Seb Morris has increased his lead at the head of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge standings thanks to pole position and second place in the latest British GT Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.
The Welshman’s advantage had been cut to little more than four points as a result of his non-finish at Silverstone last time and his nearest rivals’ results over the subsequent month. However, he bounced back emphatically in Belgium to establish a 10.78-point lead with just three British GT races remaining.
In contrast, Morris’ closest challengers - Marco Cencetti, Tony Wells, James Littlejohn and Alex Kapadia - all still have 12 Radical contests with which to improve, but also reduce, their average scores.
Joe Osborne remains sixth despite a reasonably quiet weekend at Spa, while the only other significant Sunoco Whelen Challenge mover was Jon Barnes who now sits 10th after winning his first British GT race for eight years.
There were also few significant changes in this year’s Sunoco 200 Challenge standings.
Morris’ Team Parker Racing co-driver Rick Parfitt Jnr increased his average score by 2.2 points by finishing second at Spa but remains fifth in the Sunoco table. He’s more than 32.5 behind Mini Challenge’s long-time leader Max Bladon, who returns to Cooper class action at Brands Hatch this weekend.
It’s a similar story for second placed Steve Burgess who, at 20.28 points adrift of Bladon, requires a perfect Radical Challenge outing at Oulton Park if he’s to make any headway this weekend.
Mini Challenge JCW racer Nathan Harrison is a further 4.5 points back in third but the same number clear of Shane Kelly whose F3 Cup campaign also continues at Oulton.
Second place for British GT4 championship-leading team-mates Mike Robinson and Graham Johnson at Spa has helped them climb to sixth and eighth respectively, sandwiching another Mini Challenge JCW protagonist - Charlie Butler-Henderson - in seventh.
Derek Johnston and Liam Griffin, who finished seventh and eighth at Spa, complete the Sunoco 200 Challenge top-10, while Mark Farmer moves up 23 positions to 19th after claiming his maiden series victory alongside Barnes.
However, with so many Sunoco-supplied categories racing this weekend and the opportunity for average scores to increase as well as decrease, there’s every chance of seeing further changes in seven days time.
Click here for the latest Sunoco Whelen Challenge standings, and here for the Sunoco 200 Challenge points.
This weekend’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge-eligible events:
Radical Team Challenge: Oulton Park (3x races)
This weekend’s Sunoco 200 Challenge-eligible events:
Radical Challenge: Oulton Park (2x races)
F3 Cup: Oulton Park (2x races)
Mini Challenge JCW and Cooper classes: Brands Hatch (3x races)
What are the Sunoco Challenges?
The Sunoco Challenges provide an accurate assessment and comparison of performances across multiple championships during any given season. Points are awarded for qualifying and race results, including fastest lap, which are then converted into an individual average score for each competing driver over the course of a full campaign.
That means each race weekend offers drivers an equal chance to climb and drop down their respective Sunoco Challenge table. It also ensures that performances are taken into consideration across an entire season while placing less emphasis on one-off or unfair results.
As in previous years this season’s Sunoco Challenge champion will win a fully funded drive aboard a Whelen-sponsored prototype in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Meanwhile, Sunoco’s 200 Challenge champion will contest the 200-mile Daytona support race held over the same January weekend.