Player International Racing backed Nathan Freke grabbed his first pole of the season during qualifying at Donington Park today. Setting the time just before a red flag incident he held onto the position sitting in the pits whilst the rest of the field toiled to beat his time. The time will set the grid for this afternoons race at 16.05. Full details of qualifying can be found at TSL Timing
Difficult Races at Season Opener of Ginetta GT SuperCup
Nathan Freke teams up with The Player International.
With just 3 days before the season opener of the Ginetta GT Supercup at Brands Hatch last weekend, a last minute deal was put together between Nathan and The Player Bookazine enabling him to compete this season.
Only taking delivery of the car on the day before the meeting Nathan had a big task in front of him. Friday testing went well with the Century team making good improvements with car and Nathan ended up 3rd quickest by the end of practice.
Saturday brought a tricky qualifying session on a damp track. It was clear that the end of the session would be where the quickest times were to be set, with the track drying all the time. Nathan judged the conditions well and ended up with a very pleasing P2 for the Grid of Race 1.
Nathan made a good start of the first race and slotted into second behind Tom Sharp. Instantly Nathan started putting pressure on the leading car, and when Sharp ran wide onto the Start/Finish straight Nathan tried to capitalize on the situation. Things were very tight going into the first corner and there was contact between the 2 cars resulting in Nathan spinning out and into the gravel.
Nathan managed to recover the car and get back on track but unfortunately due to 4 damaged tyres he couldn’t make any inroads and had to settle for a finish, and some points.
With the results of race one determining the grid position for Race 2 Nathan had to start right at the back of the field. After a hectic start Nathan carved his way up from 22nd to 10th place. A satisfactory result considering the starting position.
Race 3 and Nathan lined up 10th on the grid. Making a great start Nathan moved straight up to 7th on the first lap. With some extremely tough drivers in front of him Nathan had a tall task to be able to make good progress. Keeping a cool head Nathan picked off the opposition 1 by 1 and ended up a very respectable 3rd place by the end of the race.
After the race Nathan commented on the weekend “The last week has been an emotional rollercoaster. On Tuesday I was in the mindset that this season I would not be racing, then on the Wednesday the deal with www.theplayer.co.uk came about and suddenly I was back in the seat!!. This weekend hasn’t been a true reflection of my pace, I have a lot of work to put in from a personal point of view with my fitness and mental focus and the team have the job of getting the car dialed in fully for me. I’m ecstatic about this deal and feel very lucky to be associated with such a prestigious brand. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season and I can’t wait to develop my relationship further with The Player.”
Andie Jones, publisher of The Player Bookazine added ‘We are very proud to be racing in the Ginetta GT Championship with Nathan and the team at Century Motorsport. The 2011 season promises to be very exciting and Nathan’s performance at Brands Hatch was exceptional given there was so little time to prepare the car. We will definitely be aiming for the top this year”
Nathan Concludes Deal To Race G55 With The Player Magazine
Multiple British Champion Nathan Freke concluded a last minute deal to race in this years Ginetta GT Supercup in a new G55. The deal with the exclusive mens Bookazine ‘ The Player ’ was sealed last Wednesday, one day before the series started. ‘Andie Jones, the Managing Editor of The Player, had a car to run in the series and we had the support infrastructure and the driver to take the car to the front of the grid - it was too good an opportunity to miss. I am really looking forward to racing for The Player and competing for the ultimate prize of a BTCC drive.’
Nathan to Race in 2010 British GT4
Nathan will be racing in the British GT4 series in a Ginetta G50 with Danish co driver Vibe Smed. The pairing came about with the assistance of Piers Masarati of Chad Racing who was looking for a GT4 seat for Vibe. ‘The team will be missing the event at Spa because of prior commitments with my G50 Cup customers, however I am sure we will be racing for wins in the other 7 meetings and whilst it will be difficult the Championship still has to be my aim.’ commented Nathan. ‘I am looking forward to racing in the British GT series and to build upon our success in the only GT meeting we raced in 2010, the team is also looking for drivers to join me in the Silverstone 24 Hour race later in the year.’
Nathan Wins Local Sports Personality Award
Nathan expressed his delighted as a last minute dash across the finishing line saw him crowned The Shuttle’s Sports Personality of 2009. He won a thrilling vote on the Kidderminster Shuttle website to take the title in the most fiercely contested battle since the competition started three years ago.
With thousands of votes registered over three weeks, Nathan took the title with 39 per cent of the vote. It took a late surge in votes for Nathan to see off Sarah Biles, who had edged into the lead on Monday morning, only for the driver’s supporters to hit back before the noon deadline. Nathan was nominated after winning the Ginetta G50 Cup last year with a mammoth points lead, admitted he has been staggered by the level of support he has had.
“It’s brilliant to actually be named the Shuttle’s Sports Personality for 2009.
“It was such a thrilling race and it wasn’t clear until the vote had finished who had actually won, I came back off holiday on Sunday night and rallied the troops for one last push and it seems to have worked. I’d like to thank everyone who has voted for me, I’m really grateful that everyone has got behind me. It has made me feel part of the local community and the world of motorsport, I’ve had race marshalls, drivers and teams get behind me, which has been amazing.”
Nathan will receive a silver salva to commemorate being named Sports Personality.
“I have yet to finalise my driving plans for 2010, but it is looking more likely that I will compete in the GT4 class of the British GT Championship as well as driving in selected endurance races such as the Silverstone 24 hour race. I will also be running 4 drivers in the Ginetta G50 Cup with my Century Motorsport team.
Nathan is the 2009 Ginetta G50 Champion
Nathan wrapped up the 2009 Ginetta G50 Championship in style at Brands Hatch. Testing on Friday went well with Nathan heading the timesheets comfortably in both sessions , followed up on Saturday with 3 pole positions in qualifying. Needing only 4 points from the first race it would have been easy to just let the pack go and come in 14th to clinch the title, however Nathan wanted to go out in style and despite some robust racing for the first few corners he eased away to record his 13th victory of the season and take the championship is style. ‘I didn’t want to win the championship with a safe finish, so I was always going to try and win this race, the car was great, Century Motorsport did a great job, EOS Productions support throughout the season kept me racing and it feels good to be a Champion again’, commented Nathan after the race.
With the Championship wrapped up Nathan now set about finishing the season in style by winning the remaining 2 races, which would give him a hat trick of wins at one meeting for the 3rd time. Race 2 was a near repeat of race 1 and an umcomplicated win, Race 3 however was a lot closer with Frank Wrathall right on his tail at the end. A brilliant end to the season, 15 wins, 14 poles, 22 podiums and 12 fastest laps, 28 finishes = 856 points and the Championship. Picture by Chris Roberts / WiderViewPhotos
Nathan Puts One Hand on the Championship at Rockingham
Nathan, racing for Century Motorsport had a varied weekend at Rockingham, but left requiring only 10 more point to clinch the Michelin Ginetta G50 championship at the final 3 races at Brands Hatch (Oct 3rd/4th).
3 More Wins For Nathan at Silverstone
Last week at Silverstone the Michelin Ginetta G50 Championship had its latest meeting, supporting the British Touring Championship, and Nathan managed to win all 3 races.
As Nathan commented “Knowing Silverstone well I was full of confidence going into the weekend - Friday testing went well, quickest in both sessions and the car seemed to be dialled in great.”
Nathan Has Winning Weekend at Knockhill
Nathan had a much better weekend at Knockhill with two wins and a 4th place finish in the Ginetta G50 Cup series. The Scottish circuit is a demanding short, but undulating track that can catch out the unwary and with the usual Knockhill mix of high winds, intermittent rain, and occasional sun the teams were kept on their toes for setup and tyre selection.
On Saturday morning Nathan commented ”With the forecast on Saturday being wet things were uncertain with no dry testing …. qualifying was still damp although a dry line appearing wets were the only choice - I knew that the last lap would be the quickest and that it was going to be vital to be right on it from the word go. Everything went to plan and I got 3 poles with a healthy margin.”
The first race on Saturday morning was held on a wet track but Nathan made a great start, with his main rival Breeze slotted into 2nd place but he was soon having to battle closely with Frank Wrathall and Fulvio Mussi with both trying him. On the last lap Wrathall and Breeze tangled leaving Breeze in the gravel. Nathan had kept his calm and kept a good lead throughout the race to get a deserved win, in what were tricky conditions.
The next race on Sunday morning started off with most of the cars going out on slicks and then having to change to wet weather tyres back on the grid, which took an extra few minutes. Nathan again made a good start from the line and led a group of 5 cars contesting the race on a wet track initially but with a dry line appearing through the race. Wrathall stayed closely with Nathan for the first part of the race but then slipped behind, with Nathan winning by over 2 seconds at the line for another deserving victory.
For the final race the sun had come out and “for the first time over the weekend we were certain what tyres would be needed!! A good start saw me storm away to a 1 second lead - as the race went on the tyres started to go off slightly and my lead was decreasing by around 1 tenth a lap - I felt everything was under control until lap 19 where I clipped the kerb just too hard in the chicane which launched the car into a spin.. with the engine stalled I lost over 20seconds and could only recover to 4th. “
At the end of the weekend Nathan commented “On reflection the weekend was a great success - sure it would have been nice to win 3 in a row but these things happen and we managed to extent our lead from 17points to 64. We are now fully focused for Silverstone in 2 weeks (Aug 29/30) and are really looking forward to it!
Pictures and words by Chris Roberts / WiderViewPhotos
Nathan Rescues Podium From Snetterton Weekend
Nathan Freke was again competing in the Ginetta G50 Cup series, as it moved to the Norfolk circuit, Snetterton, after a summer break and all the drivers were keen to get back on track.
Nathan did get a podium finish in the last race but was disappointed in the other two races, particularly after Friday’s free practice things had been looking good. As Nathan commented “With a new engine in for Friday I was uncertain about how quick we would be but things soon sorted themselves out and I ended up quickest on the Friday - things were looking great until the last lap of the test where i had an electrical issue…. at first it seemed to be a niggle but after further investigation the problem appeared to be far more severe than first thought.After no success in pin pointing the problem the decision was made to run the car without any warnings on the dash and more importantly no flat shift.”
There were two races on the Saturday and in race 1 Nathan battled up to 4th position but the lack of his normal flat shift, meant he had to briefly come off the throttle with changing gear. This meant he was losing momentum down the straights, but his race craft kept him ahead of some of his rivals at the flag.
In the 2nd of two races he had a great start off his grid position of 4th to be on the tail of his main rival (Breeze) by the 1st corner and he battled to stay in that position for the majority of the race. Keeping ahead of his rivals with great positioning of his car at both the Esses and Russell Chicane, until late in the race when he had a broken rear suspension bush which put him off in a spin, resulting in a dissapointing 9th place finish, and not the podium his superior driving had deserved. As Nathan commented “A bad finish to a bad day!”
Sunday was only scheduled for one race - with the same issue still hounding us the team moral was low. After a fuel consumption test of the Saturday race we discovered that the car had used 7 gallons of fuel over 18 laps, some 3 gallons more than it should have. The electrical problem has worsened and was causing the engine to massively over fuel. Not only was this adding to my lack of pace it was also putting the engine at risk of failure due to fuel contaminated oil. The Ginetta support crew were on hand all weekend to assist the best they could with the problem and taking into account our budget restrictions very kindly offered to help me out for the final race.
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