The BRSCC’s North Western Centre once again had the honour of organising the racing action at G-Fest. This year’s event took place at Croft on 27th & 28th June and provided a feast of fabulous Ginetta racing on a hot summer’s weekend.
After free practice on Saturday morning, the Ginetta classes for GT, GT Academy and Junior had 2 qualifying sessions and 4 races over the course of the weekend.
Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship
After 3 of the 4 Ginetta GT contests, William Antrobus was unbeaten. In the first, he and Harry Gamble had pulled away from a battle between Cameron Pratt-Thompson and James Nicholas. It was Pratt-Thompson who eventually came out on top to claim third.
In the next 2 encounters, Pratt-Thompson was the closest challenger to Antrobus as Alex Duncan and Gamble each took a third place. Duncan had taken advantage of Gamble trying to drive round the outside of Pratt-Thompson at the start of the second race to annex the runner-up position but Pratt-Thompson pushed him down to third at The Hairpin with 7 and a half minutes remaining.
In the finale, Pratt-Thompson overtook Antrobus at The Hairpin around half distance to prevent him from taking a clean sweep as Gamble recorded his third podium finish of the weekend. Pratt-Thompson was very emotional when he got out of the car as it was his first win in 2 years of trying.
Ginetta Junior Championship Powered by Sunoco Race Fuels
Ginetta Junior underlined how competitive this championship is with different winners in each of the 4 rounds at Croft.
Riley Cranham looked to be on his way to victory in the opening encounter but Harrison Mackie reeled him in. They then had a huge battle which culminated in Mackie being pushed into a spin at the Sunny complex on the last lap. He recovered to finish at the bottom of the Top Ten. Cranham continued to take the chequered flag first but the stewards decided to penalise him for causing a collision. This dropped him down to ninth behind Mackie in the final classification.
Therefore, the top 3 were Jacob Ashcroft, Jesse Phillips and Max Murray.
Race 2 was a similar story with Cranham making the early running but, after 8 minutes Mackie, caught and overtook him at Barcroft. His timing was perfect as the Safety Car appeared just after he had completed the pass.
After the restart, Cranham was gradually shuffled down the order and finished sixth. Mackie took the win from Ashcroft. Championship leader, Lewis Goff, had retired from race 1 with a puncture but was third on this occasion.
Outing number 3 for the Juniors was another cracker. Cranham was the leader throughout although Goff put him under enormous pressure in the early stages before becoming embroiled in a huge multi-car battle for second. This allowed Cranham to pull away to take a comfortable victory.
The runner-up position was decided on penalties and was awarded to Mackie after the stewards moved Phillips down to third for gaining an unfair advantage. Goff finished fourth on the road but this became ninth when a 5 secs Track Limits penalty was applied.
At the start of the last Junior encounter, Cranham, Goff and Ashcroft broke away but they were swapping positions so much that the rest of the pack were able to catch them up just before half distance. Then Ashcroft ran wide exiting Barcroft following contact from Cranham and crashed into the barriers at the entrance to the Sunny complex. This brought out the red flags.
Soon after the restart, the red flags appeared again due to an incident at Sunny Out. The race was completed at the third time of asking after a few frantic laps. Goff did his best to get to the front but found himself edged on to the grass a couple of times. Cranham was the first to see the chequered flag but dropped to fifth when a penalty for causing a collision was applied – his second such penalty of the weekend. This meant Harry Bartle was declared the winner from Mackie and Phillips with Goff fourth.
Ginetta GT Academy
Luis Beilicke is the man to beat in the Ginetta GT Academy this season but his weekend got off to a bad start when he crashed in qualifying on Saturday morning. This proved to be a blessing in disguise as it reduce the number of laps he ran on his tyres. The longevity of everyone’s tyres was a critical factor in the hot weather.
As a result, the talented German rookie continued his winning ways at Croft, taking victory in 3 of the 4 races.
In the opening encounter, Tom Walker took second while American, Joseph Ostholthoff, demoted Ian Beaumont to claim third.
Next time out, Walker was again running second but in the closing 5 minutes he was passed by Ostholthoff and then Beaumont. Both overtakes took place at The Hairpin.
Beilicke’s had to run a couple of old tyres during Sunday’s qualifying session and started race 3 from fourth on the grid. Pole-sitter, Ostholthoff, made a poor start and would have been relieved when the red flags came out at the end of the opening lap because a car had come to rest on the approach to Tower with broken suspension. At the restart, Ostholthoff held off Beaumont around the first couple of corners to take a lead that he would hold until the finish. Beaumont, Walker and Beilicke followed him home.
The last race of the weekend for the Ginetta GT Academy was the 100th since the championship began in 2021. Beilicke ended lap 1 in fourth but he was the fastest driver out there and by half distance, he was trying everything he knew to take the lead from Beaumont. Eventually, Beaumont skidded on to the grass at the exit of Sunny In. As Beaumont dropped down the order, Beilicke inherited a decisive lead. Ostholthoff and Walker completed the podium.
Thank you!
The BRSCC wish to thank all marshals and officials for their help with the running of this meeting.
There were a number of incidents which were all dealt with exceptionally well.
Dave Williams
All Photos: Ginetta Cars’ Facebook Page