After leading the championship all season Joe finally managed to secure the GT4 European title with a race to spare.  With yet another car change Joe was driving a brand new Ginetta G50 which had only done 10 shake down laps before being transported down to the Algarve circuit.

As with all of the circuits that Joe has raced at this year the Algarve was a brand new circuit that had to be learnt in double quick time.  Fortunately he was being supported by two great engineers from the Ginetta factory Paul and Simmy and with further back up from life time friend and mechanical genius Johnny Nabbs.

After an impressive qualifying session which netted a 2^nd and a 1^st on the Saturday, the first part of the task was complete.  Race 1. On the rolling lap the task became a lot easier as the main challenger experienced electrical problems and failed to make the start.  Joe had a great start and maintained 2^nd place behind the BMW M3.  The pressure was still on as the next closest rival was in 3^rd place in the impressive Aston Martin.  With a successful pit stop completed the news came though that the Aston Martin had a mechanical problem and was out of the race.  This now meant that it was possible for Joe to win the championship in the first race, all he had to do was finish one place behind in the BMW.  With no immediate pressure from the 3^rd placed car Joe was able to stop pushing so hard and concentrate on bringing the car home safe and sound which he did in 2^nd place to win the 2009 championship.

Zolder – Belguim 22^nd August

Following a perfect start to rounds 9 & 10 by securing two pole positions the race results didn’t live up to expectations but despite this Osborne left the Belguim circuit at Zolder still leading the championship by 6 points. Joe was sharing the Team LNT Ginetta G50 with a new driver partner works Ginetta driver Nigel Moore. The pair had raced together last season in British GT to great effect scoring a first at the Thruxton round. The race problem was with the starts as in race 1 Nigel was jumped by the rest of the grid and was running in 8^th after the first lap. Both drivers put in great performances and managed to recover to an impressive 4^th place. In race 2 Joe made a great get away only to suffer brake problems into turn 1 and as in race 1 dropped places to around 8^th.

Yet again both drivers put in stunning lap times and recovered to 5^th place by the end of the race. These results secured a vital 9 points which combined with his rivals suffering reliability problems leaves Joe ahead in the standings as the GT4 European Cup grid heads off to the Algarve for the final 2 rounds and the chance of finally securing the European championship.

Rounds 7 & 8 in Belgium at the 7 km Grand Prix Circuit of Spa were always going to be tough as the Ginetta G50 would struggle against the heavier but more powerful competition such as the BMW M3, Porsche 911 and Aston Martin N24. The two races at Spa were a damage limitation exercise and to end the weekend with the 7 point lead maintained which was a great result.

Our new team GCR performed really well and worked really hard over the weekend to ensure that the car ran without problems. Saturday’s race was full of twists and turns right to the end with the two BMW M3’s running in first and second as they started the last lap. Fortunately from a points position there was a coming together resulting in a DNF for both drivers.

A final position of 4^th and a 7^th place in race two were enough to secure a vital 7 points from the weekend and maintain the all important championship lead. On to Zolder with races on the 21^st & 22nd August.

As the cars formed on the grid for Race 1 the dark clouds decided to empty their contents. Scenes of frantic activity ensued as the teams prepared the cars for a tyre change. Joe as the pole sitter elected to stay on slicks as did the car in second place, where as the majority of the grid went for wets. With the rain stopping Joe and the team were confident the track would dry before the half way mark leaving the slick runners with the advantage. Dropping to 12^th on the first lap Joe battled with difficult conditions and a track that was refusing to dry. The team and driver opted to take the pit stop at the earliest opportunity in order to maximise any improvements in the drying track. Finally with 25 minutes of the 40 minute race gone Joe’s lap times finally started to fall. Moving rapidly through the wet shod cars Joe managed to progress through to 6^th setting the fastest lap of the race on the way. Unfortunately time was not on our side and this was to be the final position for Osborne’s number 52 Ginetta G50. Despite the disappointing result the points situation was looking much better as Joe’s closest rival finished 5^th gaining only 1 more point. Joe commented “I couldn’t believe how slowly the track was drying as in free practice on Friday with a similar amount of rain it took about 10 minutes to dry. Once the track started to dry my times really stated to improve but we needed another 5 minutes.”

Joe’s 100% record of qualifying on pole was maintained this weekend at rounds 5 and 6 at Oschersleben in Germany. Despite the Ginetta G50 being given even more penalties in order to slow the car down Joe still managed to out qualify an impressive field including current GT3 leader Maxime Martin in a Porsche 911.

Another great race in the G50Z. With 10 laps to go I’d managed to get the car up to to third behind the Mosler and Ascari. It was neck and neck but with 5 laps to go I dived up the inside of the Mosler at the hairpin. A few laps later I lunged into the last corner and past the Ascari. Depite the Ascari’s pace on corner one I held on to the lead for my second vistory of the weekend.

Update: I’m pleased to announce I’ve been awarded the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award!

Being the top Ginetta driver at Silverstone this year meant I won a chance to race in the British GT3 championship at Rockingham. I’d be driving the new Ginetta G50Z for Barwell Motorsport.

Qualifying went great and we managed to put the car on pole. After a great start in the race we managed to maintain our lead throughout to post a really great victory.

We race again tomorrow at 13:45…

Having lead the race from the start the pit stop didn’t go so well meaning we finished third. All in all a great weekend. The next round is at Oschersleben, Germany on June 21st. To see the championship standings click here.