United Autosports has won the 2014 Michelin Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Teams’ title on its debut after Carl Breeze and Luke Davenport combined to post five top-10 placings in the final two races at Brands Hatch. It marks the first team championship “crown” the Leeds-based team has ever won.
UA led the standings since round 11 of the 27-race series and ultimately won the Team’s division by 163-points. Breeze and Davenport finished third and sixth in the Driver’s category – former champion Carl unluckily slipping from second to third when he retired from the third and final race of the season.
Breeze and Davenport achieved 34 top-six finishes between them including an astonishing 16 podiums – six being on the very top step (Breeze, four and Davenport, two).
Qualifying on Saturday morning began on a wet track and where Breeze and Davenport posted one-two times early on in the session. A red flag with eight minutes remaining meant Carl and Luke dropped from third and 11th to fifth and 12th as the track continually dried.
Breeze made his customary lightning start in Saturday afternoon’s opening race on a drying track. He briefly snatched third before Druids but his car lost power and momentarily ground to a halt at Clearways dropping to the back of the field in 18th place – eight places behind Davenport – prior to a brief Safety Car period. Davenport, who ran as high as seventh, ultimately took eighth at the chequered flag with Breeze recovering well one place behind to earn UA the Teams’ title.
Davenport and Breeze again achieved eighth and ninth places respectively in the second race held in dying light early on Saturday evening – Carl being spun out of sixth place with three laps remaining on the damp track to end his Driver’s title hopes. More bad news followed for Breeze in the third race on Sunday afternoon where Breeze’s race ended in the gravel at the first corner when Carl and two other cars attempted to go into Paddock Hill bend three abreast. Breeze’s race ended and with it his hopes of finishing second in the final Driver’s standings – Carl’s only other non-finishes coming coincidentally in two races at Brands at the beginning of the season. Davenport ran a solid race to be classified fifth.
#2 Blue Chip – Ginetta G55
Carl Breeze (GB)
Age: 35. Born & Lives: King’s Lynn, England.
“It has been a weekend from hell. We lacked pace in the wet which put us on the back foot for the races. I got a fantastic start in the last race, made up three places off the grid, which would have put me into P5 and gave the drivers on the inside plenty of room but they still managed to make contact with me around Paddock and spun me out which ended our race on the spot .
“It’s was a shame and I’m disappointed to have slipped to third in the final standings but overall I contributing massively to the Teams’ championship success despite a few ups and downs during the season. It was a learning curve for the team and I think they will take a lot from this season – including some silverware!”
#23 Duo / Henderson Insurance Brokers – Ginetta G55
Luke Davenport (GB)
Age: 21. Born: Cambridge, England. Lives: Little Gransden nr St. Neots & Oxford, England.
“The weekend in general was pretty tough in finding a set-up for the constantly changing conditions and so I think I coped pretty well with what was a ‘lively’ car. It has been a fantastic year. To get two wins in my ‘rookie’ year along with other podiums were all massive highs for me.”
Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports:
“I’m delighted we have won the Team’s title for the boys for the effort everyone has put in but it feels disappointing to come away with ‘only’ third place for Carl in the final Driver’s standings after he had challenged for so long for the title while “rookie” Luke scored two wins.”
October 11-12 Brands Hatch (Grand Prix)
Rd 25 Qualifying: 5th #2, 1m 40.877s; 12th #23, 1m 42.034s. Weather: Cloudy/wet.
Race: 8th #23 +44.075s; 9th #2 +48.705s. Weather: Bright/drying.
Rd 26 Start: 8th #23; 9th #2.
Race: 8th #23, +6.788s; 9th #23, +19.945s. Weather: Bright/dusk/damp.
Rd 27 Start: 8th #23; 9th #2.
Race: 5th #23, +19.385s; Not Classified #2. Weather: Cloudy/dry.
Final Championship standings:
Drivers' Championship: 3rd Breeze, 615pts; 6th Davenport, 451pts;
Teams’ Championship: 1st, 1,066pts (+163pts)