Fin Green enjoyed a memorable return to Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup action at Thruxton this past weekend (17/18 August) as he scored his first podium finish of the season. Having made a one-off debut in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Snetterton earlier this month, the 16-year-old kicked off the second half of his GT4 SuperCup campaign with a triple-header around the fastest circuit in the UK. Getting to grips with his Total Control Racing machine in contrasting conditions around the infamous 2.35-mile layout during Friday’s two practice sessions, Green entered qualifying on Saturday optimistic of securing a lofty starting spot on the grid. Setting a best time of 1:16.379, the GDS International-backed teenager had topped the leaderboard early on in the session but ultimately dropped to sixth as qualifying progressed. Lining up on the third row of the grid for the opening encounter, Green found himself in the thick of the action as he became embroiled in a multi-car scrap for fourth place. Try as he might to make progress, the former Ginetta Junior race-winner couldn’t find a way past his rivals and held station to finish sixth. Green’s crowning moment came in the second race of the weekend as he powered his way to a career-first podium in the series, finishing third. Once again starting sixth, Green had to fight back in the early stages before then showcasing his overtaking prowess. Making his way up the order, Green soon slotted into fourth place and began to hunt down third place driver Reece Somerfield. Hounding the back of Somerfield as the pair streamed through Allard, Green made his move with a daring overtake at the Complex. - which was greeted to raptures of applause from the bumper crowd in attendance. Driving around the outside of Somerfield at Campbell Corner, Green completed the move at Cobb and was greeted to raptures of applause from the bumper crowd in attendance. He went on to pull away and cross the line in third place. After the high of standing on the podium in race two, the Bristol driver’s weekend unfortunately came to an early end as he was forced to retire from the third and final encounter in the early stages due to a mechanical issue. Leaving Thruxton, the Meet the Boss, Opal, Sativa, Braxi and Sapphire Cars supported racer sits eighth in the overall Drivers’ Championship standings whilst Total Control Racing are fifth in the Teams’ Championship. Fin Green: "It has been a great weekend and one that has been long overdue. We’ve had the pace all weekend so to finally come away with a podium feels really good - credit has to go to the whole TCR team because they worked their socks off. “We’ve been improving all the time and we had great pace in race two. Once I had Reece (Somerfield) in my sights I was never going to give up on getting third. I’m really happy with the move I pulled at the Complex too - it was hard-fought. “Race three was a shame because I think we would have had the pace to be up towards the podium positions again. To come away with a first podium means a lot though and is a real confidence boost moving forward.” The 2019 Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 Supercup will continue north of the border in little under four weeks’ time at Knockhill in Scotland on September 14/15.
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.