A couple of wins in Norfolk confirmed Dawson (Assetto Motorsport) as the overall vice-champion behind Tom Golding, who missed the final weekend, while a pair of class victories ensured Lee (SVG Motorsport) provisionally secured his maiden Ginetta title.
Dawson scored the opening pole position of the 2020 season back at Oulton Park at the start of August and he ended the campaign with the same result. A dominant display saw him finish two seconds quicker than closest challenger Hizzey (SVG Motorsport).
The pole-sitter converted his advantage into a dominant lights-to-flag victory in race one, finishing seven seconds clear. Behind there was a close battle for second between Assetto Motorsport team-mates Mark Sansom and Barry Ward, with both drivers passing Hizzey in the early stages.
Their duel went into the closing stages and after trading places, Sansom came through for second. Both drivers recorded their first podiums in the series, whilst also completing a historic one-two-three finish for Assetto Motorsport; the first team to achieve that feat in the G40 Cup.
Hizzey ran a clear fourth throughout ahead of Raceway Motorsport duo Ignazio Zanon and Paulo Scripo. Gary Wager (SF Racing) picked up a dominant first Chairmans Cup win of the campaign ahead of Lee and Shawn Fleming (SF Racing) and Neil Wallace (SVG Motorsport).
Sunday’s opening race took place in tricky wet conditions and a slow launch off the line saw pole-sitter Dawson drop to third initially. White slid wide at the first corner though, before a moment for Sansom later in the lap meant Dawson was back in-front by the end of the first tour.
There was no beating Dawson from there as he pulled away to a seven second success. Behind, with confidence high after taking a podium in his first race in the series, Ward was on a mission to try and dethrone Sansom for second position.
A brilliant move around the outside round Brundle corner got him the position, but a couple of corners late an unfortunate spin lost him ground. Sansom regained second, but now it was Hizzey pressuring him and he got through on the final lap.
Sansom completed the podium ahead of Ward, with Zanon and Scripo once again rounding out the top six ahead of Chris White. Wager led the Chairmans Cup in the early stages, but Lee slipped past on lap five to provisionally secure the class title with his first win of the campaign.
In the driest conditions of the weekend, a fantastic start for Hizzey saw him storm to the front around the outside at the first corner. Leading for the first time this season, the teenage talent had Dawson hot on his heels all race but held him off for a first win in senior race competition.
Second for Dawson completed his podium hat-trick for the weekend, making it 12 for the season. Slow starts for Sansom and Ward dropped them back, but the latter fought through for a second podium of his debut weekend ahead of Sansom and Zanon.
White came back from first lap drama to recover to sixth ahead of Scripo. In the Chairmans Cup, Lee ended his title campaign in style with a lights-to-flag class win. Wager and Fleming made it a treble double podium of the weekend for SF Racing ahead of Wallace.
Mark Lee – Provisional 2020 Chairmans Cup Champion: “It’s been a really good season, and luckily I’ve been consistent throughout. That meant this weekend I could focus on keeping it on the island and not making mistakes. I had some good battles this season, have really enjoyed it and it’s great to end with a couple of race wins as well.”
Full results for the weekend can be viewed here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BF3GT/2020/204005gg4.pdf
