Breakell Racing have enjoyed a fantastic fortnight of racing with a hat-trick of race victories in the Ginetta GT Championship at Cadwell Park and then their maiden podium finishes in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB at Croft.
The trip to Cadwell Park was one to remember as Ruben Hage and Karim Sekkat tasted the Ginetta winners champagne with class successes last weekend (22/23 July), before former Ginetta racer Reece Somerfield notched a breakthrough pair of class Porsche podiums this past weekend (29/30 July).
The narrow and undulating Cadwell Park presented a new test for the team’s drivers as Ginetta raced at the Lincolnshire venue for the first time in over a decade, with heavy rainfall and greasy track conditions only increasing the challenge across the weekend.
Hage got off to a fantastic start on Saturday as he topped the timesheets in qualifying, before converting pole position into a dominant lights-to-flag win by almost nine seconds in race one. He was set to double his tally in race two, leading away from pole until a mid-race red flag stoppage.
A downpour of rain before action resumed led to some wheelspin off the line and ultimately a second-place finish. He hit back perfectly in race three though, pulling off the overtaking move of the weekend around the outside of championship leader Luke Reade to secure his fifth win of the season.
After a solid performance across Saturday, Sekkat kicked up a gear the next day to enjoy his strongest performances since stepping up to the GT5 Pro class. Keeping out of trouble as others made contact in race one, he emerged with a brilliant first win of the season, before a sensational defensive drive netted him second in race three.
Carl Garnett meanwhile matched his best qualifying result of the season so far with third position. From there, he impressively challenged for the podium in two of the three races and was unlucky to miss out on silverware, securing a pair of fourth place finishes to maintain his challenge for a top three championship finish.
James Breakell - Team Principal:“The narrow, twisty nature of the Cadwell Park circuit combined with the inclement weather made it a difficult weekend for our drivers, so I’m incredibly proud to have seen the way they rose to the challenge and produced some fantastic results.
“Ruben starred when the weather was at its worst, his pace was phenomenal and he pulled out two fantastic wins. Likewise Karim, he’s shown tremendous progress over the season so far and the first win is a great reward for all his efforts.
“Carl did a great job as well and deserved to have picked up a trophy too. We’ve got two rounds of the Ginetta season to go and I’m looking forward to seeing all three of our drivers out there challenging for more wins and podiums.”
One week on from their Cadwell Park success, Breakell Racing were back in Porsche Sprint Challenge GB action at Croft in North Yorkshire as the championship made its long-awaited return to the track following a 10 week break since the last rounds at Snetterton. Somerfield was re-classified as an Am driver ahead of the meeting, meaning he could combine his continued learning process with the Cayman with an opportunity to challenge for class silverware – something he did in style during the visit to North Yorkshire. Making good progress through free practice on Friday, the two-time Ginetta GT4 SuperCup race-winner qualified fourth in class on Saturday. Latching on to the tail of third place in the early stages of race one, he pulled off a move at mid-distance to briefly take the position. While he slipped back to fourth on the road, he kept tabs with the driver ahead to the chequered flag and then benefitted from a time penalty for them to net a deserved maiden podium finish. He backed that up with another great drive in race two, grabbing third position late on to double his trophy haul. Somerfield was on course to make it a podium hat-trick in the final race of the weekend, superbly working his way up to second in class and seventh overall at one stage. Unfortunately he got caught up in an incident at the final hairpin though, with the damage sustained forcing him into retirement. James Breakell - Team Principal: “What a fantastic performance from Reece this weekend. The move to the Am class has given him the chance to have a close, fair fight for podiums with drivers at a similar pace level, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands to get himself a couple of trophies. “He’s coming on leaps and bounds with the car and edging his way into the overall top ten as well, so there’s so many positives to take away from this weekend and into the upcoming rounds.”
Breakell Racing’s busy 2023 season continues with an exciting double-header over the weekend of 26/27 August. The Porsche Sprint Challenge GB is in action again at Donington Park, while the team will race its fully-restored Morgan-Nissan LMP2 for the first time in the Masters Endurance Legends at the Silverstone Festival.
Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography and Porsche GB.