Blake Angliss twice saw contact from rivals deprive him of strong race results during the final rounds of his maiden Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup campaign at Brands Hatch this past weekend (23/24 October).
A frustrating serving of bad luck on the finale weekend summed up a season in which the Coventry based racer regularly saw promising pace behind the wheel of his Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 cruelly go unrewarded.
Angliss was making his second visit of the season to Brands Hatch for the final rounds, albeit with a new layout to master as they tackled the full Grand Prix circuit. After teething problems in the opening free practice session, he enjoyed a productive run in the second outing on Friday.
The Rosland Capital backed driver built on that experience and made a huge stride forward in qualifying on Saturday morning, improving his lap time by over a second to secure tenth on the grid for the first of three races across the weekend.
Knowing overtaking would be difficult around the high-speed bends on the Grand Prix circuit to the nature of the Ginetta’s, the 18 year old was unsurprised to find making progress tough going in the opening encounter as he remained tenth throughout.
Staying out of trouble during a chaotic opening lap to race two, he emerged in seventh place and battling for the top six before a rival shoved him off circuit at Sheene corner.The resulting trip through the gravel trap led to a trip to the pitlane and an enforced retirement.
Starting at the back therefore for race three in his Transend UK, Haigh Group, Splodge Hygiene, Lifeline and Icom backed machine, Angliss moved onto the edge of the top ten before a hit to the rear from another car spun him round and left him to recover to 14th at the finish.
Blake Angliss: “If ever one weekend summed up a season, this was it unfortunately. We just haven’t had luck go our way through the year and this was another weekend where if we had a clear run at it, I’m confident we could have been up battling for the top six or better.
“The early issues in free practice put us on the back foot, but we turned a corner in qualifying and I was confident heading into the races. I knew progress would be tough around this circuit, but sadly I didn’t get a proper chance to try with contact in a couple of them.
“All in all, it’s generally been a good season though in terms of my development as a driver. It’s been a steep learning curve and there’s been highs and lows along the way, but I've come out of it as a better driver and ready to tackle whatever challenge 2022 throws at us.
"Thank you to all of my sponsors for their crucial support, and to the team at Century Motorsport for all their help and support this season."
Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.