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August 2007
Disappointing Silverstone for Wrathall
2007 Havoline Ginetta Championship Round 6 - Thruxton Circuit
A new circuit to Frank presented a challenge in his rookie year driving the Will Hoy Scholarship/Dynojet UK backed formula Ginetta car.
The sun drenched circuit provided the venue as he rose to the test with two top 5 places, in arguably the most exciting races of the day. The close racing of top drivers saw places exchanged on every lap for the full race distance.
After qualifying, Frank gained a 6th place start for race one, and 4th place start for race two. An additional race was added to the programme to replace the cancelled race at Oulton Park earlier in the season. Frank qualified 10th on the grid for this race.
In race one Frank made a good start leaping from 6th to 4th, but an unfortunate incident at Goodwood culminated in an excursion off the track at 100mph, and although Frank got in a position to rejoin the race, a dislodged clutch cable meant a very disappointing non finish.
A blistering start to race two saw Frank move upto 2nd place, but he got caught up in an incident at the chicane where he dropped down the order, but came through with good race craft to finish 5th.
From the 10th place start of the third race, Frank was aggressive and moved upto 5th with the leaders someway ahead. He set a string of fast laps to reel in the leaders by 4 seconds and take the lead of the race. There was a hectic pace between the leaders but a loss of grip on the last 3 laps saw Frank finish in a very creditable 5th place.
Frank commented; 'I had two fantastic races this weekend, and I really felt comfortable running at the front. We worked really hard on the car this weekend, and I am pleased to repay the team a brace of good results'.
Frank Wrathall Snr commented: 'Another encouraging weekend. Frank has shown us he can run at the front and is getting stronger race by race. Hopefully, after competing in his last kart race next weekend, he won't suffer from swapping between the two disciplines. We have learnt a lot about the car this weekend, albeit we made a wrong decision for the third race on Sunday resulting in lack of pace in the closing laps. I would like to thank Peter and Alan from Ginetta for their support, following another gearbox problem on Friday.
Next round: Croft 8th/9th September
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Dynojet UK
Lower House Barn
Strickens Lane
Barnacre
Preston
Lancashire
PR3 1QJ.
Tel: 01995 600500
Fax: 01995 604724
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