Ginetta G55 proving a big hit on BTCC package

Since arriving on the British Touring Car Championship’s ‘TOCA’ package in 2009, Ginetta Cars has enjoyed an ever-increasing profile and has taken a very strong foot-hold in national motorsport in the UK with the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup and the Ginetta Junior Championship.

Ginetta’s flagship GT Supercup series, rebranded for the 2011 season with the introduction of the new Ginetta G55 sportscar, continues to go from strength to strength and is proving to be one of the most popular and action-packed championships in the country.

Although Ginetta Junior and the G50 Cup, the forerunner to the GT Supercup, were established prior to the move onto the BTCC package, it is since Ginetta joined the UK’s biggest motor racing tour that its success has grown at such a rapid rate.

Designed to offer greater performance and handling than the G50 and also as a car able to compete for GT3 honours in endurance racing – for example in the British GT Championship – the G55 is a sensational piece of kit with 370bhp laid down through its Michelin tyres from a 3.7-litre V6 engine.

The space frame chassis and side-impact protection is FIA approved and along with the immense power of the front-mid mounted engine, the G55 certainly looks the part with an aggressive package of aerodynamics.

Title battle still very much in the balance...

In terms of the fight for the inaugural Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup crown, which carries with it an incredible prize of a fully-funded BTCC drive in 2011, last year’s G50 Cup Vice-Champion Carl Breeze leads the way but he is being pursued hard by youngsters Adam Morgan and Tom Sharp.

Nathan Freke, champion of the G50 Cup n 2009, did endure a tough start to his 2011 campaign but in recent weeks and months he has been racking up wins and podiums and is really beginning to close in.

While the G55 is very much the way forward for Ginetta, the older G50 hasn’t been forgotten with a class of its own in the GT Supercup. Reigning Ginetta Junior Champion Tom Ingram has been the star of G50 this year but problem-filled weekends at Croft and Snetterton mean his advantage has been eroded. He’s now under attack from fellow Junior graduates Jody Fannin and Aaron Williamson.