Silverstone played host to a mesmerising two days of action from all five TOCA support championship’s this past weekend (September 15/16), with title battles further intensifying.
Louis Foster continued his march towards the summit of the Ginetta Junior Championship by adding to his impressive win tally. Having won four of the previous five races, Foster became the first driver this season to score a hat-trick of victories in a single weekend.
Following a red flag stoppage in race one for an accident which involved his title rival Adam Smalley, the Elite Motorsport driver maximised his opportunity to beat James Hedley and Luke Browning. Foster had to work even harder for his second win of the weekend as he withstood the challenge of Patrick Kibble and Browning – half a second covering the trio at the flag.
Foster underlined his recent dominance in the series with another stunning drive to beat Smalley and Kibble; and with it leave Northamptonshire as the new championship leader.
In the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Charlie Ladell took a big step towards wrapping up the title with a trio of impressive performances. Having been the epitome of consistency throughout the year, the Rob Boston Racing driver made a return to winning ways in race one as he stormed to victory ahead of Harry King and Tom Roche.
Ladell doubled up in race two as he once again led King to the chequered flag whilst Carl Boardley snatched the final spot on the rostrum from Angus Fender on the final lap. Boardley bounced back in race three later in the day as he kept his championship aspirations alive with a controlled victory.
The Renault UK Clio Cup saw another twist in the title battle whilst it also welcomed a new name to the winners circle. As Max Coates spun out of the opening race, Bradley Burns came to the fore to write his name into the history books as the youngest ever race winner in the series – aged at just 17. Delivering a measured driver after muscling his way to the front, Burns kept his cool to take the chequered flag ahead of Paul Rivett and Daniel Rowbottom.
Burns put the exclamation point on his weekend at Silverstone with another storming drive to make it a dominant double. Following an early battle with James Dorlin, Burns hit the front and was subsequently never challenged as Dorlin fended off Rivett.
There were plenty of edge-of-the-seat thrills in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, however nobody could stop Dino Zamparelli in the first 28-lap race. Starting from pole position, the Redline Racing driver left his rivals in his wake as he charged to a fourth victory of the year whilst Tio Ellinas and Tom Wrigley rounded off the podium.
Wrigley would better his race one performance in the second Carrera Cup encounter later in the day as he jumped George Gamble off the line to power away and notch his latest victory. Dan Harper and Lewis Plato bagged silverware whilst Ellinas clawed back some points over Zamparelli in fourth.
Capping off a pulsating weekend of TOCA support championship action at Silverstone was a trio of races from the F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford EcoBoost. Johnathan Hoggard continued his impressive run of form in a frenetic opening encounter to notch his six win of the season, fending off the advances of series leader Kiern Jewiss and Jack Doohan along the way.
Doohan stormed to victory in race two ahead of Patrik Pasma and Ayrton Simmons before Hoggard capped off the day by narrowly triumphing in the third and final encounter of the weekend, adding to his already impressive win tally.
For the full classification of results from all championships, click here.
The TOCA support package will bring the curtain down on the 2018 season with what will likely be a dramatic final event of the season at Brands Hatch on September 29/30 – where titles will across the board will be decided.