Mckenzie Douglass enjoyed a perfect weekend in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship at Donington Park (25/26 May), taking a maximum points score from the third weekend of the 2024 season.
Douglass (Fox Motorsport) and Nick White (Raceway Motorsport) were fastest in the Pro and Am classes respectively in Friday testing, and they perfectly replicated that performance in qualifying the next day as they secured their class pole positions.
Impressively White was the fastest of all, ensuring he would start the opening race from the front of the grid, while fellow Am contender Matt Shaw (Raceway Motorsport) was third overall ahead of Xentek Motorsport’s Pro class front-runners Luke and Conner Garlick.
It was Douglass who proved to be the start of the show in the opening race on Saturday afternoon. Sweeping past White heading down the Craner Curves for the first time, he wouldn’t be caught from there as he pulled clear to a five second victory.
After Shaw lost ground through Redgate on lap one, Luke Garlick emerged as White’s chief challenger for second place. The reigning GT Academy champion put in a great defensive drive though to hold the position and take a clear Am class win in the process.
Luke Garlick came home second of the Pro class runners, with Ben McKenna (MDD Racing) not far behind on his second appearance of the season after enjoying a close-fought duel with Conner Garlick over the course of the race.
The most exciting battle came over sixth overall, as Harry Mangion (Raceway Motorsport) impressively fended off the attention of the second highest Am driver Shaw. Behind, Jack Manchester (Pace Performance) marked his Ginetta debut with a top six Pro finish.
Peter Mangion (Raceway Motorsport) meanwhile completed the Am class podium ahead of a couple more newcomers to the grid for this weekend, Callum Noble and Gracie Mitchell with Xentek Motorsport and MDD Racing respectively.
A change of weather conditions saw persistent rain greet the field for race two on Sunday morning. The conditions didn’t faze Douglass though, as he converted pole position into a superb lights-to-flag victory, with a winning margin of over 13 seconds.
White had a comfortable run to second overall and another Am class win, with his closest rival Shaw running behind him for the first half of the race before a moment at Redgate dropped him to the back of the field.
This left the Garlick brothers fighting it out for third overall, with the duo producing some close side-by-side action. Reigning GT5 Challenge champion Luke fended off his older brother Conner’s efforts, with the latter ending up in a last lap battle with McKenna.
After starting the race from the pitlane, McKenna quickly fought his way into the top five and then hunted down a near six second gap to Garlick. A last lap challenge into Melbourne didn’t quite pay off, with Garlick eventually classified fourth after both drivers received post-race penalties.
Manchester rounded out the top six overall, while the earlier spin for Shaw opened the door for both Peter Mangion and Mitchell to secure Am class podium finishes – the latter taking her first on her debut weekend. Noble, Harry Mangion and Shaw rounded out the finishers.
Douglass completed his dream hat-trick for the weekend with another classy victory in the final race. His main competition came from Luke Garlick, however a good start put him 1.7 seconds clear at the end of lap one and he controlled proceedings for his fourth win of the season.
Garlick grabbed second through Redgate for the first time, with front-row starter White slipping back to fifth through a tough opening lap. He fought back past Conner Garlick next time round though and latched onto the tail of the fast-starting McKenna.
As Luke Garlick enjoyed a comfortable run to second, McKenna soaked up race long pressure from White to complete the top three. White sealed a hat-trick of Am class victories in fourth overall, with Conner Garlick not far adrift.
Shaw put in a great drive to go from the back of the grid to a top six overall finish and second in the Am class ahead of Manchester, with Peter Mangion completing the Am podium. His son Harry had started the race well, going from tenth to seventh before an unfortunate retirement.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/242105
The three races can be watched back at www.youtube.com/user/ginettatv
The 2024 Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT Championship continues next month (29/30 June) with a first ever visit to Anglesey in Wales for G Fest.
