Two Poles, Two Podiums and Snetterton lap record For Sunderland's Charlie Benson In Superb GT Cup Finale

North east rising motorsport sensation Charlie Benson ended his exceptional rookie season in car racing in fine style, grabbing two pole positions and two podiums in the GT Cup Championship finale at Snetterton last weekend (10/11 October). The 16-year-old Sunderland lad continued to turn heads in the motorsport paddocks for 24-7 Motorsport, having already clinched a win and four pole positions heading to the sixth and final event of his rookie campaign in the popular GT racing series, battling alongside the likes of Le Mans winner and F1 superstar, David Brabham. Following up from his superlative Brands Hatch showing in September, Charlie, backed by loyal sponsors such as Tapi Carpets, YESSS Electical,  Design 360, CMC North East, Horizon and the family business Benson Electrical Services Ltd, hoped for one last hurrah at the Snetterton 300 circuit which was where he claimed his first two pole positions back in May. After a solid testing programme leading up to Saturday's Qualifying session, he shone brightly in the 24-7 Motorsport Ginetta G56 GT4 when it really mattered, clocking an untouchable time good enough for pole position once again and extend his run of consecutive poles to three. He then took on the 25-minute Sprint Race later that afternoon solo - the first of four races across the weekend in Norfolk. Charlie's next challenge was to start on slicks just as rain arrived for the race, and he braved it out in second place overall in the multi-class championship. Despite the treacherous conditions eventually worsening, Charlie battled it out with Sam Branston for the class win, coming second in GTH and a brilliant fourth outright as he adapted well to the ice rink-style conditions. The weather eased for the second race later that afternoon, Charlie sharing the Ginetta with Ben Taylor for the 50-minute Pitstop Race. Taylor took the first stint and slipped back in the GTH class outside the podium places, leaving Charlie with work to do to recover from sixth. He did begin a charge, taking fifth and closing in on those ahead as the pair took a top-five in their group. The following day was all about Qualifying once again, and this time Charlie went even better than he did 24 hours earlier. His ultimate best lap of 1m54.693s was not only good enough to grab his sixth pole position in GTH of the season, but it was a new lap record for his category in the championship's 20-year history as he beat his rivals by over half a second. Charlie again took the second stint of the second Pitstop Race, and had to work hard once more as Taylor brought the car to him in fifth place after 20 minutes. Charlie hopped aboard and set a strong pace in the final 30 minutes, jumping up to third and confirming a podium for the pair ahead of Taylor securing fifth in the Sprint race later that day. A superlative debut campaign for Benson therefore ended in one win - two on the road, after one in May was taken away by a car technicality - plus six pole positions and seven podiums. Reliability ultimately cost the team over the season, meaning an unrepresentative GTH class final position of fifth. Charlie and his team now look towards the winter season and 2027, where they hope that with backing behind them, they can push for a title next year and continue such an incredible journey. Charlie Benson: “We've ended the season really, really well and I've just been loving every minute of it this year. The car has definitely clicked with me and we know that without some bad luck and some issues that cost us earlier in the season that we could easily have been up there fighting for the titles. Snetterton was fantastic, and we got both pole positions which is what I wanted and even the lap record for that class of car, which is quite cool! "I think we all know that we should have won the first race as we were much quicker than everyone in the dry, but we had to play it carefully in the wet on slick tyres which was sketchy, but actually good fun. That was my first time on slicks in the wet and we were just getting back at Sam later in that race so I could have got him with a few more minutes. I'd love to do this again next year, so hopefully we find some backing to help us along the way and keep pushing for a title. Thank you to all of our loyal sponsors for making this dream happen this year, and seeing their names on the car in front of so many viewers and fans.”