DOMINANT FIRST VICTORY OF GINETTA GT5 SEASON AT OULTON PARK FOR CHAPMAN AND TCR
Robinson leads GT5 race outright for first time and takes two ‘Am’ winsTotal Control Racing elated with first 2016 GT5 success
Reigning Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion team Total Control Racing celebrated its first victory of the 2016 season at Oulton Park International Circuit on Saturday, 28th May, thanks to a dominant maiden category win, and first success in cars, for championship rookie Matt Chapman.
Having secured his fourth successive podium in round six earlier in the day with a great drive to third place, and then finishing fourth in a truncated round seven, the Oxford teenager starred in the concluding encounter of the one-day event to claim a near five second win from sixth on the grid.
Team-mate Ian Robinson added two more ‘Am’ class victories in rounds seven and eight to take his impressive season tally to six wins. Notably, the Cambridgeshire businessman also took the overall lead of a Ginetta GT5 race for the first time in the third race of the weekend.
Starting second on the ‘reverse’ grid, he took the lead at the first corner and stayed there until lap two when Chapman sliced past. Ultimately finishing in fifth, the result matched his best overall placing so far.
Dan Collinson took a brace of top five ‘Am’ results in the opening two contests, but an unfortunate tangle in round eight at Hislops, while fifth in class again, resulted in contact and a disappointing retirement from the contest.
“It’s been a long time coming but we’re absolutely delighted for Matt”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “We all knew the pace was there to get the win and one of the biggest things was proving we could do it by coming through, we didn’t start at the front and drive away. It was a great drive from Matt, now he’s got the first one under his belt hopefully some more will follow.
“Ian did a great job again, it was fantastic to see him leading a race for the first time and to get some more class wins was as much as you could ask to be honest. Dan raced well again this weekend, he’s continuing to improve and was just unlucky in the last one – these things happen though.”
Chapman qualified third fastest for the opening contest, just 0.3 seconds shy of the front row, and although edged back to fourth position he immediately set about retrieving a top three placing by applying significant pressure to Ryan Hadfield.
Running just a few tenths of a second behind the third placed car for the next five laps, into the sixth tour only 0.1 seconds separated the pair over the line and Chapman duly moved ahead to climb into the rostrum placings. Pulling away over the last two laps, he took his fourth podium of the season.
From 12th on the grid, third in the Am class, Robinson enjoyed a great opening lap to leap into the top 10 overall, as well as second in class, and although elbowed back to 11th place by a ‘Pro’ car on lap two he retained his class position. Closing on the Am leader during the latter stages, he took the flag on lap eight second in class and 11th overall.
Fellow ‘Am’ runner Collinson began round six from 16th overall and fifth in class and although bundled back to 19th place on the first tour he battled his way back through into the top 16 by lap four. Edged back a spot on lap six, Collinson again moved back into 16th on the final lap and also retained fifth in class.
Starting in those positions for round seven, no sooner had the race begun than the Safety Car was deployed due to a three car tangle in the pack at Old Hall. Prior to the cautionary period, Chapman had slipped to fourth place, Robinson made a superb start to climb into the top eight and the ‘Am’ class lead and Collinson held 16th place and fifth in class.
Disappointingly, that was all the racing permitted in the second race of the weekend due to the length of recovery time taken to retrieve the stricken cars. With the Safety Car still on track and the allotted race duration almost completed, officials opted to show the chequered flags at the end of lap five with the race order declared as per the opening lap.
For the final contest, round eight, Robinson started on the overall front row of the ‘reverse’ grid with Chapman sixth and Collinson in 16th position. Robinson certainly made the most of his opportunity to move into the lead, holding first place around the outside at Old Hall, and he stayed at the front of the field until the start of lap two when Chapman moved past at the first corner.
The former Ginetta Junior racer put together an exceptional opening lap from sixth on the grid to climb into the top two. After getting ahead of Robinson, Chapman rocketed into the distance and opened up an advantage of 2.7 seconds by the start of the third tour. Going on to build a lead of over four seconds, he continued to push and took the flag on lap eight five seconds to the good.
“I’m absolutely elated with the win”, reflected Chapman, “The team did a really good job with the set-up of the car and we definitely proved we can pile on the pressure and win races. It’s been a great weekend.”
Robinson, meanwhile, battled valiantly to keep a stream of Pro drivers behind and he held onto second place overall until lap three. Eventually edged back to fifth position, he still retained his clear Am class lead to chalk-up yet another success and move into seventh in the overall standings.
Although Collinson’s race didn’t end as he wanted, the first year Ginetta GT5 Challenge racer performed well until his enforced retirement. Moving into the outright top 15 by lap three and then 14th position the next time around, Collinson held fifth in the Am class and looked well set for a strong finish but the lap six tangle at Hislops ruined his hopes.
Oulton Park will again be the destination for TCR next weekend, 4th/5th June, when the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup returns to action alongside the Ginetta Junior Championship on the shorter Island Circuit layout. The Ginetta GT5 Challenge will resume over the weekend 11th/12th June at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.
Ginetta GT5 Challenge Driver Standings (after Rd8):2nd Matt Chapman, 206pts; 7th Ian Robinson, 122pts; 16th Dan Collinson, 34pts
