Boston & Orton Claim Final Michelin Ginetta GT SuperCup Wins of 2013

Tom Ingram was crowned the 2013 Michelin Ginetta GT SuperCup champion at Silverstone and Sean Huyton the G50 Cup title holder at Snetterton, but three races at Brands Hatch saw the runners up decided as Carl Breeze and Matt Nicoll-Jones rounded out the headline act, and Will Burns secured third in the G50 cup.

Starting from pole position for race one, Rob Boston made a textbook start – powering away from the pack off the line – however, the main man into Paddock Hill Bend was Matt Nicoll-Jones, who stormed through from fourth into second place.

At the end of lap two, Boston had pulled out a 1.3 second lead over Nicoll-Jones behind, thanks – in part – to his pursuer being chased in turn by Boston’s teammate and newly crowned Michelin Ginetta GT SuperCup champion 2013, Tom Ingram.

Four laps in and Boston remained ahead, with Nicoll-Jones and Ingram continuing to fight behind, whilst Carl Boardley and Jamie Orton fended off a TCR trio of Carl Breeze, Mark Davies and Alex MacDowall.

By lap six, it looked as though Ingram might be on course to reclaim second position, after a brave move saw him dive up the inside of Nicoll-Jones at Surtees, however, as the two continued to battle the result saw Ingram have a heavy impact with the barrier, causing the deployment of a safety car which continued until the end of the race. Ingram’s damage unfortunately forced him out of the two final races of the 2012 season.

The first of two Sunday races saw Boston once again start from the front row of the grid for what was a very wet penultimate outing. On the start however, it was Massot who made the most of the clear track, moving into the race lead into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time.

Starting from P12, Academy Motorsport team boss Nicoll-Jones was trying to claw his way through the field when he found himself in a tangle with his driver Sean Huyton, seeing the latter make contact with the barrier, and both drivers out of the race.

A spin for Oliver Basey-Fisher at Stirlings saw him follow his Academy Motorsport teammates into the pit lane, where he retired from the race, leaving Rob Gaffney, Will Burns and Louise Richardson to squabble over the G50 Class win.

Three laps in, Massot was holding his own out front despite multiple challenges from 2012 champion Breeze. Meanwhile, Massot’s Ginetta Junior rival from last season, Watson, set one the fastest laps of the race from sixth place as he pursued Somerfield and Davies ahead.

The wet circuit claimed two further victims over the ensuing laps, as hot rod racers Boardley and White found themselves in the gravel and then into retirement. However, the battle over fourth place continued to entertain, as Davies briefly passed Somerfield for position, until he ran wide and dropped back a handful of places.

Seven laps in and Boston found a way past Breeze to move into second place, the clear air saw him set a fastest lap and take a second out of the gap to Massot ahead before passing the Spaniard for the lead a few laps later at Surtees.

Holding the position to the flag, Boston claimed his second win of the weekend, whilst Massot and Breeze claimed second and third place. In the G50 class, it was Rob Gaffney who claimed his first win since returning to the championship at Silverstone, ahead of Louise Richardson and Will Burns.

The final race of the day – and indeed the season – saw Jamie Orton start from pole position following the reverse grid draw, with Andrew Watson alongside. At the start, Orton pulled away as Breeze challenged his way up and into third place.

A storming start for Matt Nicoll-Jones saw him climb from the back of the grid into eighth on the first lap, whilst Boston made light work of another rival, passing Somerfield for fourth place. Massot is passed by Davies, Nicoll-Jones and Huyton on lap three.

A run wide at Westfield for Somerfield allowed Davies to slip past and into fifth place, whilst behind, there was a great race unfolding for the final places inside the top ten between Boardley, Massot and MacDowall.

Five laps in and Orton had managed to etch out a two second lead, however a spin for Boardley at Clark Curve resulted in a safety car period whilst the car was moved out of the gravel, leaving Orton with all the work to do once again.

As the race got underway once again on lap nine, Boston passed Breeze to take third place, as Nicoll-Jones moved past Davies for fifth into Hawthornes – but the man of the moment was undoubtedly Nicoll-Jones, who powered past Boston for third place, whilst his teammate Huyton had climbed to fifth.

Over the closing laps, contact between Breeze and Davies left the latter out of the race with damage to the rear of the car, whilst the reigning champion was left to settle for sixth overall.

At the flag, Jamie Orton was able to celebrate his first G55 race win, just hours after announcing plans for a full 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT SuperCup campaign, saying; “Finish as we mean to go on! That’s just what I needed – a long time coming but it’s good to be able to go out there and show what we are capable of.”

Andrew Watson celebrated his best finish to date with a second place, whilst Nicoll-Jones also finished on a high, with third place from 17th on the grid – a result which saw him secure third place in the championship behind winner Ingram and runner up Carl Breeze.

In the G50 class, Louise Richardson claimed her fifth win in six races, ahead of Will Burns and Rob Gaffney – however, the result was enough for Burns to finish the season third in the G50 Cup class, alongside his runners-up position in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge.

Many thanks to Ginetta & Jakob Ebrey Photography

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