SV Racing’s David Pittard boosted his title charge with maximum points score in an immaculate and dominant display at Silverstone, after translating pole position into race wins in Rounds 23 and 24 of the 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup (28 September).
Qualifying was a closely-fought, nail-biting affair and Pittard was visibly ecstatic about seeing off the competition and bagging pole position for Rounds 23 and 24 of the 2014 GT4 Supercup.
The amiable and enthusiastic KX Akademy racer carried that elation and confidence into the first race on a crisp autumnal Sunday morning to take a lights-to-flag victory.
It was a fairly even start from the front row of the grid and Pittard led the bumper 18-car field through Copse corner, as front row starter Jamie Orton was swallowed up by the chasing pack and demoted from second to sixth.
Andrew Watson picked up the baton as Pittard’s chief challenger as the Safety Car was deployed, but the race leader controlled the restart well and made good his escape while Watson, Carl Breeze, Charlie Robertson and Tom Oliphant kept each other preoccupied in a tight scrap for second.
The top two exchanged fastest laps and the gap between first and second remained relatively stable during the first half of the race, but Pittard soon stamped his authority by recording the fastest lap of the race – a 58.745s – and had everything in control out front, driving immaculately and stretching his advantage out to as much as 2.6 seconds.
Pittard – backed by Saxon Gate Motorist Centre – gladly took up pole position in Round 24 and this time had to forcefully shut the door on Watson to maintain the lead on the opening lap, leaving the rest to scramble for position in his wake.
The Hertfordshire-based driver leant on his car and Michelin tyres during the initial laps, but had his advantage negated when the Safety Car was deployed with Tom Howard’s car coming to rest in a dangerous position in the Copse gravel.
However, Pittard timed his restart to perfection and had a larger lead than prior to the Safety Car, which the BRDC Rising Star maintained to the chequered flag to take his fifth win of the season and maximum points for pole position, two fastest laps and a brace of race wins away from ‘The Home of British Motor Racing’.
“I’m absolutely over the moon and it’s fantastic to put on this performance and reward SV Racing, the KX Akademy and our sponsors for their support with so many backers here at Silverstone,” said Pittard. “I was given such a mega setup and just had to drive the car and make sure I did the best I could for everybody involved, although neither race was comfortable, as I was constantly trying to gap Andrew (Watson).
“It was just a case of not giving any quarter, hitting my braking and acceleration points, preserving the tyres as much as I could and bringing it home. I’m always fully focused in the car and I needed to put together inch-perfect laps each and every time. It’s such a relief and I couldn’t have asked for anything more than a maximum score. As a result, my championship position is much stronger; we’ve been looking at third, but the gap to second has come down considerably this weekend and nothing is over until the final race.”
Josh Cook had his first taste of a front-engined, rear-wheel-driven Ginetta G55 had a highly positive debut, maintaining tenth position off the start in Round 23 before progressing to eighth at the expense of Will Burns and Luke Davenport.
The Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup title challenger had a troubled start to his Silverstone weekend before putting in a strong showing in Saturday’s qualifying session to break into the top ten positions, and comfortably circulated in eighth place for the most part.
Unable to make an impression on Carl Boardley for seventh, Cook was under no pressure from behind and, despite being handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, there was no change in the finishing order.
It was a similar story in race two. KX Akademy’s Cook kept his nose clean after a relatively sluggish start to remain on the outskirts of the top ten. But he was no shrinking violet, getting stuck in and battling with many of the GT4 Supercup’s most established runners.
Briefly losing position to Burns, he immediately retaliated with a surefooted lunge back up the inside into the long right-hander at Luffield and quickly dispatched Davenport for eighth, before receiving one final promotion to conclude a learning weekend in seventh.
“I’d love to be going into the race weekend knowing what I know now, because limited testing on Friday meant qualifying and the races were treated as extended test sessions and I truly believe I’d be in contention for a top six grid position,” said Cook. “It’s great for SV Racing and the KX Akademy that David (Pittard) achieved two wins and the team did a great job setting up both cars.
“Today my priority was to put in some quick lap times and be consistent, and I managed to get to within two and a half tenths of David. I had to be cautious in race one and settle back in to the car, and contact away from the start of race two skewed my steering slightly, making it tricky through the faster stuff. My start was poor and I had to make up places, but I got stuck in and I worked my way up to seventh. It has been a big learning process and I’m pleased to be closer to the frontrunners in terms of times; it has been a good weekend overall.”
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