Ginetta GT5 Challenge championship leader James Kellett secured his ninth victory of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 2nd August, to conclude the fifth event of the campaign with a 52 point advantage at the top of the driver standings for Total Control Racing.
Finishing runner-up in round 13 on Saturday, 1st August, and then taking third place in round 14 on Sunday morning, Kellett boosted his podium tally for the year to 13 from 15 races for the reigning champion squad with his round 15 win.
Team-mate Callum Pointon unfortunately slipped from second to third in the title race, now 19 points adrift of Ollie Chadwick, but second place ahead of Kellett in race two and third position in the weekend’s final contest delivered more deserved silverware for the Wednesbury squad.
Ian Robinson’s Brands Hatch weekend wasn’t as straightforward as he would have liked after an unfortunate excursion in round 14 led to a very challenging final contest. Starring with a magnificent drive in race three, though, Robinson gained no fewer than 17 places as he carved his way through to the cusp of the top 10 from 28th on the grid.
“It’s been another strong weekend for the whole team, James did a great job to win the final race and he’s kept hold of a strong points lead which is important with only two weekends to go”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “Callum deserved a bit more than he got in the end, but two more podiums is still good and keeps him well in the top three.
“We’ve been really impressed with Ian this weekend, Brands GP isn’t the easiest circuit but his drive through in the last race was fantastic. It’s a shame he went off in race two but he made amends for that in the last one with a great performance.”
More trophies for TCR at Brands Hatch GP Kellett lined-up second on the grid for the opening race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon and spent the entire nine lap encounter in that position, never more than a few tenths of a second shy of the back of pole qualifier Chadwick’s Ginetta.
Proving his pace with the fastest lap, a new Ginetta GT5 Challenge lap record for the GP Circuit of 1m40.472 seconds, Kellett remained glued to the rear bumper of his rival’s car but just wasn’t quite able to make a decisive bid for the lead and instead settled for second just 0.4 seconds adrift.
Team-mate Pointon, starting in third place, slipped to fourth on the first lap but quickly hit back on lap two to run within 0.9 seconds of Kellett. Edged back to fourth position on lap six, Pointon was then elbowed down to sixth a lap later where he eventually finished.
Robinson, meanwhile, had a big task on his hands from 15th on the grid and although losing a place initially he mounted an impressive drive. Into 14th place as the race headed onto lap four, Robinson gained three more positions in as many laps and retained 11th spot to the flag on lap nine.
For round 14 on Sunday morning, Kellett and Pointon lined-up second and third respectively and remained in that order until the final lap when Pointon, taking full advantage of a late Safety Car period caused by team-mate Robinson, managed to pass Kellett for the runner-up spot.
Kellett had taken the fight to pole-starter Chadwick throughout the race, as he did during the first encounter of the weekend, and was never more than 0.3 seconds shy with fastest lap pace. Pointon, who slipped away from the lead pair prior to the Safety Car, made the most of the cautionary period and after a stunning re-start he was able to demote Kellett to third place.
Robinson, who started in 12th position, progressed into 11th place on lap two but on the fifth tour an excursion and contact with the barriers ruled him out on the spot. Kellett, meanwhile, again ended up with the fastest lap of 1m41.305 seconds.
The championship leader returned to winning ways in round 15, taking his ninth victory by 1.1 seconds having had to battle his way through from fourth. Slipping back from third place at the start, the TCR driver mounted an excellent recovery and delivered typically outstanding pace.
Moving back into third on lap two, Kellett then grabbed second from Chadwick at the end of lap three at Clearways before setting his sights on team-mate Pointon who led away from the line at the beginning, after getting ahead of pole starter Chadwick.
Pressuring Pointon heavily, setting fastest lap on the fourth tour, Kellett made his move on lap six with a good pass into Druids and then pulled clear during the second half of the contest to claim the win relatively comfortably.
After being edged back to second on lap six, Pointon was passed by Chadwick two laps later and then remained in third to the finish but did secure the fastest lap of the race on the ninth tour with a time of 1m41.602 seconds.
Robinson, meanwhile, had a very tough challenge from 28th on the grid – a result of his unfortunate non-finish in race two – but produced a memorable grandstand performance on his way to a superb 11th place result.
Into the top 20 on lap one alone, Robinson held 18th position at mid-distance and gained a number of places in quick succession to work his way into the top 12 with a couple of laps to run. Taking 11th place on the final tour, the TCR driver ended the contest just 0.7 seconds shy of the coveted top 10.
Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge will be held at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk on 22nd/23rd August and, over the same weekend, TCR will also be in action with its Ginetta Junior Championship squad at Knockhill in Scotland. Before then, TCR’s team of Ginetta Juniors will be back on track next weekend, 8th/9th August, at Snetterton for the resumption of their 2015 season.Provisional 2015 Ginetta GT5 Challenge Standings (after Rd15): 1st James Kellett, 461pts; 3rd Callum Pointon, 400pts; 11th Ian Robinson, 139pts
