I would like to start with a massive thank you to RE Beverages/ IPC Financial/ Alex Reade Motorsport/ UK Recovery/ Rosland Gold/ LM Automotive/ Infinity Wax and of course Wolf Motorsport. All your help this year has been mega and I am already looking forward to the future…
Oh yeah - and we still have one race left to run. What seems like an age after a blistering Brands Hatch, we arrive at the final race of the season at which is looking to be a rainy Donington Park.
Our second visit to Donny after winning two out of three earlier in the year. I say there is no pressure this time round after being crowned champion at the previous race but why else turn up if not to win?! It will be great to go out on a high after a fantastic year with the team.
I look forward to seeing some of you at the track for what might be our last race in a Ginetta… Who knows? Lots to look forward to already for 2024.
All the races will be live streamed this weekend via the link below or keep up to date with my social media pages.
Catch ya later
Luke
The whole Wolf Motorsport team were on it from Friday morning, never dropping the ball. The car was set up and rapid in every session. We narrowly missed out on pole by about half a tenth of a second.
Race one, I managed to snatch lead with a nice move around the outside of paddock hill bend (if I do say so myself).
I told the team I would not take any risks and bring the car home in one piece, as we only needed 3 decent finishes to secure the championship. And I meant it… until the visor went down and I had a sniff of a home win.
We held on to take the first win of the weekend.
Race two, not making as good a getaway as the previous race, I lost out and slotted into P2. I tried my hardest to get through but ultimately didn’t succeed. I was still very happy to take the second place and happy with the performance (other than the ropey start). I was super fired up to take the final win with so many friends and family supporting trackside.
All that hype about winning race three was not evident in my poor race start, losing out and finding myself in 3rd place - with a lot of work to do. The fella ahead made a move on the leader a few laps later, opening the door enough for a RE shaped Ginetta to squeeze through, which moved us into 2nd, and with enough time to challenge for the win it was game on.
The car was mega and a real pleasure to drive, I was properly motivated by the trackside support and determined to have a pop at the win. A few exciting side-by-side laps ensued, and I finally got the better of the leader and cleared off to take our 14th win of the year, sealing the championship at the earliest opportunity.
honestly can’t thank everyone enough who came to watch and offered support, not only this weekend, but the whole season. It made it even more special.
The plans are starting to form for 2024 and I’m getting excited! But there is still one round to go next month at Donington, let’s finish off the year in style.
Catch ya later
Luke
Race one later that afternoon was still wet, and the officials decided to start the race behind the safety car. Slotting into 4th after the start, we had a great battle for p3, getting through just as my windscreen decided to completely fog up and I tip toed to the checkered flag. I was still over the moon to have moved forward on a track that is super tricky to overtake on.
Race two, I made a great start taking the lead into the first corner, then set out building a gap to the cars behind. It was super tricky to push in the wet conditions without making any mistakes, but we held on to take our first win of the weekend!
Race three, again, we made a great start to take the lead and kept it for a few laps, having a great battle with the car behind. Unfortunate contact resulted in a half spin from myself. We dropped too far back to challenge for the win but had built up a gap to the cars behind to hold on to p2. We limped home to complete a great weekend.
On a weekend where cars were dropping like flies, you had to be on it every corner of every lap. I am super chuffed with the whole team. Without them and the hard work they all put in week in, week out, I would be nowhere.
We now move to the penultimate round of the championship at Brands Hatch in September. It’s going to be a big one!
Hopefully see some of you there.
Catch ya later
Luke
ANYWAY, we got to work, fine-tuning the setup and fixing any problems. A very successful FP2 put us 2nd and we could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
We never looked back, grabbing a double pole position by the slimmest of margins. One tenth covered the top 3.
In race one, I managed to hold off an attack to lead into turn one, then had to fight through the tricky conditions as it started to rain mid race. It is never fun being the first one to arrive at a fast corner, with rain covering the windscreen, hoping you still have enough heat in the tyre to see you through. We got it done though and grabbed win no1 of the weekend!
Race two was a tad simpler, pulling a small gap on the cars behind I could try and stoke it home whilst trying to save a bit of tyre life. Win no2!
Race three was not as plain sailing, my start was not the best and I lost out into turn one. Settling down in second place for a lap, I soon mounted a challenge on the leader.
About 4 laps in, I could see him struggling with his tyres and when he got sideways out of the last corner, I made a play for the inside line into turn one and was shown the door, similarly covered off as we headed into the hairpin at turn two. Luckily, this left me the grippier side of the track to brake on, and I braked as late as I possibly could, carryinh enough momentum to swing right around the outside and taking the lead into turn three. We managed to maintain the lead to the end of the race! Win no3.
A fantastic result, and one the whole team can be immensely proud of. From where we started at the beginning of the weekend, to grabbing a double pole and all three wins, it really is no mean feat.
Now we head to what they call the mini Nürburgring: Cadwell Park. I have no idea what it is going to be like taking a Ginetta round there, many spare pairs of underwear will be brought.
You can catch up on all last weekend's racing below.
Catch ya later,
Luke
That was an intense two weeks, with Donington closely followed by Silverstone a few days later. A mad 10 races in just over one week. The Wolf Motorsport team have been relentless, keeping the car well prepped and ready to go, even throwing in a gearbox change late on Wednesday night.
Ginetta put on a great festival weekend, it was wicked to see the old Senna Toleman F1 car along with the Le Mans Ginettas out on track. We hit the track on Friday for 3 races and one qualifying session.
There were a few guest drivers in the mix this weekend to spice things up. Unfortunately, this meant they weren’t restricted to championship tyres. We were never really going to have the ultimate pace over this weekend, so the game plan was to bag as many points as possible.
I won’t get into every race, as it would be like writing a novel and I haven’t got the skill to keep you gripped for 900 pages of Silverstone…
As I said, the credit for this weekend goes fully to Wolf Motorsport for keeping the car quick all weekend. We were always there in the mix for podiums. When others dropped away, we were there to pick up the points.
My highlight of the weekend was wheel-to-wheel racing with the Ginetta legend Colin White. We traded places and a small amount of paint work over the weekend. Nothing left on the track and smiles all round, it was great to be involved in.
We have now reached the half way point of the Ginetta GT Pro season, it’s been a great first half of the year. Let’s keep the competitive pressure on into the next race at Snetterton next weekend.
Big thank you to all our partners who have helped us get to this point, here's to the next half of the season.
Re Beverages
IPC Consultants
LM Automotive
Alex Reade Motorsport
Armco
26-Bit
Champion RV
Catch ya then
Luke
Race two, lining up P3 we got a great launch straight into P2 challenging for the lead into the first corner. Closely following the leader into turn two, the car in front suddenly decelerated going into one of the fastest corners on the track.
It turns out the brake lights were not working on the car and we touched mid-corner resulting in a half spin from the car in front and some minor damage on the front of our car.
The safety car came out for an accident that happened behind. After a few laps behind the safety car, we got the race underway. Pulling a nice gap to the chasing pack, we brought the car home for our 4th win of the season!
Honestly, the Grand Prix circuit was fantastic to drive on. We are heading back to Silverstone in just under a month for the Ginetta festival. Which will include 5 races! Seems a bit mad being truthful, more like go kart heats! But we will be there ready to attack all 5 races.
First off we have Donington Park in 3 weeks.
Hope to see some of you there.
We managed to get one good lap in before a brake problem occurred, stumping our attempt at two consecutive laps. Our fastest was on the money and good enough for pole, but the second lap I couldn’t quite get it together and managed P2.
Race one looked fairly plain sailing from the TV but in the cockpit it was far from it. The brake problem had come back and by the end of lap two I could barely touch the brake pedal without the car locking up. Fortunately, it was manageable (not judging by the state of my pants after the race) and we held on to secure our first win of the season, and our first in the new Ginetta G56.
Fast forward two days later: race two. It’s chucking it down. As I lined up in P2, I selected first gear with my foot fully down on the clutch pedal and the car jolted forward. I knew immediately that I was going to be slapped with a 10 second penalty. The only remedy for this was to drive qualifying laps flat out for the whole race. After 20mins we won by 10.042 meaning we actually won by 0.042 of a second! Mad.
We'd had a dry race, then a wet race. Why not a wet and dry race just to spice things up?! Race three was tricky trying to select the correct tyre for the conditions, I think we changed from dries to wets 2 or 3 times before committing to slicks.
Starting on the wet side of the grid saw a poor getaway and I slotted into P2 out of the first corner, the track was still wet and we were all trying hard to get temperature in the tyres. I put some pressure on the driver in front and he made a small mistake out of the first chicane and I got alone side and out-braked him into the next corner.
The rest of the race was really just trying to keep the car on the road! We did just that and picked up our 3rd win of the weekend.
The whole team at Wolf Motorsport grafted hard all weekend to give me a car capable to be up the sharp end. I can’t wait to take the new Ginetta out on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone in a few weeks' time.
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I don’t know where to start. The definition of an emotional rollercoaster.
We were caught out in a slightly wet qualifying session. We tried to go onto the slick tyres when the track wasn’t dry enough and fundamentally qualified 3rd, which wasn’t disastrous, but we knew we had work to do in the coming races.
The races on Saturday were reasonably uneventful. We lacked a little pace to really attack the lead two cars, meaning we had to go back to the drawing board overnight in terms of a set up on the car.
One race to go on Sunday, everything on the line. Only a few points between myself and the second placed driver in the championship. Wolf Motorsport had set the car up beautifully and I was ready to do whatever it took to win the championship.
There was a big crash at the start and oil leaked onto one - and only one - grid stop. Yep, you guessed it - my grid spot! On the restart, I didn’t get the best launch and held onto my position, the pace was strong and I set about reeling in the lost space from the start. We were straight on the back of the top two and ready to pounce if needed. The safety car was then deployed and they announced a one lap dash to the finish
(I was having Abu Dhabi Formula One 2021 last lap flashbacks).
It was one of the most tense moments of my life, and I sure that tension echoed through my many supporters that were watching on the sidelines. But we pulled through…
Unbelievable, words can’t describe the feeling. Massive thank you to my second family and part-actual-family, Wolf Motorsport. They wanted this as much as I did, the work ethic and effort they put in has been unreal.
Also to my amazing partners who this has all been for. Alex Reade Motorsport, IPC, The Race Works, Automotive Repairs, Infinity Wax, Scalextric, Inaga and Rubix.
I owe you all a beer (or two).
We now look to 2023 and have some exciting plans in the pipeline. We are always looking for partners to join our team and become part of the racing family. Please feel free to get in touch with me to have a chat about any prospective plans.
Watch this space...
All the best
Luke
]]>On the warm up lap of the first race of the weekend, the driveshaft snapped and I had to pull off immediately. I wasn't able to join the grid and start the race, and myself and the whole team were gutted. Motorsport is so unpredictable, which is why we love and hate it at the same time.
The guys in the team did an amazing job to get the car repaired in the very short time before the second race in just a few hours.
Next up, was a rerun from the cancelled race at Thruxton, during which we unfortunately didn’t have the tyres to compete with the front of the pack and held on to take a lonely 3rd place. At this point, we knew full well we were in for a hard two races on Sunday.
Race three Sunday morning, starting dead last, I knew if we still wanted a chance to win the championship we had to do something about it. I got a great launch off the line and, not holding anything back for the first half of the race, we clawed our way up into second place. The lead car was too far down the road to do anything about, but we held onto P2, albeit struggling a bit with pace and set up, for the remaining laps.
In race four, I knew I had to go on full attack straight away if I were to have any chance of a win. I got a great start and went side-by-side with the category leader through turn one. Slotting in behind him on the run down into turn two, I made a move to go up the inside. He defended, parking his car on the inside line. I darted out from behind him and braked as late as I could into turn two and held it around the outside. We went down the next straight side-by-side. Luckily, I had the inside for the next corner and I swiftly closed the door. For the remaining 20 mins I held onto the lead by the smallest margin, holding off 4 cars. It was one of the best feelings to take the win live on ITV4. Honestly, I was over the moon with the result and the whole team.
The season finale is in two weeks at the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The championship will go down to the wire, it's going to be exciting!
Massive thanks to my amazing partners - IPC - The Race Works - Automotive Repairs - Infinity Wax - Scalextric - Alex Reade Motorsport and Rubix Creative
See you there
Luke
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A great trip to the most southern race on the calendar in Andover.
Qualifying early Saturday was a great chance to signal our intent for the weekend, Thruxton is renowned for being hard on tyres meaning you only have 1 lap at the peak of the tyre performance. A real challenge, but I love the pressure that brings. I warmed the tyres up and then went for a big lap, the tyres definitely were not in the window and I understeered off the circuit in turn one. I aborted the rest of the lap and went for a second lap. The lap was risky but paid off, we claimed our second pole of the season.
This weekend the faster G56 cars didn’t really escape like they had in previous rounds and we had to deal with racing them as well as our own class of car.
In race one, we made a great start and held off the challenge from behind. About halfway through the race, I caught up with the one of the G56 cars and they started defending, allowing one of our direct competitors to slip through. We went on to finish the race like this, I knew we had the pace to get in front in race two but was unsure how the faster G56s would affect our race.
In race two, we made a great start, taking the lead into turn two. The race was red flagged after 3 laps, resulting in a cancelled race. I would like to take a moment to send my best wishes to Colin White & Mike Brown, who were involved in a horrific crash. If there is one corner you don’t want to have an accident on, it is Church at Thruxton. It is a flat-out, 6th gear kink taken at about 200kph and not for the faint hearted. I hope to see the guys soon. It is a small reminder of the danger in motorsport and how great the circuit medical team and marshals really are.
Race three, after re-focusing on the job in hand, we still had one race to run. Live on ITV4, again we made a great start and didn’t look back. The Wolf Motorsport team set the car up impeccably and I could manage the gap to the cars behind. We went on to record our 7th victory of the season in style. I can’t thank everyone who came on board to get us here enough. Automotive Repair, Infinity Wax, Scalextric and the Race Works as well as IPC & Alex Reade Motorsport - that was for you!
With two meetings of the championship left, we can’t take our foot off the gas. Let’s keep the pressure on and go for the big prize. We are still looking for partners to get us to the end of the year, if you are interested in becoming part of our amazing team please drop me a line.
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Saturday morning qualifying was at 10:30am and was already almost 30 degrees. We secured our first pole of the year in true style, only completing 2 flying laps and pitting with over half the session still to go. After the nervous wait we claimed our first pole position by almost a second!
Race one, now about 33 degrees. A great start saw us lead away, with the pursuing pack just over a second behind. With two laps to go, the driver behind made a silly move and t-boned us at the end of the back straight, resulting in a broken rear wishbone. I tried to carry on to salvage some points from the race and the car felt okay at first, so I continued. Unfortunately, a few corners later, the car snapped and I made heavy contact with a tyre barrier. I was so disappointed with how the day had flipped on its head.
At this point I believed the weekend to be over, there was far too much damage front and rear to be out for race two Sunday morning. Honestly I have never been so impressed with our little team, the boys and girls worked flat out through the night to get the car back in a drivable state. I would also like to thank the Ginetta paddock, many of the other teams came together to help, lending us parts for the car we either couldn’t afford or were not able to get our hands on.
An hour before race two, the Ginetta was back together, all be it looking slightly different with a different teams’ front nose. I owe a lot of people many beers after that shift and feel very humbled.
Race two starting right at the back, we had a great start passing 5 cars on the opening lap. After a hard fought battle, we managed to claw ourselves into 3rd place with a lap to go. This felt like a victory for myself and the whole team! We were honestly buzzing after that.
Race three live on ITV4 saw a 5-way fight for the lead for the majority of the race, it was great to be involved in. We finished a fantastic 2nd place, again it felt epic. The car wasn’t in her prime bless her after I showed her the wall on Saturday, so to come back fighting and grab two podium finishes to conclude a trying weekend felt brilliant.
So many positives to take, we are just over the half way mark of the season. We have taken it to the big teams in the paddock and have plenty more to give. Unfortunately the damage sustained on Saturday has set us back financially and as it stands, we are not going to be able to make Thruxton in two weeks. This is a big blow for not only myself, but the whole team who have given blood sweat and tears to get us here. We are leading the championship and would like to keep it that way!
I would appreciate anyone who can help In anyway. There is a lot we can offer and I would happily meet up and chat through any potential partnerships.
Fingers crossed we make it to Thruxton, massive thanks to everyone that has helped get us to the stage we are now.
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Hat-trick in Scotland
If Carlsburg made weekends, that would have been very close!
The weekend actually didn’t start off on the best foot, with a series of events on the journey to Scotland resulting in a 23hr trip. Regardless the team got the car and all the equipment to the track by Thursday eve.
We got our teeth stuck in on Friday practice finishing 4th in FP1 then finding some pace to finish 2nd in FP2.
The weather in Scotland was as unpredictable as ever with big clouds looming over as we headed out to qualify. Fortunately the session stayed dry and in another extremely tight qualifying session with the top 6 within a few tenths of a second we finished P2.
Race one a great start saw us three abreast for the lead going into turn one, I fortunately squeezed ahead of the pursuing drivers and got into the lead of the race. It was a hard fought race with second place no less than half a second behind for the majority. Coming home to record a win was all I could of hoped for and a great start to the weekend.
Race two was a similar story to race one, this time we pulled out a slight gap from the pursuing cars, enough to not have to defend into the hairpin. Unfortunately the race ended prematurely behind the safety car, without a restart we had done enough to secure the win!
The all important race 3 live on ITV4, one of the most hard fought races I have been involved in. The second place car was clearly faster and we took part in a duel for 20mins with a little contact here and there. We were carrying the live ITV camera onboard and the footage of the wheel to wheel action I have been told was great. We came home to take a nail biting 3rd win of the weekend and 5th win In a row in the Ginetta SuperCup championship.
Wolf Motorsport again has done an outstanding job, the car is flawless. I can’t wait to get going again. There is hardly any rest between Snetterton in a fortnights time, let’s keep this pressure up and go for gold again!
I really appreciate everyones support and it was so great to interact with the crowds in Scotland, always a highlight on the calendar.
We are still looking for partners to come onboard with us on this amazing journey we are on, drop me a line if you wish to chat further. Plans are starting to form for 2023 and they are exciting to say the least!
]]>Luke Reade -
I can’t express enough how grateful I am for the opportunity to go out and do what I love. The Wolf Motorsport team grafted all weekend to get the car in a race winning window.
On Friday, we noticed a small amount of oil coming from the gearbox. We were not going to leave anything to chance, so we replaced it on Friday evening.
Similarly to at Brands Hatch: when it came to qualifying, we had the pace to go for pole, but were held up on a push lap and I was pipped in the dying moments. Starting P2, I knew I had the car under me to challenge for the win.
A great launch off the line immediately put us into the lead and we never looked back, controlling a 1 second gap to P2 for the majority of the race to claim our second victory of the season.
The weather at Oulton Park was scorching - after the adrenaline had worn off, It felt like I had got out of a swimming pool!
We only had two races this weekend, the second being shown live on ITV4. Starting off pole, we had another great launch and I was trying not to get tangled up in the other race going on with the faster cars. There were a few big crashes that we were lucky to avoid but this resulted in a safety car, then a red flag, to clear all the debris off the circuit.
On the second restart, again we had another good launch and I was so so lucky not to get taken off at the hairpin at turn 3, where 4 cars decided to have a crash, which we narrowly avoided. The race settled down after this and there was a close race between 1st 2nd and 3rd all the way to the flag, with us in the Wolf Motorsport car securing our 2nd win of the weekend and 3rd of the year!
I am chuffed to bits with the performance we have shown over the whole weekend, we are really taking it to the big teams and loving every second of it.
Big thanks again to IPC Consultants for coming onboard with the team and getting us to Oulton Park, we are looking forward to enjoying a great year together.
Next up is Knockhill in sunny Scotland in just over a month’s time. The track is one of my favourites and the atmosphere is electric. If anyone would like to come onboard for the journey we are on, please feel free to get in touch.
See ya there
Luke
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Hope to see you soon.
]]>Brands closes from the 24th - 2nd January
Our mail-order service will be working over the Christmas period.
From all of us at Alex Reade Motorsport wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a super fast New Year.
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We started the weekend strong, running in the top 3 in FP1. After a little trip through the gravel whilst pushing hard we never found that pace again and the car was losing performance from then on. We diagnosed the problem just before the last race on Sunday afternoon.
Starting 12th on the grid, we had a great start and found the pace we had previously lost in the car finishing the season strong, up into 6th place.
Again, I'd like to give a massive shout out to Billy Ruffian who kickstarted this journey and I can safely say it is the best-looking car on the grid!
It was great on Sunday at Brands to see so many purple Billy Ruffian hats around the paddock.
Big thank you's to Fusion Wheels, Alex Reade Motorsport, Scalextric,
UK recovery, Sam Luke’s Wealth Management and John Wyatt Jewellery.
You, along with all the support from everyone else, has pushed me all the way through the year. I am truly grateful.
With 2021 coming to a close, it is now eyes forward to 2022.
There are a few options that are floating around, including a second year in the Ginetta SuperCup, potentially the Porsche Carrera Cup or maybe a move into the TCR machines. It is going to be an exciting winter period. Watch this space…
Look forward to seeing you all again.
Luke
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I absolutely love this track! It's nice to finally turn up at a track I've driven, without having to do 1000 laps on a PlayStation game.
Let's see what the weather brings - but either way I am planning on having the Billy Ruffian SuperCup car at the sharp end!
Myself and the team have diagnosed the problems we were having at previous rounds and should be able to hit the ground running from FP1, which is on a Thursday this time round.
I would like to personally welcome Scalextric onboard, I have always loved their brand. Who knows, there might be some Billy Ruffian race cars in production in the future!
As usual I look forward to seeing some of you at the track, and I will be keeping an eye out for the sea of purple hats.
Keep your eyes peeled, we will be live on ITV 4 Sunday @15.15pm
Luke
]]>We turned up to Thruxton super confident of a strong result.
Definitely my favourite track, nowhere else do you get near the speeds we hit here. 235 KPH out the back before we hit the brakes hard for the final chicane.
In Friday practice we had an apparent car issue with the rear end being too grippy and giving us a shed load of understeer. We changed everything on the car but couldn’t get to the bottom of it.
It was a bit of damage limitation weekend from that point in. In race one the power steering failed and we had to pit, which was unfortunate, but fired me up for race two!
Even carrying a car issue, we got the Billy Ruffian SuperCup car up from last to 7th. A great result considering! The team and myself were confident they could fix the issue for the third and final race.
Again I was super excited to get going, I really believed we could get involved at the front. Unfortunately, I was collected in somebody else’s accident which bent the rear tracking and I had to retire immediately.
Silver linings - I am super happy where I am with the team, we don’t need any good luck just no bad luck please.
Looking forward to getting stuck in at the next meeting. Thanks for all the support, always appreciate it.
Catch up on all the action from the last race meeting on ITV hub.
Stay up-to-date on all my activity, on and off track, via social media.
Catch ya later.
It's now eyes forward to Thruxton this weekend, the fastest circuit in the UK.
I am itching to take the GT4 bad boy round this challenging track.
Again, we have plenty of Billy Ruffian stickers and hats to give away this weekend so be sure to come and say hello!
Roll on Knockhill! With what I am sure will be a good weekend with plenty of unpredictable weather, but very predictable amounts of haggis.
]]>Race one we picked up a terminal tyre problem early on which didn't stop us racing hard for P3, losing out on the last lap, but great fun nevertheless and fantastic to have the Billy Ruffian racing car up the front of the field. Unfortunately, in races two and three we retired early with car issues. On the whole we had a great weekend, with a little luck on our side we will be away. Really appreciate all the messages I have had on social media. Also, great to have a sea of Billy Ruffian tops and caps scattered around the circuit! See you at Oulton Park.
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