Golding won G40
Cup crown in 2018JEPJEPJEPJEPLack of budget
will hold Haigh
back in 201918 APRIL 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 67NATIONAL NEWS CLUB AUTOSPORTGT5 CHALLENGEGinetta G40 Cup champion Tom Golding has
graduated to the GT5 Challenge for this year.
Golding only began racing in 2017, taking
five victories in the Ginetta Racing Drivers
Club series before establishing himself as
the dominant force in the G40 Cup last
year. He will remain with the Assetto
Motorsport squad that powered him
to the title last season.
“I’m extremely grateful to the team,
friends and my family for their supportin every way, without them 2019 simply
wouldn’t be possible,” said Golding. “I have
been working harder than ever during the
winter in order to make the grid this year.
I have the best mindset I’ve ever had, and
I believe that I have one shot at this.”
Another driver on the grid for the
opening rounds of the popular GT5 series
at Oulton Park this weekend will be
Geri Nicosia. He finished third in the
standings last year and has switched
to the Quattro Motorsport team.
STEPHEN LICKORISHBRITISH GTBritish GT champion Flick Haigh will not
contest a full season of racing this year
after failing to raise the necessary budget
to compete in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.
The 34-year-old, who partnered Jonny
Adam to the title in an Optimum-run Aston
Martin V12 Vantage, will instead enter select
rounds of various championships in a new V8
Vantage GT3 fielded by TF Sport. She turned
down opportunities to defend her title with
other manufacturers in British GT.
These outings are expected to include the
Road to Le Mans support race, which she last
contested in 2017, with potential to add the
UK round of the International GT Open at
Silverstone in September and the FIA GT
Nations Cup at Vallelunga.
Haigh, who still intends to graduate to
the European Le Mans Series for 2020, said:
“It’s hard to come from such a big year to
accept that this is what it is, but I’ve come
to terms with it now and I will focus on
2020 and get sorted for that.”
Haigh will test the V8 Vantage for the first
time at Anglesey soon and hopes that doing
the running away from the spotlight willHaigh joins up
with TF Sport for
part-time entry
Golding moves up Ginetta ladder
MINI CHALLENGEThe Mini Challenge JCW
championship has achieved
a bumper entry for its final
season before joining the British
Touring Car Championship’s
support bill.
The series begins at Oulton
Park this weekend and will
continue to feature on the
British GT undercard for the
majority of its rounds this
year. It will then replace the
Renault UK Clio Cup on the
TOCA package for 2020.
Thirty-three drivers have
registered, although not all will
compete at the Oulton opener.
The category is therefore likely
to beat its previous record grid
of 31 cars during the season.
Drivers to sign up in recent
weeks include 2010 Clio Cup
runner-up Lee Pattison (below)
who returns to the series from
Clios, competing as a privateer.
“The numbers for this year
are very strong, and the grid is
packed with quality too,” said
promoter Antony Williams.
“We’ve worked hard to make the
Mini Challenge an exciting and
accessible place to race, and
I think we’ve hit the nail on
the head with the Mini JCW
specification. Undoubtedly the
news that we’re due to move
onto the TOCA package for
2020 will have helped.”Bumper entry
of 33 drivers
sign up for
Mini JCWs
help with learning the new car.
“The car is new to everybody, so it
might be a good year for me to use to learn
the car and get a feel for it without the
pressure of feeling like I need to win
another championship,” she said.OBritish, European and World karting
champion Mark Kimber will graduate to car
racing this season, competing in the GT4
class of British GT with Century Motorsport.
Kimber will drive a BMW M4 for the
reigning GT4 champion team alongside Jacob
Mathiassen, who previously drove for the
squad in a Ginetta in British GT in 2017.
JAMES NEWBOLD AND GRAHAM KEILLOH