Fin Green endured a luckless second event of the season at Donington Park in the Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Donington Park this past weekend (April 27/28), thankfully walking away without major injury after being involved in a sizeable incident in race three. 

Entering the weekend keen to build on a solid season-opener at Brands Hatch at the start of the month, Green was left to ponder what might have been as he encountered trouble across all three GT4 SuperCup races.
Having honed the set-up of his rear-wheel-drive machine across Thursday’s two practice sessions, damp conditions greeted the grid for qualifying on Saturday morning. In what proved to be another ultra-competitive battle for pole position, the Total Control Racing driver set a best time of 1:20.098s to qualify sixth for the opening race of the weekend.

Race one proved to be a truncated affair with three safety car periods limiting racing to just a couple of laps. Making progress off the line, the GDS Group-backed racer was unable to build any momentum as those around him found themselves in strife, neutralising the race after the first lap.

Getting a handful of laps in before the safety car made a second appearance, Green ran as high as fifth but found himself out of luck as he soon dropped down the order and sadly failed to finish.

Starting sixth for race two of the weekend, Green looked to bounce back from his race one woes but it sadly wasn’t to be. In what proved to be a pulsating 18-lap race, the former Ginetta Junior race-winner showed strong pace in the early running as he vaulted up to fourth place.

Honing in on elevating himself onto the podium for the first time in the series, the Love Cars-backed teenager encountered further travails, making contact with Reece Somerfield which ultimately brought his race to a premature end.

In front of a packed-out trackside crowd and live on ITV4, with the on-board camera fitted to his #44 machine, Green’s weekend came to an abrupt end in unfortunate circumstances.

Lining up sixth once again, the TCR driver was a man on a mission in the early stages as he worked his way into fifth at the exit of Redgate on lap two. Not long after that Green was hot on the heels of Carl Shield for fourth place and attempted to make a move for the position heading into the final chicane.

Unfortunately, Green’s striking machine spun after dropping a wheel on the grass and was subsequently hit by several other cars. Luckily Green was able to walk away from the accident, but was taken to the nearby Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for scans and x-rays.

It was confirmed he’d suffered a severe concussion and heavy bruising to his ribs, back, groin, neck and spine. Following a short stay in the hospital, Green is now back at home in Bristol continuing his recovery.

Fin Green: “It has been a really tough weekend. Considering the size of the accident, my injuries could have been much worse and it’s a testament to the Ginetta G55 race car that it did its job and stood up to the impact we suffered.

“A massive thank you to the marshals and TOCA medical team for their fantastic support in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the ambulance staff who took us to Nottingham and all the doctors at the QMC Trauma Centre and Ward 34 for their care. Thank you also to my family, my coach Dave Wooder and everyone at Total Control Racing for their continued support.

“I’m naturally really disappointed with the weekend, we really didn’t have the luck on our side, it’s as simple as that. We’ve got a break in the calendar now so I will go away, recover, regroup and look to come back stronger.”

Pending clearance from the TOCA medical team, Green hopes to return to action during the next rounds of the 2019 Millers Oils Ginetta GT4 SuperCup at Croft in Yorkshire on June 15/16.

Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.