Blake Angliss took his championship fight down to the final race of the season and ended up missing out on title success by just three points after a nail-biting conclusion to the Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Brands Hatch (08/09 October).
Having sat 60 points adrift heading into the penultimate meeting of the season, Angliss carried the momentum from his triple win at Silverstone two weeks’ prior and added three more podium finishes to his tally with a brilliant performance across the finale weekend in Kent.
The Coventry based racer kicked off the meeting on the right foot as he set the pace in the G55 Pro class during free practice on Friday. He went on to superbly replicate that pace in qualifying the next morning in his Century Motorsport prepared Ginetta G55 GT4.
Angliss excelled in tricky damp conditions to secure the class pole position, his fourth from seven sessions this year, by almost a second to his nearest rival. On top of that, he finished in a brilliant fourth overall on the timesheets, the best qualifying result of any G55 driver across the season.
A faultless performance in the opening race saw Angliss lead from start-to-finish to record his eighth victory of the season, posting the fastest lap of the race as well to score maximum points and crucially cut his deficit in half heading into the final two races.
Another great drive in race two saw Angliss lead for the majority of the contest, soaking up a lot of pressure from James Taylor behind. A win looked on the cards before a bold last lap move from his adversary left him settling for second at the chequered flag.
Angliss therefore headed into the final encounter on Sunday needing to finish two places ahead of his rival Luke Reade to win the title. Unfortunately, his chances of making a necessary move on pole-sitter Taylor were reduced by a shortened race distance after a red flag stoppage.
He settled into second at the restart and was lining up a move on Taylor when the safety car came out. In the end, the race would come down to a one-lap shootout to the chequered flag and despite his best efforts to find an opportunity to pass Taylor, he had to settle for second at the finish.
Angliss, who races with the support of Rosland Capital, Transend, Haigh Group, Splodge Hygiene, Lifeline, Empire RV, Icom and Townsends Vehicle Hire and Sales, ends only his second full season of car racing with eight class wins, 17 podium finishes, four pole positions and eight fastest laps.
Blake Angliss: ’“I’m feeling mixed emotions at the moment. I’m absolutely gutted to have missed out on the title by just three points, having pushed so hard all season, however I have immense pride in what we’ve achieved this year.
“Century Motorsport did a fantastic job to give me a car that could win at every circuit and I went out there and gave everything I had in each race. There’s been moments that have gone against us this year, but ultimately there’s been many more highs to celebrate than lows.
“To close the gap from 60 points before Silverstone to just three is great. I really hit my stride in these last two events and when the pressure was on, I drove better than ever. I really feel that I’ve made big steps forward as a driver this year.
“I’ve proven that I can go out there and challenge for a title, and I’ve improved in every aspect of my driving and preparation. There’s much more to come though, so I’ll get over this disappointment quickly and look ahead to next year.”
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.