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Andy Richardson enjoyed a superb weekend at Pembrey to take victory in each of the three Ginetta Challenge races.
Richardson qualified on pole position for race one but made a sluggish start which dropped him behind Oulton Park winner George Murrells (Optimum Motorsport) and David Jackson (Optimum Motorsport) who had qualified second and third respectively. Richardson fought back and passed Jackson at Brooklands, with Sean Huyton (Academy Motorsport) also moving ahead of Jackson at Hatchetts Hairpin on lap four.
Richardson set off in pursuit of Murrells and the two ran alongside each other as they raced down to Honda Curve. Turning through the right-hand kink, the two cars were level and Murrells found himself squeezed towards the grass. Richardson made his move stick at Honda Curve and asserted himself to win by a slender three-tenths margin over Sean Huyton who nipped by Murrells when the early-leader had his grassy moment. Murrells slipped to fourth but retaliated to capture third place by outbraking Jackson heading into Hatchetts Hairpin.
Murrells started a wet race two from pole position but made a slow getaway, which allowed Richardson to nip ahead. Pole-sitter Murrells fell back to sixth place and was forced to make a recovery as Richardson battled with Sean Huyton for the race lead. Ormskirk's Huyton moved ahead of Richardson for the lead going into Brooklands while a charging drive was being put in by Dominic Pettit in the G40 of HHC Motorsport. Pettit was up to fourth when the race was interrupted by a safety car period caused by cars slithering of in the wet, but Pettit had his own dramas on the restart and spun at Hatchetts Hairpin. That dropped him to eighth place as Richardson ran out the winner by over a second from Huyton with Stuart Pearson taking third. Murrells, ruing his poor start, finished fourth.
Murrells was on pole position for race three but made another poor start and fell to sixth place as Richardson took the lead. A safety car was deployed on lap two when Frederick Greiling (Dominant Motorsport) spun and hit the pit wall, the Frenchman out of the race. On the restart, Huyton sneaked by Richardson to take the lead as, behind them, David Jackson spun at the Esses. Dominic Pettit had a grassy moment at Honda Curve on lap nine and lost ground and the recovering Murrells moved on to the tail of Richardson for second place. On lap nine, Murrells outbraked Richardson at Brooklands to secure second place and then set off in pursuit off Huyton. Starting the last lap, with the track still wet, Huyton spun under braking for the first corner, Hatchetts Hairpin. Murrells hesitated as he waited to see which way Huyton would go and in his momentary delay allowed Richardson to nip ahead. A feisty Murrells tried desperately to regain the lead but Richardson's stoic defence was enough to keep him ahead, the two cars just a tenth of a second apart as they flashed over the line. Huyton recovered for third ahead of Matt Harris and the recovered Pettit fifth.
Richardson's stellar weekend puts him into the lead of the championship as the Ginetta Challenge moves next to Rockingham on July 17/18.
