Nick White and Ravi Ramyead picked up a win apiece across the second round of the 2023 Ginetta GT Academy at Silverstone (06/07 May).
Tricky wet conditions greeted the field for qualifying first thing on Saturday morning, with White (Raceway Motorsport) lapping the long 3.6-mile Silverstone Grand Prix circuit the quickest to top GT Academy qualifying for the first time by over three tenths of a second.
Mackenzie Walker (Assetto Racing) started his weekend strongly. He had the second quickest time ahead of the fastest rookie class entrant, Richard Just. Oulton Park pole-sitter Ravi Ramyead (Century Motorsport) was fourth ahead of rookie Matt Shaw.
A chaotic start to the opening race saw a fast-starting Ed Acres (Century Motorsport) and Just make contact on the opening lap that led to retirement for the latter, before Walker span out of second place at Vale. Therefore it was Ramyead who ended the lap second and on the tail of White.
Ramyead worked his way into the lead at Vale on lap two, however two laps later he span at the same corner to lose the advantage. From there, White had a comfortable run to the chequered flag and a three second victory as Ramyead recovered to second.
The early issue for Just opened the door for Shaw to secure the rookie victory in third overall. Behind him there was action aplenty through the race, culminating in synchronised spins for Thomas Shelley, Jon Kearney and Marc Elman on the penultimate lap at the tricky Vale corner.
Acres benefitted most to secure a GTA class podium in fourth overall after his rollercoaster start to the race, with Walker completing his recovery drive through the field in fifth. Kearney, Shelley and Elman went on to complete the top eight.
Amy Tomlinson finished second in the rookie class ahead of first-time podium finisher Charlotte Lowe, those two completing the top ten overall ahead of championship newcomer Paul Livesey, Emma Tomlinson and Phil McGarty. Harry Cooke and his father Ben Cooke, both series debutants, were next up ahead of Lucy Tomlinson.
Race two capped off the weekend’s action on Sunday evening. The decisive moment of the race came at the start, as Ramyead jumped pole-sitter White and went on to lead every lap from there, maintaining a gap of over a second throughout as he took his third win of the season so far.
As White finished a comfortable second, Kearney ran third over the first half of the race before Walker got ahead to secure a long-overdue first podium finish of the campaign. Kearney was fourth on the road, however a five second track limits penalty dropped him behind Shelley.
Acres completed the top six ahead of Shaw, who took a dominant rookie class victory with a 24 second winning margin over Just. Livesey signed off his debut weekend in ninth overall ahead of the final rookie podium finisher Amy Tomlinson, McGarty, Emma Tomlinson and Harry Cooke.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/231805
All three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
Next up for the Ginetta GT Academy is a visit to Donington Park later this month (27/28 May). Races will be on the full Grand Prix layout.
