Rookie George Gamble produced a dominant lights-to-flag display to claim a maiden triumph in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as an amazing day of action came to a close at Knockhill.
The young Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport star has been one of the standout drivers during the 2022 campaign so far, and the Nottinghamshire man took what proved to be a hugely popular win in front of a huge crowd.
Not only did Gamble take the victory, but he did so by seeing off a number of multiple race winners behind him.
ROKiT MB Motorsport's Jake Hill completed his own impressive day with second as he fought back from an early mistake to get back by the likes of Ash Sutton, Colin Turkington and Rory Butcher.
Toyota GAZOO Racing UK's Butcher increased the celebrations as he took a podium in front of his home crowd, as he eventually held off Team BMW's Turkington and NAPA Racing UK's Sutton.
Gordon Shedden got caught up in a lap one incident with then championship leader Tom Ingram, which sent the latter tumbling down the order whilst further contact with NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish unfortunately sent him out of the race.
Halfords Racing with Cataclean's Shedden recovered to take sixth ahead of Team BMW’s Stephen Jelley and Rich Energy BTC Racing’s Josh Cook.
Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com’s Tom Chilton enjoyed a solid weekend in Scotland as he grabbed ninth, whilst Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat settled for a top-ten finish.
George Gamble said: “Unbelievable! I’ve not raced for a couple of years, and it’s been such a journey to get back racing. I was so emotional on the in lap, this is something I’ve dreamed of since I was 14 in Ginetta Juniors, to win a race in the BTCC. I just can’t thank everyone involved enough. The team, the sponsors, everyone that made this happen. I really wouldn’t be standing here without you.
“It’s such a feeling that was! To lead lights to flag. The times that we were putting in were consistent and we built a gap and managed that. It was just a picture-perfect race, I can’t believe it.
“I think up to the last lap I was a bit cautious, I could feel the tyres going and the brakes and I didn’t want to make a silly error. But if you were to picture your first race win, that’s exactly how you’d want it and what a feeling, I can’t believe it. Unbelievable.
“We opened at Donington Park with a podium and just had a couple of rounds with bad luck, through no fault of anyone’s, but all day we’ve been strong. We’ve got two independent wins, a fifth and a seventh and then an overall win, Jack Sears and Independents’ in the last race so I’ve got three trophies so it’s unbelievable.”
Jake Hill said: “I'm a little bit happier after that last one! A fantastic result. Obviously, Tom and Gordon getting into each other obviously helps likes of me and Colin [Turkington] coming through, so a fantastic result. I owe a big, big thank you to Colin, his engineer John and the team for letting me have a go at Rory at the end there, and obviously it paid off. Also, a big well done to George, I had my first win here as well so very fitting, well done to him.
“We've been very quick this weekend there's no two ways about it. I got my mojo back. After around lap three, I was really on it again and I was catching Colin, Rory and George quite quickly. And they were good enough to let me have a go and obviously try and get past Rory. I'm just thrilled with this weekend and we’re only 14 away from the championship lead now, which is a massive bonus.”
Rory Butcher said: “It either needed to be me or Gordon on the podium, we were the ones at the front! That's the great thing about touring cars with having the reverse grid. It gave me a chance to try and get a race win and to give George a hard time. But it was hard to make inroads. They were strong coming out of Clark and the Hairpin and they kind of pulled away up the straight through the back. I kind of felt like I’d reeled him in a bit, but as soon as Colin got on my tail it spiced things up and George got away. I had a quadruple champion on my tail, followed by the polesitter, so I just did my best to hang on for the last five laps and with no hybrid... I deserve a drink, I think!
“I just want to thank the team; they’ve worked so hard over the weekend. We really did struggle in practice and in race one and I just want to say thank you. Those guys work super hard and it came off in those last two races.”
2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Knockhill
1. George GAMBLE (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport 24 laps
2. Jake HILL (GBR) ROKiT MB Motorsport +4.332s
3. Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +7.357s
4. Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +7.883s
5. Ash SUTTON (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +8.503s
6. Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +8.971s
7. Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +9.143s
8. Josh COOK (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +13.901s
9. Tom CHILTON (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +16.516s
10. Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +18.437s
11. Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +19.101s 12. Tom INGRAM (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +19.984s
13. Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +20.503s
14. Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +27.955s
15. Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Toyota GAZOO Racing UK +28.245s
16. Michael CREES (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +29.029s
17. Ash HAND (GBR) CarStore Power Maxed Racing +29.842s
18. Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +30.541s
19. Jason PLATO (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +31.510s
20. Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +32.591s
21. Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +40.101s
22. Jack BUTEL (GBR) Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com +40.352s
23. Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan +40.653s
24. Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Rich Energy BTC Racing +43.273s
25. Rick PARFITT (GBR) Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing +51.425s
26. Will POWELL (GBR) Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero +52.814s
27. Nic HAMILTON (GBR) Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing +6 laps
28. Dexter PATTERSON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +13 laps
29. Dan CAMMISH (GBR) NAPA Racing UK +24 laps
