saturday, 5th October, where he seized pole position for the first race thanks to a great lap of 1m47.142 seconds (83.57 mph).Although Bailey got the jump at the start of Sunday morning’s opening encounter, Oli steered his Century Logistics-backed Ginetta G40 into the lead at the exit of Redgate but was again edged back to second at Coppice before being elbowed down to third at Melbourne Hairpin on lap two.Upping his pace, Oli posted the fastest lap on the fourth tour before Jake Giddings crashed out of second place on the very next lap which triggered the Safety Car. At the re-start on lap nine, Oli held onto second and although beaten to the fastest lap he fended off Burns for the runner-up spot to crucially move to the top of the driver standings with a four-point advantage.Although three races were scheduled for the day, only two encounters could be contested in the end after a frightening accident on the opening lap of race two for one of the G20 drivers. Leading to an obvious race stoppage, the delay for the recovery process meant the action would be re-started at the end of the afternoon – resulting in the cancellation of the timetabled third race.That didn’t see an end to the day’s drama, either, and Suffolk One College student Oli had a major challenge on his hands starting the final race from eighth on the grid – notably, behind title rival Burns. No sooner had the race started than the unpredictability was turned up a notch when Bailey spun out of the lead group at the foot of Craner Curves.Thankfully, Oli managed to avoid the stranded Ginetta which was pointing in the wrong direction and emerged from the chaos in fourth place – most importantly, ahead of Burns. Following a couple of laps behind the Safety Car, the action resumed and Oli quickly moved into third place at Redgate before his championship hopes almost went up in smoke.On the run into the Old Hairpin, oil on the track from Bailey’s earlier spin caught-out the Suffolk racer – and numerous others as well – and he ended up running off the track at speed but somehow managed to rejoin still holding third. Several weren’t as fortunate, though, so the race was halted.Lining-up fourth on the revised grid for the re-start, slated to run over 12 minutes, Oli was nudged back to fifth early on but re-took fourth at Coppice on lap two and after a close battle with Burns and Giddings on lap six, he emerged from Melbourne Hairpin in third. Holding position over the final 2.5 miles of racing, he secured the pressure-packed title in style with his 14th podium of the season.“It was a hell of a race after the re-start”, reflected Oli, “The amount of incidents this weekend alone have been more than the entire year put together! When I was on the grass after going off on the oil from Brad’s [Bailey] car I thought that was it at that point, I was heading towards the barriers but somehow – and I really don’t know how – I managed to get the car back on track.“I can’t thank everyone enough who has supported me this year, the guys at Academy Motorsport have given me an incredible car all season and I wouldn’t be here without the support of my family, my sponsors and, of course, Ginetta. Without winning the Ginetta Junior Scholarship a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”As well as claiming the hotly-contested Ginetta GT5 Challenge title, Oli also scoops the fantastic prize of a Ginetta G55 for use in 2014. “It’s another massive boost to my career from Ginetta”, he added, “To receive that prize is amazing, I’m really looking forward to next year where we’ll hopefully be on the grid in either Ginetta GT Supercup or maybe GT4 in British GT.”Final 2013 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge Driver Standings:CHAMPION: Oli Basey-Fisher, 485pts