Xentek Motorsport scored a sensational double victory in the second round of the 2024 Ginetta GT Championship at Silverstone this past weekend (27-28 April), with racing siblings Luke and Conner Garlick each scoring a dominant race win.
The South Yorkshire team had kicked off their 11th consecutive season of Ginetta racing with two podiums each for the Garlick brothers in the Oulton Park season opener, and they continued their fantastic start with another four podium haul on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.
Luke started as he meant to go on by setting the fastest time overall in Friday testing and he duly followed that up with a superb double pole position in qualifying the next day, a remarkable result in only his second qualifying session behind the wheel of a Ginetta G56 GTP.
The reigning GT5 Challenge Pro champion went on to put in a phenomenal display in race one, soaking up early pressure from pole before stamping his authority on the race and pulling clear to complete a sublime lights-to-flag win – his first in the championship.
Conner had a more difficult qualifying session as he finished up fifth of the Pro class contenders. He made good early progress in the opening race though, moving up to fourth and latching onto the tail of the car ahead. Race-long pressure forced his rival to make some mistakes, culminating in a track limits penalty that promoted Conner to a podium finish in third.
The qualifying troubles meant Conner was last on the grid for race two on Sunday, which started on a damp circuit after earlier rainfall. With nothing to lose and the feeling the track may dry quickly, he took a gamble to start on slick tyres when everyone else opted for wet rubber.
After a couple of laps, it became clear his decision was the right one. Taking chunks of time out of his rivals lap-by-lap, he scythed his way through the field in style and ended up securing the biggest race winning margin in GT Championship history with a 20-second success.
Luke made it a stunning one-two finish for the brothers, having himself been the class of the field on wet tyres. Sensationally pulling over five seconds clear within two laps, he stretched his lead to almost 11 seconds at one stage before settling for second behind his brother.
The team ran a third car for the weekend also, with a late deal bringing debutant Martin Thomas into the line-up. Competing as an Am, he qualified well in third in class and was on course for a fantastic podium finish in race two before being cruelly denied by a driveshaft failure.
Christopher Richards – Team Principal: “Wow! What an incredible weekend. Luke was on top form, setting the pace in practice and qualifying, then dominating race one and setting the fastest lap. Were it not for Conner’s tyre gamble, he’d have taken a clean sweep from the weekend and we couldn’t have asked for any more from him.
“Conner was frustrated after qualifying and that certainly fired him up for the races. He put in a proper fight in race one to earn the podium and then his gamble on tyres for race two was inspired, and once the track swapped in his favour he was truly unstoppable.
“It was great to welcome Martin to the team for his first outing in the GT Championship. It was a late deal so he hadn’t got much time in the car, but he showed great progress through every session and deserved a podium in race two were it not for a mechanical issue out of our control.”
The 2024 Ginetta season continues next month with the third round of the GT Championship taking place on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit on 25-26 May - the same weekend as the long-awaited opening round of the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB at Snetterton.
Images from Jakob Ebrey Photography.