• Podiums for Wooder at Donington and Chapman at Brands GP • Solid points haul in Ginetta Juniors, GT5 Challenge and GT4 Supercup• Double ‘amateur’ class win at Brands GP for Robinson
Top motor racing team Total Control Racing celebrated podium success on two different fronts over the weekend, 16th/17th April – in the second event of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Donington Park and also the opening race meeting of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Brands Hatch.
Marking a huge weekend for the Wednesbury squad, the outfit watched Dave Wooder claim his third podium of the Junior season to consolidate second in the championship at Leicestershire’s Donington Park while, further south at Brands Hatch in Kent, Matt Chapman superbly overcame GT5 Challenge qualifying dramas to take his maiden podium and Ian Robinson took two class wins.
“We’ve had good solid points this weekend in all three championships, podiums in Juniors and the Challenge, and I think it went as well as we could have hoped really considering the team was split across two venues”, said TCR boss Lee Brookes, “We’re happy with how the lads are all performing and pleased with the level of performance they’re showing. It’s been a good weekend.”
Third podium of season for Wooder at Donington ParkAt Donington Park, Dave Wooder picked up where he left off last time out in the Ginetta Juniors with a very impressive showing in testing followed by a top three performance in qualifying. Despite making a good start to the first race on Saturday afternoon, the TCR racer was edged back to fourth and ultimately finished the contest just outside the podium places after a fantastic battle.
Rookie Class front runner Max Bird had to mount a strong recovery following a tough first lap, climbing back into ninth place overall and the fourth highest placed Rookie having been elbowed down to 12th place on lap one.
Disappointingly, though, team-mates Jordan Collard and Connor Grady didn’t enjoy the best of starts to their respective Donington Park weekends – Collard retiring on lap one and Grady dropping out from 16th place on lap seven.
For round four later in the afternoon, Wooder lined-up fourth and enjoyed a great see-saw battle. Moving into third on the first lap, he was edged back again at the start of the second tour and slipped down to sixth by lap four. Recovering into the top five, he then produced a star move by passing two cars in one go at Hollywood on lap six to secure his third podium of the season.
Bird was equally as determined and although edged back to 11th from ninth at the start, he charged through into the top eight – third highest Rookie – on lap two and set fastest lap pace early on. Into seventh at mid-distance, Bird was edged back to eighth with three laps to go but again fought his way through into seventh and second of the Rookies on the penultimate tour.
In contrast to race one, Collard and Grady each enjoyed a much-improved run with the former starring as he carved his way through from the back of the grid in 21st place to finish just outside the top 10. Grady, meanwhile, started just ahead of Collard in 20th position and after gaining five places on lap one alone he ultimately ended the nine lap contest in 12th spot.
For the third Ginetta Junior outing of the weekend on Sunday, Wooder started in fourth place, Bird in seventh and Collard and Grady shared the sixth row. Wooder and Bird were embroiled in a terrific battle throughout and both had the pace to challenge for the podium.
Initially, Wooder held fifth place with Collard up into ninth after a great first lap – third of the Rookies – and Bird was in 10th position, with Grady 17th after a challenging start. After an early Safety Car, Wooder came under attack at the end of the tour and slipped to sixth just ahead of Bird who had catapulted ahead of Collard.
By lap eight, the top seven ran nose-to-tail and any one of the group had a chance of finishing on the podium. In the end, Wooder finished fourth, having been as high as third, with Bird taking sixth and second in the Rookie classification. Grady battled his way back through the order to 14th place but Collard had the misfortune of retirement a couple of laps from the end when his car lost power.
Solid weekend again for Pointon and Davies in GT4 SupercupAs during the season opener three weeks ago, Ginetta GT4 Supercup racers Mark Davies and Callum Pointon were incredibly evenly matched with the former grabbing seventh on the grid for round four with Pointon alongside in eighth.
While all cars ran on slick tyres, wintery showers in the preceding track session ensured very slippery conditions off-line. Holding position off the start, the TCR duo remained line astern for the first few laps ahead of the appearance of the Safety Car on the fifth tour. After the resumption, the pair traded positions with Davies coming out on top in sixth ahead of Pointon in seventh.
Starting round five from those placings, Davies stayed ahead at the beginning and although Pointon slipped to eighth he boldly took seventh with a tremendous piece of driving out of Redgate and down into the Craner Curves.
Closing up behind his team-mate, another tight battle ensued and Pointon got ahead at the Old Hairpin on lap eight. Disappointment followed for both though – Davies spinning out into retirement at Redgate on lap nine while Pointon slipped to ninth after contact into the Esses on lap 14.
In the weekend’s finale, Pointon secured a top six finish after a good drive from ninth on the grid while Davies starred after slicing his way through the order from 16th on the grid to finish just a couple of seconds shy of his team-mate in seventh position.
Podium for Challenge rookie Chapman and double ‘Am’ win for RobinsonFurther south, 150 miles away at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in Kent, TCR also got its Ginetta GT5 Challenge season underway but not in the manner it expected with rapid series debutant Matt Chapman forced to begin the first race from the back of the huge grid in 35th place – a result of having his times in qualifying expunged when his car was removed from the gravel after a spin on oil.
Facing a monumental task, Chapman mounted a superb drive and rocketed through the order on lap one to climb into a stunning 19th position prior to the emergence of the Safety Car. Racing only resumed with around five minutes on the clock, leaving Chapman very little time in which to make more progress, but he delivered a remarkable showing to finish in ninth spot – a gain of 26 places.
Team-mates Dan Collinson and Ian Robinson, both contesting the new ‘Amateur’ Class in this year’s GT5 Challenge, had entertaining battles in the mid-order with Collinson finishing his first race with TCR in 13th place and third in the ‘Am’ classification, having qualified 12th fastest overall, and Robinson two spots further back in 15th and fifth in ‘Am’, after starting 18th on the grid.
Round two on Sunday morning came to an enforced stoppage after just one corner when a multi-car accident in the pack triggered the red flags. At the re-start, Chapman made great progress from ninth into the top six and after setting the fastest lap of the race, and then bettering his own benchmark too, he finished fifth just 0.5 seconds shy of the top four.
Team-mate Robinson produced a superb performance too, carving his way through from 15th on the grid into seventh place on the first lap alone and then taking sixth early on lap three. Although edged back to seventh a lap later, the second year GT5 Challenge driver remained there to the flag to cap an excellent performance and also secure the ’Am’ class victory.
Collinson, from 13th on the grid, moved into the top 10 on lap one and then climbed into ninth on lap three where he remained to the chequered flag at the end of the 10-minute duration to make it a TCR one-two in the ‘Am’ rankings.
In the third and final contest, Chapman raced through to his maiden podium on his first weekend in the category with an excellent runner-up spot while Robinson celebrated ‘Am’ success once again in seventh position. Unfortunately for Collinson, his race ended in retirement on lap two.
There is now a three week break from track action for TCR with rounds six and seven of the Ginetta Junior Championship taking place over the weekend 7th/8th May at Thruxton in Hampshire. While the Ginetta GT4 Supercup will miss the Thruxton event, returning instead in early June at Oulton Park, its slot at the Hampshire venue will be taken by the Ginetta GT5 Challenge.
