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Simon Paice

Breakell Racing Enjoy Successful September With Podium Joy


Breakell Racing continued their fantastic 2023 season last month, securing silverware across the Ginetta GT Championship, British Endurance Championship and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB over an exciting and successful three weeks of racing.


The penultimate meeting of the Ginetta season saw the team’s regular trio of Ruben Hage, Carl Garnett and Karim Sekkat return to the British GT Championship support package for three races around the world-famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (09/10 September).


Following on from his special double victory in the previous outing at Cadwell Park, Hage excelled again in Kent. Kicking things off by topping the timesheets in qualifying for the fourth time this season, he was on course for second place in the opening race before a heart-breaking late retirement due to a gearbox failure outside of the driver and team’s control.


The young talent hit back in perfect fashion though, storming to the front of the field off the start line and leading every single lap en-route to a sixth win of the campaign. Battling for top spot once again in the final race, he came home in second place to move his podium tally for the season into double figures.


Garnett produced a couple of great drives across the weekend too, starting with a fourth-place result in the opener. After being hit off into the barriers in race two, a superlative drive in the closer saw him charge through from tenth on the grid to fourth, finishing less than two tenths of a second off the final podium place.


James Breakell - Team Principal:“Overall it’s been a typical Ginetta weekend full of highs and lows, but we’re incredibly proud of the performances all three drivers put in. Ruben was an absolute star, proving to be the fastest driver on the grid over the weekend and getting a couple more trophies for his collection.


“Carl’s drive in the final race was a joy to watch and the perfect way to sign off an impressive weekend for him. The whole team are ready to come back for the final weekend and end this season with some great results at Donington Park.”

The 2023 British Endurance Championship (BEC) season continued at Snetterton (16 September), with Tom Jackson and Ameerh Naran continuing their impressive campaign which saw them secure podium finishes during the Silverstone opener and the trip to Oulton Park. The talented duo once again showed encouraging pace from the off across pre-event testing in the Mercedes-AMG GT4, with Naran taking the experience gained and converting it into a strong third position on the grid in the competitive Class D and eighth overall. A sensational opening half an hour for Naran saw him overtake two cars to move up to second in class, before keeping the team firmly in podium contention through to the driver change pitstop as he concluded another impressive stint in his debut campaign. Reigning BEC champion Jackson took control and settled into third in class with consistently fast lap times. Keeping out of trouble as others had issues, he pushed on to the chequered flag and secured the team both their third podium of the season and their best overall race result of fourth. James Breakell - Team Principal: “We’ve been showing consistent progress over the British Endurance Championship season so far in the Mercedes and without a doubt this was our strongest and most rounded impressive performance of the campaign to date. “Ameerh is taking big steps forward each weekend and showed great pace throughout testing, qualifying and the race, while Tom once again showed his class to bring the car home for the podium. We have one round to go now and we’re determined to end on a high.”

The Lancashire-based team’s recent spell of racing came to its conclusion at Silverstone (23/24 September) with the latest Porsche Sprint Challenge GB triple-header, as the series once again supported the British Touring Car Championship.


Having scored a maiden pair of Am class podium finishes at Croft back in July, Reece Somerfield was determined to score more silverware around the short, fast National circuit. The former Ginetta racer kicked off the weekend strongly, qualifying fifth in class.


That put him right in the mix for the top three and he produced a stunning start to the opening race, moving up to third within the opening couple of laps. He went on to impressively hold the position through to the chequered flag for a richly-deserved third podium of the campaign.


Somerfield was in contention for more trophies during Sunday’s two races. After running fourth for a long spell of race two, he made a brilliant start in the finale to move up from sixth to third on the first lap – however an unfortunate puncture late on would cost him another podium result.


James Breakell - Team Principal:“Reece is doing a fantastic job in the Cayman and was on top form this weekend. In every single race he was battling for a podium finish and he’s unlucky to only come away with one trophy. We’re hugely impressed with how he’s driving and we’re gunning for more silverware on the final weekend at Brands Hatch.”


Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography, Robert Borowik Media and Porsche GB.

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