Ginetta GT50 Cup…Academy Motorsport Take Two Wins & Championship Title

Academy motorsport stole the show this weekend, as team boss Matt Nicoll-Jones claimed two wins and a second place at Knockhill, further bolstering their success in running Sean Huyton to the 2013 G50 Cup crown which was made official following Saturday’s race.

Although not in attendance, Sean Huyton can now not be beaten in the Ginetta G50 Cup thanks to a healthy points cushion over his nearest rival. Proving the success of the Ginetta ladder, Huyton adds this to his Ginetta GT5 Challenge title from 2012.

In attendance though, was Andrew Watson, who claimed pole position for race one after an eventful qualifying session which saw the young Irishman set exactly the same qualifying time as Jamie Orton – however, a technical infringement during qualifying forced Orton to take a grid penalty and start from seventh on the grid.

As the lights went out, it was Matt Nicoll-Jones who made a blistering start, taking the lead from Watson over the opening few corners, then – due to a false start – Watson was hit with a drive through penalty.

Four laps in and championship leader Tom Ingram was promoted to second place and Carl Breeze to third as Watson served his drive through and fell to the back of the field. Making good progress was Orton as he started to challenge Rob Boston through Butchers and into the Chicane for fifth place.

Not far behind however, was Carl Boardley, who was putting on a fine show as he chased the leading pack, but up ahead, Ingram was keen to add another win to his trophy cabinet, cutting Nicoll-Jones’ lead to 0.5 seconds.

As Fergus Walkinshaw retired to the pit lane from P11, Orton made a move on Boston to claim the fourth place he had been chasing over the previous through laps, whilst Watson and Somerfield are warned for not respecting the track limits.

As the chequered flag dropped, Nicoll-Jones claimed his first win of the season – having picked up a trio of second places over the previous 18 rounds with Ingram taking second and Breeze in third.

With the grid positions for race two decided by the finishing positions of Saturday’s race, Nicoll-Jones once again started from the front row, this time on the pole position slot with Ingram alongside.

As the lights went out and signalled the start of what was set to be an action-packed 23 lap race, Nicoll-Jones shot out of the box with aplomb, but holding the race lead wasn’t going to be easy as Ingram and Breeze were hot on his heels from the word go.

The nature of this twisting circuit kept the top six cars together through much of the race, with Orton, Boston, Watson, Davies and Massot crossing the line within 0.5 seconds of the race leader by lap eight.

Try as he might, Ingram couldn’t seem to find a way around Nicoll-Jones who was driving a flawless race up front, but as we entered the second phase of the action, things started to hot up between the G55’s.

Orton was busy trying to find a way past former team-mate Breeze for third, but the reigning champion is well-versed in defending his position, leaving Orton to then face a fight with Watson behind.

Damage for Massot at Butchers on lap 15 dropped the Spaniard to 13th before he was forced to pit to clear the grass from his radiator leaving him a lap down and costing him valuable championship points.

As the battle continued to rage at the front of the pack, Watson found a way past Orton for fourth place at the start of lap 20, which was shortly followed by a spin for Orton at Scotsmans Corner which dropped him way down the order after what had been a fantastic race.

Following much tension, as the flag dropped, Nicoll-Jones claimed the win, from Ingram and Breeze, but he wasn’t set for another front row start, as the reverse grid gave Reece Somerfield his first pole position start, with the driver saying; “I can’t wait for the race now, this is my first ever race with a grid girl!”

Unfortunately for Somerfield, things didn’t quite go to plan; running wide on his opening lap left him out of the race before it had really begun, handing the lead to Watson with Breeze in second and Davies in third – albeit temporarily, as Davies was handed a drive through penalty for a jump start – dropping him to the back of the field.

In all the opening lap excitement, Watson managed to etch out a 1.5 second lead over Breeze, whilst behind Carl Boardley ran wide and dropped two placed to 13th, leaving him to fight with White and Hoggarth.

More problems for Massot saw him pull off the circuit on lap six, but he rejoined shortly afterward – although a lap down – eager to pick up as many points as possible to keep him in contention for a top finish in the championship.

Having a fantastic time though was Brad Bailey, in his first race in a G55, and improving with each race, the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge championship leader was running in a comfortable seventh place.

By the halfway point, Watson had managed to pull out a two second lead on Breeze who was busy keeping himself out of the way of Nicoll-Jones, Ingram and Orton who were fighting over third place, but there was fantastic action between Hoggarth, Boardley and White in their own race, until White was forced to run wide at Scotsman and ended up in the gravel and out of the race.

With only a few laps left to run, Ingram found a way around Nicoll-Jones and began to close down the gap to Breeze, and with two laps to go, the KX backed driver made a move on Breeze for second, before passing Watson for the race lead as the cars crossed the line for the penultimate time.

In what was one of the most dramatic finishes in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup so far, Nicoll-Jones stormed past Watson and Breeze on the drag race from Taylor’s to the line and claimed second place from a rather surprised pair of drivers.

Nicoll-Jones now sits third in the driver standings, behind Ingram and Breeze; but with three meetings left on the 2013 calendar, there’s a long way to go yet. The story continues at Rockingham on 14 / 15 September.

Many thanks to Jakob Ebrey Photography.

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