AS WOODER CLIMBS JUNIOR ROSTRUM AND COLLARD SECURES FIRST ROOKIE SILVERWARE

• Mark Davies takes TCR’s first GT4 Supercup podium of 2016 • Ginetta Junior rostrum finisher Wooder sets fastest lap in both races • First year Junior racer Jordan Collard takes maiden Rookie podium • Season-best seventh place finish for ever-improving Connor Grady

Total Control Racing enjoyed another successful outing at picturesque Oulton Park over the weekend, 4th/5th June, with a maiden podium finish of the Ginetta GT4 Supercup season and yet another haul of silverware in the Ginetta Junior Championship.

Just one week on from a race-winning performance in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge at the popular North West venue’s International Circuit, the Wednesbury team was back in action over the weekend with its sister GT4 Supercup and Junior squads on the shorter Island Circuit configuration.

With a highly competitive second place finish in round eight of the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Mark Davies secured his and the team’s first category podium of the season which, added to a top four finish in round seven, sees Davies rocket from ninth to fifth in the championship standings.

In Ginetta Junior, meanwhile, Dave Wooder confirmed his incredible pace with the fastest lap in both contests and he also took a deserved podium in round nine – having been knocked out of rostrum contention in the previous contest and also having to battle back from a grid penalty.

For car racing rookie Jordan Collard, the fourth event of the season offered a real breakthrough moment as he secured his first Rookie Cup podium in race one. Second year racer Connor Grady, meanwhile, showed his excellent progress with a season-best seventh place in race two.

“It was a shame we didn’t get the second with Mark in Saturday’s Supercup race, but he made up for that in race two”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “Again, it’s another big step forward from the last race meeting. We haven’t had much of a chance to test, only one day, but I’m sure we’re just going to get stronger and stronger as the season goes on with both Mark and Callum [Pointon].

“In the Juniors, we should’ve been on pole with Dave – we chose to do it all on our own in qualifying and we knew wherever we qualified he had the penalty. He did a blinding job in both races, fastest lap in each shows that, and if we’d started on the front row I think we could have had two wins.”

Brookes added: “It was great to see Jordan get his first Rookie podium on Saturday. He was on for it again in the second race but got tapped and taken off, there was a lot of pushing and shoving. It was also a good weekend for Connor with a great drive in race two. We know the whole team is strong.”

Trophies for Wooder and Collard at sunny Oulton ParkIn qualifying for round eight of the Ginetta Junior Championship, Wooder was a mere 0.097 seconds shy of pole position with the second fastest time of 1m43.751 seconds (77.23mph) – although had to start the race from seventh due to a penalty from the previous event – while Max Bird secured a 12th place start, Grady was 16th quickest and Collard was 17th only 0.014 seconds further back.

Wooder made a good start and climbed into fifth on the first lap but on the second tour contact from a rival dropped him to the tail of the field. Mounting a sensational recovery over the remainder of the eight lapper, Wooder sliced his way into a very hard fought, and well deserved, ninth position.

Grady mounted one of his best drives of the season from the ninth row of the grid to secure a season best top 10 finish. Up into 16th place on the second lap, as a result of Wooder’s problems, the TCR driver had broken into the top 10 by lap five and then moved into ninth place the next time around. Although passed by the recovering Wooder on the final lap, 10th was still a superb result.

First year car racer Collard just missed out on matching his previous best with 11th place, having mounted a strong drive from 16th on the grid. By the end of lap four he was into the top 12 and then moved into 11th securing second place in the Rookie classification and his first class podium.

Bird held 11th place on the first lap and broke into the top 10 on lap three before climbing into ninth place on the subsequent tour. On lap five, though, Bird’s progress was halted when he slipped back to 16th position. He eventually battled through again into 13th place, fourth highest Rookie.

In round nine on Sunday, Wooder made exceptional progress from ninth on the grid and midway through lap two he had sliced his way into the top four. Pressuring Charlie Fagg for third place, the TCR racer grabbed the position on the run over Hill Top but hopes of trying to challenge for second were ended when the Safety Car was deployed and the race ended under caution on lap seven.

Grady, who started alongside Wooder on row five of the grid, moved up into ninth place early on and by the end of lap two he was into eighth place. Then taking seventh position on the third tour, he stayed there to the finish and produced pace just 0.1 seconds shy of the race winner’s best lap.

Collard had an opportunity to add another Rookie podium but on lap three he was knocked off the circuit at Druids from 11th position overall. He eventually finished in 13th, fourth highest Rookie. Bird also encountered misfortune in round nine – having raced well into ninth place partway through lap four, an excursion at Cascades the next time around resulted in 16th place in the end.

Davies makes podium breakthrough in GT4 SupercupIn the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Mark Davies qualified a season-best third fastest for the opening race, round seven, with team-mate Callum Pointon sixth and they both made good starts with Pointon holding position on lap one while Davies leapt into second place. In an uneventful race for the former, Pointon stayed in sixth for the entire 15 lap duration.

Davies ran within a second of the race leader over the first couple of laps and pulled clear of the pack before the gaps began to plateau at the halfway point. With a podium all but in the bag, Davies was forced onto the grass by an errant backmarker he was lapping and ultimately ended the race in a frustrating fourth place.

In round eight, however, he made up for the race one disappointment by moving up from fourth to third at the start and staying in the podium placings for the 15 lap duration – taking the flag just 0.5 seconds shy of second place and lapping within 0.1 seconds of fastest lap pace. Pointon, from sixth on the grid, held position initially before slipping to eighth by lap five where he stayed to the flag.

Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire will host the next instalment of action for Ginetta Junior over the weekend 18h/19th June. Before then, TCR will be back on track at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit next weekend, 11th/12th June, with its Ginetta GT5 Challenge squad.

Ginetta Junior Championship Driver Standings (after Rd9):3rd Dave Wooder, 212pts; 11th Max Bird, 92pts;13th Connor Grady, 74pts; 18th Jordan Collard, 49pts

Ginetta Junior Championship Team Standings (after Rd9):3rd Total Control Racing, 330pts

Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Driver Standings (after Rd8):5th Mark Davies, 132pts; 7th Callum Pointon, 126pts

Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Team Standings (after Rd8):2nd Total Control Racing, 258pts