Three SuperCup Winners In As Many Races At Donington

Ginetta GT4 Supercup
Donington Park
April 29, 2018

2018 Season

The calendar, dates and everything you need to know about the new season

Championship

Harry King shared the Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup spoils at Donington by taking a victory in just his second Ginetta G55 Supercup round.

In qualifying, King continued to impress on his graduation to GT4 machinery. He took pole position with a 1:19.197s lap, almost half a second quicker than his fellow G40 graduate (albeit from the Ginetta GT5 Challenge) Angus Fender, who finished the session in second.

Charlie Ladell, Carl Boardley and Adam Shepherd rounded out the top five in the Pro class.

As the first race of the weekend got underway, disaster for King at Redgate sent him out wide, into the gravel and down to very last place. This meant that after one lap, Ladell led from Boardley, Fender, Roche and Somerfield. It had been a fantastic opening lap for Somerfield, who started at the very back of the Pro field and picked up six places after a spin in qualifying left him without a lap time.

Adam Shepherd continued to find his GT4-feet. Although he lost two places at the start, he clawed them back after running around the outside of Constable at Redgate on lap four, before picking off Somerfield at the same corner one lap later.

King meanwhile enjoyed a strong recovery drive. He was up into seventh position by lap seven; setting the fastest lap of the race along the way. He managed to recover to sixth overall by the time the action drew to a close.

For race two, it was Boardley and Ladell on the front row with Fender and Roche on row two. A perfect start for Boardley saw him sweep into the lead as they headed into Redgate for the first time. The move meant Ladell was left to defend from the attacking Roche and King.

Three laps in Shepherd and Shield were making progress as they passed Fender for fifth and sixth respectively whilst up front, Roche found a way around Ladell and started to hunt down Boardley, taking three tenths out of his lead on lap eight.

The safety car was scrambled on lap 12 after an off for a stranded Fender – who narrowly avoided Constable in the process – meaning there was a three-lap dash to the flag. On the run down to Redgate for the final time, Roche lined up a move on Boardley and swept into the lead where he remained to the flag. Boardley and Ladell joined him on the podium.

Race three was the reverse grid, with Shield and Shepherd on the front row. King - in third - got the best start and drove straight through the middle of the pair to take the lead into Redgate. He held the position – untroubled - right to the flag and took victory by over six seconds; the biggest winning margin since September 2016.

Ladell made his way up to second by the end of the opening lap as Shield, Shepherd and Boardley fought over third. Their fighting allowed Ladell to build a small gap to those behind, giving him breathing space on the run to the flag.  

Behind, there was a train of cars following Constable in sixth as Roche, Fender, Gordon-Colebrook, Minshaw, White and Khera all jostled for position. By lap five, Boardley passed Shield (following some great defending from the series newcomer) to take fourth. Try as he might for the remainder of the session, he couldn’t make any further progress as Shepherd held firm to take third overall and his maiden SuperCup podium.

As the drivers leave Derbyshire, it’s Ladell who leads the championship, with Boardley and King in second and third. Minshaw still leads the Am class, from Crees and White.

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