WILLIAMS AND FIELDING TURN THE TABLES TO SECURE GT4 CROWN
Richard Williams and Sennan Fielding overcame a points deficit heading into the final round to end the season as overall GT4 champions at the wheel of their Steller Motorsport Audi.
The duo trailed Matt Topham/darren Turner (Newbridge Aston Martin) by 12.5 points, as well as needing to serve longer in the pits courtesy of being an all-silver crew compared to their Pro-am rivals. Therefore, to stand any chance, they would need to be ahead when the pitstop window opened before the hour mark.
But they were almost thwarted by a safety car in the opening 30 minutes to retrieve debris following a GT3 clash at the Fogarty Esses, negating a healthy gap Williams had over Topham.
Williams had circulated in second during the opening stint, trailing the polesitting Toyota of Tom Edgar and Jordan Collard, which the former used to good effect to pull out a healthy lead once racing resumed.
The duo were never truly threatened all afternoon despite losing the lead briefly to the R Racing Aston Martin of Jamie Day once the pitstops had taken place. Day and team-mate
Josh Miller had a mathematical chance at the title before the meeting and had put themselves in a position to win it after staying out longer once the pit window opened.
Fielding, in for Williams, had rejoined only fourth but soon set about gaining places, disposing of Moh Ritson’s Paddock Mclaren at Copice with 30 minutes left, before moving ahead of Day on the exit of Goddards as they were being lapped by the race leaders – enough for the title.
“I just wanted to enjoy today,” said Fielding. “I thought we were on the back foot with the success penalties, we knew it was going to be a challenge but I think a little bit of lady luck [came our way]. Richard did the best first stint ever, he made my life so much easier.”
Topham/turner failed to feature, the former
circulating down the order during the opening stint, and pitting nearly 25 seconds behind Williams. A brake fire was the least of the team’s worries during the pitstop because a safety car restart infringement by Topham meant the car had to serve a drivethrough penalty.
Turner rejoined well down the order needing to finish at least fifth in order to take the title. But the Le Mans 24 Hours class winner struggled to make headway, only passing Jack Brown’s Century BMW into the Melbourne Hairpin for seventh in the final two minutes, meaning he and Topham fell short by 5.5 points.