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15th June 2009
Top spot for Wrathall at rain hit Croft
Hot off the heels of the Oulton Park round, the G50 Championship headed to the North Yorkshire circuit of Croft. When this weekend's action comes to a close there will be a seven week break and all the drivers want to leave on a high.
QUALIFYING
Saturday morning qualifying was held in dry, sunny conditions. The Dynojet car suffered from lack of rear end grip. Although the session was only a 20 minute window, Frank pitted to make adjustments, loosing some valuable track time. However, he still had enough pace to put the car on grid three for the first race of the weekend.
Frank: 'It was a really difficult qualifying session. It still good that we were only a couple of tenths off pole. Unfortunately I only managed to get one good lap, however, it was enough to put the Dynojet car on grid three for race one.'
RACE 1
Frank held his grid three position for the start of race one, as all the cars safely negotiated Clervaux. Persistent set up problems were the order of the day. Undeterred and using his driving skills Frank kept the Dynojet car in a safe third place ahead of Mussi, but unable to mount a challenge on Nathan Freke and Carl Breeze.
Frank: "This was a very frustrating race, I was with the two leaders; Freke and Breeze at the start, but lacked a couple of tenths on their pace. I tried pushing, but lack of grip, unsettled the Dynojet car, so I was happy to take third place, and another podium, which is a good result.'
RACE 2
Frank maintained his 5th position grid start. The whole field struggled with grip, but Frank made a calculated move on Mussi into Tower Bend and upto 4th slot. The top five were covered by a little over two seconds as the race shaped up to be one of the closest G50 Cup encounters of the year. Lap seven saw Breeze sidelined out of the race after clipping a tyre stack at the Jim Clark Esses. Frank inherited 3rd slot, and then set about an assault on Christian Dick at Sunny's winning the inside line. He went on to bring the Dynojet car second over the finishing line.
Frank: 'It was difficult starting from fifth on grid. Even tough I made a good start, I could only manage to maintain my position. Due to the nature of the circuit with 'stop/start' corners creating an accordion effect, overtaking is very difficult in the G50's. The Team had worked very hard to improve the settings, which allowed me to finish second on the podium. With these improvements, I should be able to push again for the third race".
RACE 3
Heavy and continued rainfall made conditions very tricky for the Ginetta drivers. The start was held under safety car conditions, but the race got underway at full racing speed on lap three with Frank starting fourth. By the time the cars had rounded the first corner, Frank had made a move on Christian Dick into 3rd. He then produced a fantastic move to pass Mussi at Barcroft for second place and he then set about pressuring Freke for the lead. A small mistake by Freke at Sunny's aloud Frank to make the inside move and come out on top. Once ahead of the pack, Frank put together a brace of fastest laps to pull a gap over Freke, and take his second victory of the season.
Frank: "That one couldn't have gone any better, you just rely on the car set-up and feel in those conditions but the Team gave me such a good car. I could see Nathan catching again towards the end but I did enough to hold on. I'm really happy. I would like to thank my Team and everyone who came to support me this weekend, and I am pleased to repay them with a win"
Championship Table
1st |
Carl Breeze |
403 |
2nd |
Frank Wrathall |
351 |
3rd |
Nathan Freke |
336 |
TELEVISION COVERAGE REMINDER
TV4 live Sunday afternoon's 11.30am - 6.00pm
ITV4 at channel 28 on Freeview, channel 117 via cable and through the Sky Digital platform at channel 120
In addition, ITV will extend the duration of it's highlights programmes by 50 per cent from 60 to 90 minutes - whilst also increasing the number of repeats.
These will be broadcast as follows:
ITV1 on the following Monday evening
ITV4 on the following Tuesday afternoon.
Men & Motors on the following Friday evening
ITV4 on the following Saturday afternoon
Men & Motors on the following Wednesday evening (ten days after the race event)
Next Round: Snetterton 1st/2nd August
--ends--
Dynojet UK
Lower House Barn
Strickens Lane
Barnacre
Preston
Lancashire
PR3 1QJ.
Tel: 01995 600500
Fax: 01995 604724
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