Ginetta Junior Championship title contender Dave Wooder raced to his eighth podium of the 2016 season for Total Control Racing at Snetterton 300 Circuit over the weekend, 30th/31st July, after just missing out on victory by a mere 0.5 seconds in round 13 of the campaign.
On course for an all-but guaranteed rostrum finish in round 14 as well, a bold late bid for the lead on the final lap was unsuccessful and, after running wide at the hairpin, he had to be satisfied with a top six finish.
Team-mates Connor Grady, Max Bird and Jordan Collard all enjoyed very close on-track battles, with all three posting their respective best results of the weekend in Sunday afternoon’s contest – Grady taking ninth place, Bird finishing 13th and Collard taking the flag in 14th position.
In the sister Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Mark Davies raced to a best of fifth place in round nine on Saturday while team-mate Callum Pointon was eighth in the second of the event’s two contests. Three races were scheduled for Snetterton but due to an incident in the final British Touring Car Championship race, the circuit curfew arrived before the last GT4 contest could begin.
“It’s not been a bad weekend really, we had great pace with Dave in the Juniors and while it’s good to get another podium we really could have been looking at two wins if things had worked out a bit differently”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “Connor, Max and Jordan all raced well, it was pretty hectic out there in the races but all three did a good job.
“We’re steadily getting there in the GT4 Supercup, fifth was a good finish for Mark in the first race and he was unlucky with a track limits penalty in race two. Callum’s weekend was the other way round really, unfortunate in race one after some contact but a decent result in race two.”
More silverware for TCR in Ginetta Junior with WooderGinetta Junior race winner Wooder was the lead TCR driver in qualifying on Saturday, lapping fifth fastest and less than 0.2 seconds shy of the front row, with Grady securing 11th on the grid for race one, Bird lining-up in 18th place and Collard just behind in 19th spot. Bird had qualified 13th but had a five place grid penalty as a result of a misdemeanour from the previous event at Croft.
Wooder was edged back to sixth early on but fought his way into the top four before the end of the first lap and then grabbed third position on the second tour while also setting fastest lap. Running close behind Daniel Harper, the TCR racer then leapt into second on lap three but at the expense of former race leader William Tregurtha who had just been passed by Harper.
Challenging for the lead into lap four, Wooder continued to pile on the pressure but was edged back to third place on the run out of Riches the next time around. He then managed to re-take second on the seventh and final lap at the hairpin for his eighth podium – just 0.5 seconds shy of the win.
Grady, hoping to build on his career-best from the Croft race meeting before the summer break, didn’t have the best of fortune when caught-up in some lap two drama – followed by a spin at Coram on the same lap. Dropping back to the tail of the top 20, having been inside the top 12, he ended the race in 16th position.
Bird and Collard enjoyed a fantastic inter-team battle and were very evenly matched for the bulk of the contest. Climbing into 15th and 16th respectively by lap three, the duo traded places as they raced door handle-to-door handle but on lap six a spin for Collard at Coram dropped him to 19th. Bird ultimately finished in 14th place, sixth in the Rookie class, with Collard 17th and eighth in class.
In round 14 on Sunday, Wooder made a good start from the front row but was edged back to third at the first corner and slipped to fifth at the hairpin when a move around the outside didn’t pay off. Working hard to recover he climbed back into the podium places later in the lap, before being edged to fifth again, and then moved back into third on lap four before taking second on the fifth tour.
Just 0.5 seconds behind race leader Daniel Harper into the seventh and final lap, Wooder saw an opportunity to pass and tried a late move on the brakes into the hairpin – unfortunately, though, he only ran wide and eventually recovered to finish in sixth.
From 16th position on the grid, Grady gained three places on the opening lap and with some great driving he was up into ninth by the end of the second tour where he eventually ended the contest on lap seven.
Bird was unfortunately bundled back to 19th on lap one from 14th on the grid, but fought back impressively to finish in 13th place – fifth highest Rookie. Collard, meanwhile, progressed from 17th at the start into 14th place and although shuffled back to 18th position after being edged off the track at the Esses with a couple of laps to go, he moved back into 14th and sixth in the Rookie class.
Davies and Pointon rack-up more points in Ginetta GT4 SupercupIn the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Davies began round nine on Saturday from sixth, with Pointon just behind in seventh place, and the former enjoyed a good first lap to climb into the top five. Closing onto the tail of Carl Boardley, Davies ran in the wheeltracks of his rival during the second half of the race but there wasn’t an opportunity to pass and he finished just 0.5 seconds shy of fourth.
Sadly for Pointon, damage sustained early on compromised his performance and he eventually had to pit from eighth position on lap five to have his car’s bonnet secured. After rejoining the race, the TCR driver took the chequered flag on lap seven in 14th position.
For round 10 on Sunday morning, Pointon had a lot to do from 14th on the grid after his race one dramas but he produced a stunning first lap to scythe his way through into the top eight. Challenging for more on lap two, he was edged back to ninth place but quickly hit back on lap three to re-take eighth and remained there to the chequered flag on lap 12.
Team-mate Davies, from fifth on the grid, made a good start to almost draw fully alongside Boardley but the latter edged across into the TCR car and forced Davies to make contact with the barriers. Able to continue without much drama, albeit losing momentum and slipping to seventh, he hit back to move into sixth and closed up behind Tom Hibbert as the race reached mid-distance.
Swarming all over his rival’s car, Davies managed to make the breakthrough at the Esses on lap nine after forcing Hibbert to take a defensive line and duly moved into fifth place. Soon after, though, he was given a five second time penalty after being adjudged to have exceeded track limits during the race and so ended the encounter seventh on corrected times.
Next on the calendar for TCR will be the annual visit to Scotland for Ginetta Junior and the Ginetta GT4 Supercup a fortnight from now, over the weekend 13th/14th August, at Knockhill in Fife.
Ginetta Junior Championship Driver Standings (after Rd14):4th Dave Wooder, 293pts; 14th Max Bird, 114pts; 15th Connor Grady, 114pts; 18th Jordan Collard, 63pts
Ginetta Junior Championship Team Standings (after Rd14):4th Total Control Racing, 472pts
Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Driver Standings (after Rd10):5th Mark Davies, 168pts; 7th Callum Pointon, 154pts
Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Team Standings (after Rd10):2nd Total Control Racing, 322pts
