Tregurtha gets hot under the collar on his way to first GT victory

Will Tregurtha had to drive without a water bottle for most of the race at Rockingham, but that didn't stop him and team-mate Stuart Middleton taking a sensational maiden victory.
Battling at the frontBattling at the front
Battling at the front

The GT4 series rookies made history in the opening round by becoming the youngest ever pair to stand on the podium, but went a step further by taking pole position and the win in the third race of the season.

Starting out the second race meeting of the season in perfect style with their maiden pole position, achieved by combining each driver’s quickest lap, Milton Keynes racer Tregurtha took the opening stint of the two-hour race.

After handing the No.55 Ginetta G55 GT4 over from the lead of the race with less than 50 minutes to go at the end of a marathon stint, HHC electing to employ a very late pit stop strategy, Ashington driver Middleton then worked his way back into the lead and went on to take the chequered flag some 10 seconds clear – even with a late-race Safety Car period which closed up the pack.

Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podiumWill Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podium
Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podium

Going into round three, the duo’s longest ever race, third in the GT4 standings, Tregurtha and Middleton have rocketed to the top of the championship table with a healthy 15-point advantage. In the ‘Silver Class’ battle they are an even greater 25.5 points clear of their nearest pursuers.

Although the victory looked calm from the outside, it was far from it inside, according to Tregurtha afterwards.

“It got pretty hot in the car, I lost my water bottle after about four laps – it just got burning hot," he said. "That wasn’t the nicest but it was a great race and an incredible result for us. We looked to see how long the tyres would last, in the race we just improvised and HHC got the pit-stop strategy absolutely right.

"By pitting late, we had better tyres for the second stint and Stuart did a great job to just drive away when he got by.”

Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podiumWill Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podium
Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton atop the podium

“We couldn’t really have asked for more this weekend, it’s incredible. The first stint was probably the most frustrating I’ve ever done, being stuck behind the McLaren – they drive away so quickly on the straight and then you can catch them up through the corners.

"It did mean at the end of the stint our tyres were still really good, so we could do some fast laps before jumping into the pits."