Knockhill welcomed team owner Nathan Freke back to the grid. After a year away from the GT Supercup Freke returns to the seat at one of his favourite circuits and Century were also very pleased to see the return of Declan Jones to the G50 championship.
Race 1 was very wet with poor visibility. After a broken drive shaft in qualifying Walkinshaw started 10th on the grid but received a drive through penalty for a false start pushing him to the back of the field. Abbott who started in 5th was a strong contender for a podium position but after a racing incident with Hill, Abbott’s race soon came to an end spinning off on the last corner. Freke qualified 2nd and drove an exciting race but being a little rusty lost 2nd to Ingram and then 3rd to Richardson on the final corner, coming over the line in 4th place. Jones drove a very strong race with the G50 field, qualifying in 3rd position. The race battle with Gaffney was close racing and Jones came across the line with a well deserved 2nd place on the podium.
Race 2 was the first race on Sunday. In the G55’s Freke started 4th taking Richardson at the start moving straight into 3rd. Abbott started last after the non finish in race 1 but quickly moved through the field into a battle with Walkinshaw for 9th position. The racing was very close and a coming together on the last corned between Walkinshaw and Abbott resulted in the end of the race for both drivers. With Walkinshaw missing his braking point, Abbott was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The safety car was deployed and the race extended from 24 to 27 laps. Jones drove a good race starting in 3rd and despite running off circuit on the last corner had a great battle with Reece Somerfield and still came through to take the 3rd place on the podium. Freke also came through to take 3rd for the G55’s after pressuring Tom Ingram all the way for 2nd place and securing a new lap record along the way.
Reverse grid positions saw Sharp P1, Freke P2, Ingram P3 and Breeze P4
Race 3 started with a nasty accident after Ingram failed to pull away from the grid, the car was hit from behind by an unsighted Mark Davis, pushing him across the circuit into the path of Jones’s G50. Walkinshaw and Abbott made exceptional moves in order to avoid the collision but the race was immediately red flagged. All drivers involved in the incident were checked at the medical centre but a statement from the circuit doctor said that there were only minor injuries and additional checks were for precaution. Unfortunately for Jones the damage was too extensive to be able to take the re start despite the team’s best efforts.
With Abbott starting the race in 13th and Walkinshaw in 14th they were both keen to secure a good result after disappointing earlier races. Both got great starts and moved up the field quickly. With Freke and Breeze pulling away in 1st and 2nd and Hill and Richardson dicing for 3rd and 4th a huge battle ensued for the 5th place spot. Very entertaining racing saw Hunter finish an eventual 6th and Fergus come in a very creditable 7th. away from the battle for 5th . Freke had a much quieter race where he managed to control the pack from the front and brought home the victory by 0.5seconds ahead of challenger Carl Breeze.
Freke commented “Getting onto the top step of the podium was the top priority of this weekend and I’m so glad I could provide the results for the team and our sponsors. It’s just what we needed and I hope that I helped Hunter and Fergus along in the process.”
We head to Rockingham for the next round of the Ginetta GT Supercup on 22/23rd September