McKenna Moves To Top Of Ginetta GT5 Table With Thrilling Donington Win

North East racer Scott McKenna continued his fine form by clinching a third victory in the most recent Ginetta GT5 Challenge meeting at Donington, moving to the top of the standings as a result.

A thrilling contest on Saturday went the way of the 17-year-old from Stokesley, North Yorkshire, who made it three victories on the spin after a fine brace earlier in the month at Silverstone.

Battling older tyres all weekend, McKenna then fought to a brace of solid fifth place finishes on Sunday to cement his title push, moving into the lead of the championship for the first time.

Sharing the bill with British GT at the full-length Donington Park GP circuit in Leicester, the Xentek Motorsport youngster earned another pole position ahead of the weekend’s triple header after a tight qualifying session, hindered by traffic late on as times began to tumble.

Later that Saturday, McKenna took the fight to fellow front row starter Geri Nicosia in a tense eight-lap opening race. Part of a five-car lead battle, the two title protagonists swapped places on numerous occasions in the final laps, McKenna making the crucial move stick at McLeans on the last tour to make it three wins on the bounce.

Starting seventh on the grid for race two on Sunday morning, McKenna held his ground on older rubber and advanced to sixth place on the road, promoted to fifth after a technical infringement excluded the winner.

The final race was another hotly-contested encounter. Starting from fifth, McKenna used his ice driving experience on worn tyres to haul himself into the lead battle and finish a strong fifth, keeping title rivals Adam Smalley and Gordie Mutch in sight.

A purple patch in form for McKenna now vaults him into the lead of the GT5 Challenge Drivers’ Championship, while Xentek Motorsport grabbed the Teams’ Championship lead with three meetings remaining. The next of those is a visit across the waters to Zandvoort in Holland on 6/7 July.

Scott McKenna (#27 Xentek Motorsport):

“We got a good lap in that put us on pole, but we didn’t get a second quick time in down to traffic which is just bad luck. Race one was such a good battle. The last three laps; it was just Geri and myself overtaking each other – it was proper racing. I got a better exit out of the Old Hairpin, then had to out-brake him which was risky, but it worked. Then it was defend, defend, defend like my life depended on it!

“We started fifth for the last race and I was hanging on, as we went on older tyres all weekend. We’re trying to work it out so we can use brand new tyres for the rest of the season. It bit us back [at Donington], as the tyres level off after heat cycles, and I had to graft to get those fifth place results.

“It’s more points at the end of the day and it was massive for us. We’re in a good position now for Zandvoort and Silverstone. Hopefully the next few rounds will be strong for us.”

Double Delight For Scott McKenna At Home Of British Motorsport

North East racer Scott McKenna enjoyed a weekend to remember at Silverstone, taking an emphatic double win in the British GT-supporting Ginetta GT5 Challenge to break his 2019 victory duck.

Battling changeable conditions at the Home of British Motorsport, the 17-year-old from Stokesley, North Yorkshire, took a brace of dominant victories in the ultra-competitive one-make series to close in on the championship lead.

The weekend started in difficult weather conditions for qualifying around the full-length 3.6-mile GP circuit, but that did not deter McKenna from sharing pole positions with Gordie Mutch to grab his opportunity ahead of the two races.

Chasing his first win of the season, the Xentek Motorsport youngster duly delivered in the opening race on Saturday, grabbing the edge thanks to a better start before mastering the drying conditions on slick tyres. McKenna – carrying the helmet colours of the late Formula 1 racer Ronnie Peterson – finished seven seconds clear of a fierce battle for second, a feat he looked to repeat in the 20-minute second encounter on Sunday.

Drier conditions threatened a closer contest at the slipstream-friendly circuit, but a lightning start and consistent string of early laps were all McKenna needed to stamp his authority. Dropping front-row starter Mutch, he proceeded to pull clear of the battle for second between Geri Nicosia, Danny Harrison and Josh Malin to clinch another triumph by five seconds.

With a British GT seat on his radar, the double win moves McKenna to within 15 points of championship leader Nicosia, on a weekend where fellow title contender Adam Smalley struggled after a time penalty was applied to his second race result.

McKenna will look to continue his strong run of form at the next meeting at Donington Park, held over the weekend of June 22/23.

Scott McKenna (#27 Xentek Motorsport):

“From my perspective, it was like I’d gone testing all weekend. We’re now being really consistent. In race one we literally got the perfect start, and that was it. One thing I heard from the commentators was that they said the real damage seemed to be done by my first few laps in both races.

“Qualifying was probably the worst conditions I’d ever driven in and something I’d never experienced before, so it was more a task of trying not to crash, but it couldn’t have gone much better. The first race looked wet, but about half an hour before the race the sun came out and we put slicks on it. That played into our hands because we’d done no wet testing until Friday.

“It was exactly what happened in the second race too. I dropped Gordie Mutch off the start and that was it – I didn’t look back. It’s massive points and I think the key now is that as long as we stay consistent and stay ahead of Geri and Adam, we’ll chip into the lead. I don’t need to start taking risks, just be clever.”