BRITISH GT - DONINGTON PARK - 24TH - 25TH SEPTEMBER

"Couldn’t be more thrilled with the race", so said Ginetta G55 Project Manager Simon Finnis at the end of the three hour endurance round of British GT at Donington Park this weekend (24th - 25th September).  

 

Expectations were not high for the weekend after wheel nut and starter motor issues during testing. With the Ginetta G55 GT3 still in development stages, everyone on the project is still working towards refinements, and getting the package more on the pace.

 

 

Adding to this, Martin Short was recovering from a damaged lower back, and a new third driver was added to the fold in the form of loyal Ginetta driver through the ranks - Tom Sharp. Tom is the current Ginetta G55 Championship leader. Tom was joining Martin and Matt Nicoll-Jones, as it was uncertain if Martin would be fit in time to drive.

 

Tom started his first ever BGT race in the wet. To say that Tom put in an absolutely star performance was a massive understatement. He scythed through the field pushing the nimble Ginetta through the pack, picking off car after car. It was perfect conditions for an ‘out gunned in the dry’ car to perform, and Tom grabbed it. Martin Short and Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson were up in the commentary box watching in disbelief as he passed the new Nissan GT3, and then a Ferrari 458 around the outside at Coppice corner  "I have never seen that done before, that was amazing" said Short.

 

As the track dried out, Tom was forced to pit, but P4 was on the timing screen when he came in....from 17th!

 

"That was fun" said Sharp after he had cooled down a little from his drive. Having come up from Ginetta Juniors, and through the other Championships, I am a part of the Ginetta family, but the G55 GT3 is another leap forward.  It is a great formula for young drivers to follow through, and for me it has been great timing, as the next "new car" has come out as I have progressed.  I took it steady to preserve the tyres in the middle sector, but really pleased with how it went." he continued. Tom was delighted to be driving alongside his former driver-coach Matt Nicoll-Jones.

 

With a pit stop and tyre change for Martin Short, and with other drivers finding it a bit tricky on the cool track and slicks, Short continued to hold the car steady, before coming in fairly quickly to hand over to Matt Nicoll-Jones to try and take advantage of 'burning' an unnecessary mandatory pit stop.  With the pit stops unwinding, Matt found himself back down to 14th place, but again climbed up through the field and although peaking at 5th place at one stage, he handed back for Short's final stint in 8th place.

 

"Matt did a really excellent job today, really pleased with both lads" said Short.

 

With only one set of slicks on the car for well over 2 hours, Short had to nurse the car home with rapidly failing grip levels. A last minute safety car period lost the team 2 more places as Short was caught behind the leader and his lead over the 2 cars behind was lost. However a 10th place was a fabulous result. 

 

Everyone was delighted with the performance of the car, and it has showed huge improvement since its last outing.  

 

Short explained, "There has been very little time for Ginetta to make modifications, get them homologated, etc, but they are stepping up the pace, and the car is moving forward. There is a new aero package coming which will help, and there is still a lot to come from the chassis and especially braking. All in good time"

 

Next weekend will see Rollcentre running the same GT3 G55 at the Silverstone Britcar 24 Hours, and then back the weekend of the 7^th October, in a two hour finalé for the last round of British GT.  

 

At the 24hr Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson will be gracing the team in the GT3 alongside Martin Short and Matt Nicoll-Jones, and TBA's, and Rollcentre will also be running the other works car in the shape of the class winning entry of last year the Ginetta G40.  Should be a busy weekend!