Top Ten Finish for Perez in Supercup Season
Chesterfield’s Ginetta race ace car driver Seb Perez celebrated his 18th birthday in style just over a week ago at Brands Hatch where he finished the championship tenth overhaul in the season finale of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup.
The Kent circuit saw the last three races of the season and where it all started back in April, with a new car and race series for Perez after promotion from the smaller Ginetta Junior Championship he had been competing in for just over two years.
Perez would make the best of the qualifying session on Saturday. The longer GP circuit meant that the prime tyre window would be a short one and offered just a handful of laps to nail a decent starting position.
Ninth in qualifying gave Perez some work to do in the opening race of the weekend but couldn’t make the most of the damp conditions saw him slip down the order to finish 12th.
Race two would almost be one to forget for Seb, sliding off the circuit onto the grass and re-joining at the back of the field. but his fight back to 13th was an impressive sight and offered a glimpse into his raw ability as he continued to learn and get to grips the G55 Ginetta race car as he has been doing all season and a good job at it too.
Chesterfield ace Perez would endure another challenging third race of the weekend deep inside the top ten and stayed out of the trouble to secure ninth spot in the final race of the season.
His result would net him tenth overall in the Pro Category of the GT4 Supercup in his debut year in the G55 Ginetta’s.
Reflecting on his season,
“It’s been a super tough season but of course all part of the learning process,” said Perez.
“I think pretty much like my team mate George (Gamble), we never really got the breaks that we needed to convert the potential into grid places and subsequent results. Being on the back foot was always hard work but it makes you a stronger and more rounded racer in the end. Big thanks to my sponsors Simpson and Amigos for their backing this season, now it’s time to concentrate on the rallying I have planned in the next few months”.
He started his first season in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup Championship in April and has seen him in action at 8 very demanding race circuits across the Country including Silverstone, Donington Park and Oulton Park in a very busy race year for him.
Starting in April at Brands Hatch on the ultra fast Indy Circuit saw him take 6th, 8th and 5th places before moving to local circuit Donington Park at Easter.
Donington was a tough weekend of mixed emotions and sadness both on and off track for Perez, to see his JHR Developments team mate and good friend, Billy Monger, involved in the horrific British Formula 4 crash and to learn that Billy had lost both lower legs.
Perez was still getting to grips with gaining more experience every time her was out on track and saw him take an excursion into the gravel to finish his session but qualify 11th, finishing 9th, 10th and 11th in a very wet last race of the weekend and teething problems didn’t help in at all over the weekend.
In May, qualifying drama at Oulton Park started the weekend off where he missed a 5 minute window whilst in the pits currently sitting in 5th with a potential 2nd place that never happened. he finished 9th and 11th that put him eighth place in the Pro Championship.
A trip to Croft in North Yorkshire in June saw the Chesterfield race ace take an eighth, eleventh and seventh to remain in eighth place in the series, before the usual 7 week break from racing.
It was back to racing after the break at the end of July and a trip to Snetterton in Norfolk, both races one and two saw him finish 10th, race three a different story not managing to finish the race.
During the beginning of August a nightmare was to emerge un be knowing to Seb, he had to find a new team ahead of the next round at Rockingham. Sebs team JHR Developments, who were the leading team in the Championship, were suspended from all Ginetta competitions for the remainder of the 2017 season pending an investigation by the Yorkshire manufacturer.
The row started when three of JHR’s junior drivers were excluded from a meeting in May over apparent irregularities with the engines in their Ginetta G40 cars.
Perez wasting no time who was tenth in the series, switched to the reigning champions team of, Lincolnshire-based Rob Boston Racing, Perez commented “After a crazy week, myself and teammate George Gamble will stick together as we join Rob Boston Racing. Now (it is) onwards and upwards”
August Bank Holiday weekend saw Rockingham on the calendar, a new team and things needed to change. That was not the case, Perez’s best qualifying time was removed for exceeding track limits, Perez started from 10th on the grid for race one, Perez duly delivered in the dash off the line. In a stunning start, Perez moved from P10 to P4 and was eying up third when he was hit from behind and sent into the midfield and out of contention finishing 14th
Eleventh and ninth would be the order for races two and three and tyre wear caused its issues too during the weekend.
Silverstone the “Home of British Motorsport” was next up in mid September, qualifying saw Perez miss the optimum slot by a few minutes, meaning starting with opening race later in the day down in tenth. Struggling with the appearance of rain mid way through race one saw him finish 12th. Torrential rain, thunder and lightning put pay to race two and a re-scheduled Sunday saw Seb take the choice to use slicks for the drying track on the early re-arranged race two, which would sadly not work out the way he wanted and headed backwards to 16th at the flag. Race three saw him finish 12th place, “I just couldn’t make the car work the way I wanted it to,” said Perez.
Last race of the season at Brands Hatch, at the beginning of October saw Perez 12th, 13th and 9th, after a massive slide into the grass in race two saw Seb fight back in his usual impressive style from back of the field to 13th place.
Editorial and photography to Paul Horton Photography
