Will Burns cemented his Ginetta GT4 SuperCup title credentials last weekend with a double podium finish at the opening three rounds of the season at Brands Hatch in Kent.
The Weston-super-Mare racer has joined defending champion squad HHC Motorsport for his second season in the championship, alongside new team-mates Jamie Orton and former champion Carl Breeze.
Following successful testing with the team over the Winter, Burns made his debut with the team around the circuit’s short Indy layout.
“I had completed a fair amount of Winter testing and I felt I had some great pace with both Jamie and Carl on board to target a intra-team title fight,” Burns said. “From the testing, I was only a tenth of a second behind Carl who has years of experience
in this car.
“I therefore believe that following a learning year in 2014, I have to step up and be a little more consistent this season. My target therefore is to claim a lot more podiums this season, and hopefully race wins to target the title.”
In damp conditions, Will set out for the opening qualifying session of the season, and was immediately topping the time sheet. Burns battled it out with his team-mates to take pole position, finishing second in a HHC Motorsport 1-2-3 for the weekend’s opening race.
Will made a good start to Saturday’s first encounter, only dropping a single place throughout the race, and was challenging Breeze for second. But a slight error on the final lap allowed Tom Oliphant to get past to steal third at the chequered flag. Will therefore had to settle for fourth place.
It was a slightly disappointing finish to the race for Burns, which demonstrates just how far he has progressed throughout the past 12 months.
“The race went perfectly for the opening 15 laps,” Burns said. “But the mistake I made, just going slightly wide on to the damp kerb on the slick tyres, slowed my progress. I was really frustrated as I could see my first podium in sight. I immediately wanted to make up for it in Sunday’s two races.”
In Sunday’s far dryer conditions, Will started fourth on the grid for race two. He wasn’t going to be denied his maiden podium, and battled back to rescue two places to finish third at the flag to give HHC Motorsport its first podium lock-out of the new season.
Burns reflected: “I lost two places in the opening stages of race two, but I was determined to make up for that. I had the pace and made two key overtakes as I knew that the team wanted a 1-2-3 on the podium to show their dominance.”
Will once again started fourth for the reversed grid finale, broadcast live on ITV4, ahead of both his team-mates. Breeze, well renowned for his outstanding starts, made it into second ahead of Will, but Burns was not to be denied a second podium of the weekend with another third place finish behind victor Reece Somerfield.
“I thought that Reece drove a blinding race, but at the same time he fitted two new tyres to the left side of his car,” Will said. “We didn’t opt for that strategy, instead keeping hold of them for another round and remaining on old rubber. We decided to bank as many points as possible and move on to the next round.
“The reversed grid is always a lottery, but the team wanted me to take advantage of my qualifying position in the first two races, and then consolidate in the third. So I’m over the moon to take third place in the finale.”
Will’s success last weekend, has placed him fourth in the early season points.
Will Burns will continue his Ginetta GT4 SuperCup charge at the next rounds at Donington Park in Leicestershire. Burns is determined to use the momentum gained from last weekend’s results, and score further podiums next weekend.
“I’m going to be studying the data from both Jamie and Carl to push forwards ahead of Donington Park. We’re certainly not going to rest on our laurels. We know that there’s more to come from this car, so we need to continue to push hard and target victories.”
images of Will Burns, supplied courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography