Dramatic Donington finale for College drivers

DRIVERS from Loughborough College were in action at Donington Park for a dramatic season finale.

Ben Tuck and Ben Green were fighting for the championship with Century Motorsport BMW and Charlie Fagg was representing Tolman Motorsport, both in the GT4 class, Katie Milner was competing in the Ginetta G5 series and Lewis Brown was racing in the JCW Mini challenge.

Katie, who was the first female to win the national Junior Saloon Car Championship and received the Gold Star Award from the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club in recognition of her motorsport talent, studies on the Motor Sport Association programme at Loughborough College while programme alumni Ben, Ben, Charlie and Lewis are all achieving success in their driving careers.

Loughborough College Motorsport programme lead David Wappat was joined by lecturer Alex Fletcher track side at Donington. “The MSA programme is going from strength to strength with around 40 young drivers studying with us,” said David.

“We deliver the part of the course which enables them to not only to have an overview of the motor industry and how it runs but also to better understand and assess the technical aspects of the cars and carts they are driving. This helps them share accurate information with the teams setting up their vehicles. There are varying amounts of data available from vehicles, so an informed heads up from drivers can be crucial.

“It was great to support our current and former students who were so professional and welcoming.

“Ben Green drove the first part of the race in the BMW M4 with Ben Tuck taking over for the second half. They were in with a shout but lost out on the British GT4 2018 title by a single point to their sister car.

“Charlie helped Tolman Motorsport complete the overall podium and in the Teams’ standings, Tolman’s double podium was almost enough to win but Century Motorsport took it by 1.5 points.

“Lewis was handed pole from the random grid draw but when he pulled off the line his drive shaft snapped. He finished seventh overall for the series. Katie’s three races included a multiple car pile up and the rebuilding of her vehicle. Thankfully she was fine and she finished eighth overall in the 2018 Ginetta GT5 challenge.”