GC: Series Brands Hatch summary

Huyton takes Brands Hatch double in the Ginetta Challenge

Sean Huyton took two impressive victories at Brands Hatch in the Ginetta Challenge on Saturday as the Ormskirk driver boosted his 2010 win tally to three victories.

Race One

George Murrells (Optimum Motorsport) started the first race from pole position having qualified over a second quicker than Sean Huyton (Academy Motorsport) with Stuart Pearson and Andy Richardson on row two.

Huyton made the best start to lead the pack on the opening lap of the 20-minute race with Murrells slotting into second place ahead of Ginetta returnee David Mayes (Reflex Racing) up from fifth on the grid. Behind the former Caterham champion came Stuart Pearson, Andy Richardson and Mark Wania (Academy Motorsport) but Murrells edged away from Mayes and challenged for the lead at Surtees on lap two. He was repelled by Huyton but the championship leader made another bid at Hawthorns but Huyton again stood his ground and held the lead and Murrells' next effort at Sheene Curve failed to pay off as well.

Murrells made a fast run out of Clark Curve and challenged on the outside as the cars ran up to Paddock Hill Bend but he ran out of road and slithered off into the gravel trap but thankfully had enough momentum to rejoin the race, albeit down in 11th place. That gave Huyton a welcome lead but Mayes set off in pursuit of him and was reducing the gap until David went off at Paddock and became stuck in the gravel.

That allowed Richardson up to second but he had Stuart Pearson for company and as the pair squabbled over second place they delayed themselves and allowed Murrells to nip by into third place. On the run out of Clark Curve on the final lap, Murrells leveled with Richardson but couldn't quite sneak ahead, Richardson bagging the place by just 0.162sec with Pearson fourth. Mark Wania and Matt Flowers rounded out the top six, although Murrells had the consolation -- and point -- for fastest lap.

"I knew I had to make a move early on," said George, "because I could see the others closing but I locked up and went off. Then on the last lap I missed third gear and that meant I couldn't challenge Andy."

Race Two

Murrells started race two from pole position with the same top six in order as on the race one grid. Huyton made a better start and led to Paddock but Andy Richardson pulled a tremendous move to go around the outside of Pearson and Murrells to snatch second place. Murrells ran third ahead of Pearson with Wania heading Paul Morgan with Mayes down in 10th after losing ground on the opening lap.

By the end of lap two, Huyton led by over two seconds as Richardson and Murrells fought over second place with Stuart Pearson on their tail. Murrells too second at Paddock starting lap four with Pearson nipping past Richardson as well, only for the Grantham-based racer to retake the place heading into Graham Hill Bend.

Murrells could do little to stop Huyton taking an easy win, the gap at flagfall being over three seconds, while Richardson rounded out the top three ahead of Pearson and Wania. Mayes took sixth despite having had a yo-yo race in which he was up and down the order as he had a couple of time-losing moments which cost him a decent run at the leaders.

Murrells heads the championship by 28 points heading to the final two races at Donington Park on October 16/17.

-source: ginettacars.com