Double-podium joy for Fox Motorsport duo at Oulton Park

Team work puts Dugganite back on the podium at GT Cup, Donington.

Fox Motorsport enjoyed their best weekend of the GT Cup season as drivers Ian Duggan and James Townsend scored a double-podium finish at Oulton Park for the team from Maldon, Essex. The results for the pair aboard their British-built Ginetta G55 sportscar enabled them to climb to fourth place in the GTA class points with the season now having crossed its halfway point.
 
Overnight thunderstorms in Cheshire left the 2.7-mile Oulton Park International Circuit extremely wet for Saturday morning’s practice and qualifying sessions, but Ipswich-born James acquitted himself well to put the car fourth in class on the starting grid. It was team-mate Ian who started the opening race on a damp, but rapidly drying, track, running fourth throughout his stint, but remaining in contention for the podium positions.
 
An inspired strategy decision from the Fox team to remain on wet tyres, rather than change to slicks, saved James – now installed behind the drivers’ seat – crucial time in pitlane and kept him in contention for the top three. He was to reward the team’s cunning with a sensational move at the last corner of the race to clinch third spot and the final step of the podium, having gained four seconds on his key rival over the final lap.
 
Starting second in class for a fully-dry Race Two, Ian, from Hockley, again put together a superb stint, the highlight of which was arguably the best overtaking move of the season. Side-by-side for two corners, Ian drove around the outside of his chief rival at the daunting downhill, off-camber Cascades corner to hit the front – an advantage he and James would hold until just a lap-and-a-half from the chequered flag.
 
Obeying blue-flag instructions to allow himself to be lapped by a faster car, James was unwittingly passed by his rival for the class victory and finished second. This was nevertheless the fifth podium finish from four events in 2021 for James and Ian and a result that promoted the pair to fourth in the GTA Drivers’ standings – just six points away from third spot.
 
Ian Duggan said: “If you’d told us on Saturday morning that we’d leave Oulton Park with two podiums, I think we’d both have taken it straight away. It’s a hard track, but a really enjoyable one and one that both James and I have won races on in the past. I really struggled in a wet test at Snetterton earlier in the year as it was the first time I’d driven a car with real power in those conditions, but this weekend it’s just been fantastic. I took a few laps in practice to get myself warmed-up, but after that the laps were always strong and both James and I found a good rhythm. It’s the first time I’ve been the starting driver for both Enduros on a weekend and I think it worked well. Maybe it’s something we’ll try again.”
 
James Townsend said: “It’s been a mega event. We’re back to having the car exactly where we thought it should have been all season and in general the laptimes in every session and race for both Ian and myself were the most competitive they’ve been all year. Second and third makes this our best weekend yet and I’m proud of the whole team for that. It was a great call to stay on wets in the Race One pitstop and the move for the podium at the last corner was pretty satisfying. We were so close to winning Race Two, but I gave the car that was lapping me too much respect and cost myself a good exit out of Cascades, and that was all it took for the car that was racing me to get past. I’m still really pleased with the results.”
 
Paul McNeilly, Team Principal, said: “This is fast turning into one of our best seasons to date as a team across all the series we compete in, and that’s a great tribute to every member of the Fox Motorsport team. We’ve been winners in Ginetta Juniors, podium finishers in British GT and now we’ve been in the top three on five occasions in four events in GT Cup. Ian and James really do thrive on confidence and you could see this weekend that they felt comfortable to push hard, whatever the weather conditions, at a track where they’ve both won with us in the past. I think we can be pretty confident that we’ll be in good shape at Silverstone next time out.”