The final round of the GT Cup Championship was held at Silverstone circuit on 13th– 14th October. It didn’t quite go to plan, with treacherous weather causing the meeting to be abandoned before Sunday’s qualifying session and final race had taken place. All was not lost though, with David Holloway taking away two trophies from the final meeting. Also, having missed the opening round due to business commitments, Holloway did exceptionally well to finish second in the Championship (GTH Class) and seventh overall.
Saturday morning was soaking wet for the practice session. In the afternoon, the qualifying session got underway on a drying track. Holloway posted the second quickest GTH time.
The first race got underway later that afternoon. Holloway confidently held his second position until lap 6, where the #157 Aston Martin managed to find a way past. He then spent the remainder of the race close behind the Aston Martin, trying to claim back his second place spot but ended up settling with third place at the finish line.
Early Saturday evening, the sky was darkening and race 2 got underway. Holloway got a really good start but then both Aston Martin’s came past him on the straight. He then fought hard to find a way past both cars. An amazing move into Club Corner saw Holloway storm past the first Aston. Then getting a really good run out of Luffield, he came side by side with the second Aston into Copse, where he managed to overtake and claim second position.
It was then a very lonely race for Holloway as the GTH leader was far ahead and although Holloway had a few clear laps, he did not have time to catch the #72 Aston Martin that was leading. Holloway crossed the line at the chequered flag in second place, achieving his second podium of the weekend.
Sunday morning saw torrential rain with heavy winds and there were delays on all track activity until the afternoon. Later on, the track was inspected again and it was deemed unsafe, forcing abandonment of the meeting. This meant that the final qualifying session and the final pit-stop race where Holloway was sharing his Ginetta G55 with teammate Piers Johnson, could not go ahead.
Holloway finished the championship in a solid second place (GTH Class) and seventh place overall, which was an incredible achievement considering he didn’t take part in the opening round.
Hopefully he will be back next year to add more trophies to his collection!
Holloway:
“Great battles in our class on Saturday against the Aston’s, Silverstone is a tough circuit for the Ginetta but we managed to fight back in race two to grab second place in class unfortunately the weather beat us on Sunday. This season has been so much fun and I have learnt so much I want to say a huge thank you to the whole team at Century for their support during the season and for providing me with a reliable and well sorted race car every weekend. An amazing team of engineers, mechanics and support staff Wes, Alex, Tom, Nigel, James, Sergio, Jim and Jodie run by Nathan a great guy who happens to be super fast driver who you can learn so much from. Thanks to my teammates Piers and Phil for contributing to my results and for all they have both taught me. Motorsport is a great community and I can’t wait for next season to start.”
Johnson:
“I’ve really enjoyed working with David and Century this season. David has stepped up to GT racing really well, adapted to the car and sharing it, along with coping with the longer races, and has really got stuck into racing hard and fair. We had 100% finishing record, thanks to Century providing a reliable race-car and us behaving ourselves, apart from my trip into the gravel at Oulton!
The winter will feel long, but already looking forward to constantly fighting for more wins with David and Century in 2019.”
Nathan Freke, Owner of Century Motorsport:
“It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable year with David, Piers and Phil. It was a shame to have the last race meeting ended prematurely due to adverse weather, but we still went out on a high. It was clear that the Astons had an advantage around this power circuit and in race 2 David really got his elbows out and did some fantastic overtaking moves, showing just how much he has improved this year.
The dynamic within the team has been great and I am really looking forward to continuing the relationship into 2019 and hopefully with some exciting news soon to come!”