After the annual summer break, the 2017 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup burst back into life last weekend at Snetterton for another three rounds of this year’s hotly contested championship. Following on from a superb performance at the last rounds in Croft, Green was now starting to close in on the championship lead and keen to continue that trend at the Norwich circuit.
Easily the favourite coming into the weekend, Green and his Century Motorsport team had topped the time sheets in almost every pre-event test session, leaving them confident of a front row start from Saturday morning’s qualifying. Missing the top spot by a mere seven hundredths of a second in the closing moments of the session, Green was set to start the first race of the weekend from the outside of the front row.
The weekend’s first of three races started on Saturday afternoon just after 3pm. Despite a good start, Green slipped to third on the opening lap with Jack Mitchell finding a way past. Sticking with the leading pair of Mitchell and championship leader Callum Pointon, Ben was ready to pounce at any moment. Despite keeping the gap to just over a second, Green brought his Ginetta G55 across the line for the final time in third, and with it some valuable championship points.
Starting the day’s action at the Norwich circuit early on Sunday morning, cloudy skies cast some doubt about which way the weather was going to turn during the weekend’s second of three races. Starting from third, Green was hoping to quickly propel himself into a race winning position. As the lights went out, that’s just what he did, moving straight into second ahead of Mitchell. However his spell in the runner-up position would be short lived as he ran wide at Richies on an
With the reverse grid draw for race three changing the positions of the top five drivers, it was another row two start for the final race of the weekend, live on ITV4. Struggling off the line, Ben slotted into fifth before an early Safety Car neutralised the field. Racing finally got back underway on lap five as Green began his recovery drive. Closing in on the leaders on every lap, such was the pace at the front that he remained in fifth to the flag. Despite the result, Ben’s consistent results throughout the weekend allow him to remain in second as a serious contender for the championship’s top spot.
Ben Green – #22 Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4:
“We had a great weekend at Snetterton coming away with two podium finishes and standing at second in the championship. This is a great position to be in and I’m very excited for the next race meeting already. There was close racing in every race this weekend and I see this continuing for the rest of the season now. Rockingham, Silverstone and Brands Hatch are great tracks that I enjoy racing at and I am already looking forward to the closing races of this season.”
Nathan Freke – Team Principal, Century Motorsport:
“Confidence was on an all-time high coming into this weekend given our performances in the pre-event test and Friday’s free practice. Ben was unlucky to miss out on pole in qualifying, but his front row start was still a good position to be in. I guess it says a lot about our pace and performance when we are somewhat disappointed with two podiums and a solid haul of championship points. Ben’s fastest lap in race two shows exactly what we were capable of this weekend and we’ll be aiming for wins at the final three rounds as winning this championship is still very much our game plan.”
Next Rounds:
Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby, UK – Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th August 2017