Both title battles went down to a nail-biting final race of the year. King (Elite Motorsport) edged out Will Burns (Rob Boston Racing) to secure the overall crown, while Heathcote (Century Motorsport) beat Colin White (CWS Motorsport) to the Am class honours.
It marked a maiden career championship success for King and Elite’s first in the GT4 SuperCup. Heathcote meanwhile emerged victorious in his first ever season of car-racing, while Century made it back-to-back Am titles having also won with Michael Crees in 2018.
The weekend began with almost nothing splitting the Pro class title contenders in qualifying. There was just 0.050 seconds in it as Burns edged out King for his second pole position of the year. Simon Rudd (Rob Boston Racing) was third quickest ahead of Carlito Miracco (Privateer).
While Burns led the field through the opening two corners of race one, King stormed past at Graham Hill Bend and it was a wet weather masterclass from there by the Ginetta Junior graduate. Posting a fastest lap time nearly a second quicker than anyone else, he won by over 11 seconds.
Burns ran a comfortable second throughout to limit the points damage, while Miracco followed him home for a fifth podium of the campaign after fending off pressure from Tom Hibbert (Triple M Motorsport), who had headed into the meeting in title contention.
Reece Somerfield (Elite Motorsport) made early progress to fifth and stayed their throughout ahead of fellow Pro class contenders Rudd, debutant James Blake-Baldwin (AK Motorsport), Fin Green (Rob Boston Racing) and Team Hard duo Sam Randon and Kris Prosser.
In the Am’s, Heathcote had taken his third class pole position of the campaign in qualifying. As he maintained his lead in the early stages, a fast start from White saw him climb from sixth on the grid into second on the opening lap alone.
The two-time champion started chipping away at Heathcote’s gap at the front in the tricky wet conditions and on the last lap he made a move for the lead, however both drivers ended up in retirement in the gravel trap.
James Kell (Rob Boston Racing) was the beneficiary to take his second class win of the campaign, while Chris Ingram (HHC Motorsport) came through to second for his first podium since 2016. A maiden class top three went the way of Adam Lucas (Privateer) in his second outing of the year.
The first of two races on Sunday proved to be a case of déjà vu at the front of the field, with King in dominant form again. Successfully negotiating three safety car periods, he led from lights to flag for an 11th victory of the year – equalling the championship record for wins in a season.
Burns once again ran second throughout to keep himself in title contention heading into the final race of the year. A fast start from Hibbert got him up to third for a 13th podium result of the year, while Rudd picked up a couple of places through the race to finish fourth.
An impressive run from Blake-Baldwin got him a top five result in his second race in the series ahead of Green. Seventh overall went the way of the Am class victor Darron Lewis (Team Hard), who superbly stormed from the back of the grid to a third win of the campaign.
Behind Pro class contender Randon, the Am podium was completed by Kell and Carl Garnett (AK Motorsport), the latter taking a third podium finish in four races. Behind, it was another intriguing race between title contenders White and Heathcote.
A dramatic start saw White come to strife on the pit straight, leaving him dead last. The safety car periods helped him catch up though and he picked his way through the class order before passing Heathcote on the final lap to ensure he headed into race three as points leader.
The reverse grid for the final race placed Green and Blake-Baldwin on the front row of the grid, however issues for both drivers meant they couldn’t take the race start. That opened the door for Hibbert to storm into the lead off the line, which he held to the finish for win five of the year.
Hot on his heels were title contenders King and Burns, who headed into the race with 18 points between them. While Burns was able to pass his adversary on the final lap, a 16th podium finish of the year in third was enough for King to take the title.
Burns meanwhile ends as vice-champion for the second time in his GT4 SuperCup career, having also done so in 2016. His success over the season helped Rob Boston Racing to the Teams’ title, with the squad now having more race wins and podium finishes than any other team in series history.
In the Am battle meanwhile, White stormed through from third in class on the grid to take the early lead from Heathcote. A ten second time penalty for a false start would drop him down the timesheets though, before Heathcote passed him on track late on to win on the road.
That was an eighth victory of the campaign for the champion as he capped off a superb first GT4 SuperCup season. Just seven points separated the top two in the end as Ginetta stalwart White just missed out on a third Am class crown.
Outside of the tense title deciders, Rudd and Somerfield ended the final race of the season in the top five overall. Tom Emson (Elite Motorsport) was sixth of the Pro contenders meanwhile, his best result in his second meeting in the championship.
The Am top three was completed by Lewis and Kell, their 10th and 11th podiums of the season respectively. Jack Oliphant (Century Motorsport) took his best finish of the weekend in sixth, with team-mate Peter Bassill completing a hat-trick of top eight finishes for the meeting.
Harry King – 2019 Ginetta GT4 SuperCup ‘Pro’ Champion: “Two wins and a third place is a fantastic way to end the season and secure the championship in style. It’s been a great Ginetta rivalry through the year with Will [Burns] and I’ve enjoyed the battle.
“A massive thank you to Elite Motorsport. I started with them when I was fourteen years old in Ginetta Juniors and to progress up the ladder with them over the last four seasons and be crowned the GT4 SuperCup champion is an incredible feeling.”
Nathan Heathcote – 2019 Ginetta GT4 SuperCup ‘Am’ Champion: “It feels mega to be crowned champion. For it to come down to the final race of the season is a fitting end to a great fight through the season with Colin [White]. I’ve had to work hard to come out on top.
“To end my first year in circuit racing and first season in the GT4 SuperCup as champion is awesome. There’s been a fantastic atmosphere in the Ginetta paddock and I’ve really enjoyed racing in the series. It’s been a great year and a huge thank you to Century Motorsport.”
