News Item - Tom Sharp Wins Opening Rounds of 2012

Tom Sharp leaves Brands Hatch racing circuit with a Cheshire cat grin on his face following a trio of race wins in the opening rounds of the Ginetta GT Supercup. Showing fine pace throughout the weekend, Tom spent the weekend with an empty racetrack ahead of him as he scored maximum points.

The weekend didn’t go without its fair share of action as the drivers were eager to prove their worth to the thousands of fans which had packed around the famous Kent circuit.

During round one, the heat was on for Sharp from Tom Ingram (JHR Developments) and Josh Wakefield (theplayer.co.uk/Century), with under a second separating them as the chequered flag dropped, however, a touch at Paddock Hill left Wakefield out of the second round, just a few seconds after he had begun.

A little further down the road Carl Breeze (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) shifted from P4 on the grid, up to second place, with Tom Ingram following closely behind, just ahead of the two Century Motorsport G55’s of Fergus Walkinshaw and Hunter Abbott. Meanwhile, Andrew Richardson (Richardson Racing) had been busy picking off the G55’s ahead of him to move from a starting slot of P8 to third place, before contact with Ingram led the pair to end up in the tyre wall and a safety car to be deployed.

On the restart, there was plenty more jostling for position as Walkinshaw, Colin White (CWS) and Jamie Orton (Fauldsport) all fought for a spot on the podium. Mid-battle, Abbott was so busy trying to find a route around Walkinshaw that he ultimately gave his place away to Orton, leaving him to settle for fourth place

The third and final race of the day saw the top four from race two reversed on the grid putting Jamie Orton on pole, with his earlier rival Fergus Walkinshaw lining up beside him, with Colin White and Tom Sharp occupying the third and fourth grid slots directly behind

The race got underway with another strong start Tom Sharp, however, another safety car deployment on lap two delayed his progress as a big shunt between White, Reece Somerfield (Privateer)and Walkinshaw ended with the two latter cars being sprawled beside pit lane as debris littered the track.

Racing recommenced on lap eight and Sharp instantly pulled out another impressive lead, whilst Richardson clawed his way through the pack from a starting position of P15 up into fourth place by lap 9, with Wakefield hot on his tails having moved from a starting slot of 17thup into 8th.

A five second time penalty and further drive through penalty on lap 17 didn’t seem to hamper the progress of Wakefield, who was showing fine form whilst the JHR team mates of Ingram and Hoggarth were busy making their way though the G50’s before becoming embroiled in an inter-team battle on lap 26 as the pair fought over 5thand 6thplace.

Ultimately it was Ingram’s over-zealousness which cost him the position – and more – as he lost the back end on the final corner, forcing Josh Wakefield to take avoiding action which saw his race end in a tyre wall for the second time that day, whilst Ingram brought his G55 home in 10thplace.