RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Clarke unveils Roger Albert Clark Rally plan

Seasoned Escort driver Stuart Clarke has unveiled plans to contest the 2010 Roger Albert Clark Rally. If all goes to plan, Clarke will realise a long-held ambition by campaigning a Ford Escort Mk2 on the 26-29 November event.

Clarke, based at Usk in Monmouthshire, is spending the 2010 season preparing for the big event and says that watching the 2009 rally sealed his determination to take part. He plans to use an Escort Mk2 prepared by Rally Weld in South Wales.

“My goal is to do the Roger Albert Clark Rally,” he said. “I went and watched it last year; it’s an awesome event. It is something really special. But I’ve never done any of the stages used on the Roger Albert Clark.”

Andy Ballantyne, who co-drove Matt Fowle to class C2 victory in 2009, will partner Clarke on the four-day rally and they have already done two events together as a warm-up. They contested both the Wyedean and Bulldog events earlier this year to prepare for the Roger Albert Clark.

For more details about the Roger Albert Clark Rally, and its support rallies, please visit www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org

GT Cup Championship curtain raiser at Silverstone:-

This is round one of The 2010 GT Cup Championship season and it is looking mighty impressive and Bute Motorsport ,the organisers, are expecting a full 48 car grid. The quality of the machinery and the level of preparation are superb. This is ‘multi-marque’ GT racing at its best. The cars are split into three ‘Groups’ based mainly on their lap time performance.  The faster more powerful cars are in Group One and the less powerful in Group Three. Pre-season testing has shown that the cars within each Group are very evenly matched so we will, as usual, see close racing all the way through the field.

One of the major attractions for competitors in the GT Cup Championship is that there is always somebody to race with. You will see from the progamme that this really is a ‘multi-marque’ Championship.. Ferrari,  Porsche, Lotus, TVR, BMW, Honda, Venturi, Ginetta, KTM, and Marcos.

This is the opening round of the Championship so picking any winners is going to be tricky, particularly in Group One where the front running Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars of Andy Ruhan, Alex Martin and Jim Geddie will be up against the Ferrari 430 Challenge GTs of Leon Price, Jeff Leadley , Ian Hartley and new to Ferrari this season Gary Eastwood. You also need to watch out for Chris Randall’s nimble Lotus Europa and the big TVRs of  Michael Saunders, John Wilson and Danny Winstanley. Finally don’t overlook Don Grice’s very rapid BMW..

In Group Two it is again very hard to choose between the Porsche 996 GT3 cars and the Ferrari 360GT’s. The quickest of these Ferraris should be Marco Pullen in the OMG car. But once again don’t ignore the BMWs and those modified Lotus Elise and Exige. New to GT Cup this year is the Colin and Sam Mowle KTM XBow. This may not be ideally suited for the long straights of the Silverstone GP circuit but it is very quick through the corners.

In Group Three we have yet another eye watering mixture of cars, any of which could win the Group. It would take a brave man to pick between the Ferrari 360 Challenge, the BMW Z4 Coupe and the other less powerful KTM XBow… equally don’t forget the long term GT Cup supporter Dave Botterill in his Porsche 944 Turbo. Will Goff moving into Group One this year might clear the way for Sarah Bennett-Baggs to become a regular podium visitor in her BMW Z4 Coupe. A newcomer to GT Cup will be the unusual Honda NSX driven by David and Rob Fern.

So get ready and maybe move towards Copse Corner and then stand back a bit  to watch and even  feel one million pounds worth of cars and around fifteen thousand bhp all arriving with you after the rolling start!

SEASON PREVIEW

The decision by Bute Motorsport to make The GT Cup a ‘Championship’ in 2010 has really paid off. With around forty teams now signed up for the full season and even more drivers wanting to do the occasional rounds the pressure on grid numbers is building up. The opening round at Silverstone on the ‘Bridge’ Grand Prix Circuit is looking to be the beginning of a very successful season.

The format remains much the same with two races per round, qualification and plenty of free practice, plus no ‘professional’ drivers all topped off with the superb hospitality!

Group One becomes the home of the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars and the Ferrari 430 Challenge GTs. This is going to be an interesting season with Ferrari drivers Leon Price, Jeff Leadley, Ian Hartley and Gary Eastwood up against the Porsches of Andy Ruhan, Alex Martin and Jim Geddie.

Whilst the Porsches and Ferraris make up a large part of the Group they are certainly going to be challenged with a variety of interesting cars coming through the pack.  Chris Randall in his rapid and rather nimble Lotus Europa, is sure to compete having been tuned to suit the class.  Michael Saunders in his wild yellow Cerbera is back with a de-tuned engine and should be right on the pace. A new comer to watch could be Danny Winstanley in his green ‘hard top’ TVR Tuscan. There is also Don Grice in his BMW E46 M3 which is yet another possible race winner.  Another front runner looking at joining Group One this year is Will Goff in his Porsche 997 GT3, quite a change from last year’s Aston Martin GT4!  Also in Group One is Paul Cope and his remarkable Venturi 400 GTR. The Venturi was a front running car Le Mans car in the nineties.

In Group Two there are any number of cars that could win the Championship. The front runners here will be Marco Pullen in his Ferrari 360 and the Porsches of Robert Koenig and Chris Bentley. The BMWs of Barclay Dougal and Keith Webster will be right on the pace judging from their testing times, as is the  KTM XBow of Colin Mowle, being run by Peter Hignett and ABG Motorsport.

Group Three demonstrates the variety that the GT Cup has become synonymous with and picking a winner is practically impossible at this stage. Dave Botterill will be back with rapid but near ‘historic’ Porsche 944 Turbo, David Hathaway is back with his Ferrari 360, there are the usual flurry of Lotus Elise and Exige, plus Sarah Bennet-Baggs in her BMW Z4 M Coupe. She saw the podium several times last year. Just as in Group Two there is the ‘unknown quantity’ of the Clubman’s Spec KTM XBow of Tom Edwards.

There are several newcomers in Group Three who have the potential to be highly competitive, however much of the attention could be grabbed by the John Danby Racing Honda NSX driven by David and Rob Fenn. This is a bit of an unknown quantity in GT Cup,

The GT Cup is probably the best supported GT Championship in the UK at the moment and it seems that Bute Motorsport with the assistance of MSVR have once again got the formula just about right

The GT Cup Championship is going from strength to strength, providing the drivers and their teams a race calendar on iconic circuits against a variety of race cars that all will differ from round to round and therefore continue to produce exciting racing.  This is backed up with Bute Motorsports gaining reputation for their high level of organisation and excellent paddock hospitality providing the drivers, their friends, family and sponsors a convivial environment to enjoy the weekend between the races!

GT CUP 2010 NEWS

Groups re-organised:- Last year’s Group One has been shelved so the rapid Viper and Corvette will not be seen in GT Cup 2010. All the other Groups move ‘up one’ .. so this year’s Group One is broadly speaking last year’s Group Two and so on. Groups are decided basically by a power to weight formula and then the organisers will decide which Group a car will race in.

All cars will have to present rolling road/dyno figures this year and the Organisers reserve the right to send a car away to be rechecked during the season.

Pirelli remain the sole tyre suppliers to the Championship and will be offering nitrogen as an alternative to air for all teams.

Snetterton Testing:-  The current Group One Porsches have proved to be bang on the pace of last year’s Group two cars. This will set up a great battle between the Porsche GT3 Cup cars and the Ferrari 430 GT.

Chris Randall and his Hoffmans Lotus Europa was a competitive 2009 Group One car. The team have agreed to reduce the turbo boost to put the car on the same pace as the Porsches and Ferraris. This has had the added bonus of allowing the car to run far cooler and gain reliability.

Gary Eastwood has moved over to a Ferrari 430 GT Challenge car and was delighted with it after testing at Snetterton. The car will be run by FF Corse and Anthony Cheshire said he was amazed how quickly Gary got settled into the Ferrari.

Snetterton testing saw Andy Ruhan and Jim Geddie right on the pace in their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars.

Father and son team of Rupert  and Alex Martin will be taking part in this year’s GT Cup Championship. Rupert ( the Dad) will be in his Dextra sponsored Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car and Alex in his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car.

Another  father and son team are David and Rob Fenn, they are new to GT Cup this season and they will be sharing the Honda NSX . This is a rare beast and new to GT Cup and will be running in Group Three.

Marco Pullen will be back with his faithful Ferrari 360.

The KTM XBows are coming! This year will see two XBows in the GT Cup. The specifications are different; the Tom Andrew car runs with a less powerful 240 bhp engine and is nearer ‘road going’ specification so it will run in Group Three. Peter Hignett is looking after the rapid Group Two car for Colin and Sam Mowle. This is has around 300 bhp and various upgrades to its suspension and aero pack.

Colin and Sam Mowle will be the third father son combination in GT Cup.

Long term GT Cup supporter Colin Broster will be back racing in 2010 and is awaiting delivery of one of the new Chevron GR8s. Colin may be out in something else until the Chevron is ready.

Don Grice and his superb BMW E46 M3 which ran in Group One in 2009 has reached an agreement with the organisers to back off the power and add some weight and run it this season at current Group One pace.

Will Goff had a spectacularly successful year in Group Four last year winning almost every race in his immaculate Aston Martin GT4. This year Will is in the process of acquiring a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.

Sarah Bennett-Baggs will be back with her BMW Z4 M Coupe. The team were gradually getting to grips with the car towards the end of last season so Sarah should be a regular podium visitor again.

Bute Motorsport, organisers of the GT Cup Championship are delighted to announce the launch of a brand new race series for 2010 the “GT Trophy Endurance Series”.

Regulations are now available from Championship Co-ordinator Belinda Edwards who commented; “We are looking forward to expanding the principals of our highly popular GT Cup to the endurance GT enthusiast with this new exciting series.  The response has been wonderful with over half the grid already signed up for the two race series and with many more expressing interest, it is getting very exciting.”

It is Bute Motorsports belief that this is a natural development of its existing GT Cup Championship, which has 46 registered entrants to date and with more drivers expressing interest every day.  Bute Motorsport hope that the GT Trophy will develop over the next two seasons and become a fully fledged Championship in 2012, as occurred with the GT Cup which is in its inaugural year as a Championship since its inception in 2008.

Following restructuring of classes over the winter some competitors from last year are no longer eligible for the GT Cup Championship.  The introduction of the GT Trophy will provide the perfect environment for these and our existing groups to run longer distances in the hospitable paddock surroundings of Bute Motorsport.  Whilst in the paddock the camaraderie is paramount and the action on the circuit is fast and exciting, especially with such large grids and wide variety of race cars all competing for marque and driver honours.

May 22^nd - Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit / 2 Hour Race

Oct 30/31^st - Snetterton / 1 x One Hr Day Race & 1 x One Hr Night Race

• Open to GT Cars
• Two driver races, allowing ‘professional’ driver to race with amateur drivers
• Solo drivers will be permitted at the organisers’ discretion
• Handicap system to ensure close racing in each of the 4 Groups
• Trophies for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd in each Group / No overall
• Pit stops are mandatory
• Pit lane refuelling is allowed during the Two Hour race at Brands Hatch
• Licence National B

Regulations, entry forms and technical declaration forms are now available from Bute Motorsport, contact Belinda@butemotorsport.com.  The usual Bute Motorsport hospitality unit will be available for drivers and guests throughout the weekends.  For hospitality requirements contactHannah@butemotorsport.com.

British racers Martin Stretton and Matthew Watts top the entry for the opening two rounds of the 2010 Historic Formula 2 Championship at Hockenheim over the weekend of 17/18 April.

Defending champion Stretton has stepped up to a 2-litre March 742, having won the 2009 title in his 1600cc March 712. Watts, meanwhile, continues with his ex-Norman Dickson March 772 having won races regularly through the 2009 season.

The F2 Trophy will be contested over a schedule of 12 races at six major historic race meetings. All six tracks on the calendar have a period Formula 2 history, including Brands Hatch GP, which hosts the British rounds on 3/4 July. As before, the F2 championship caters for both 1600cc and 2-litre Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic cars produced from 1967 to 1978.

The 22-car field includes drivers from seven countries and six manufacturers, with nine 2-litre cars and 13 1600cc cars. New to F2 will be Historic F1 racers Richard Meins (March 762) and Peter Wuensch in the ex-Eddie Cheever Ralt RT1. Peter Meyrick (March 782) is another leading contender, while Japanese racer Katsu Kubota (March 712) tops the 1600cc field.

“This is a great start to the F2 season,” said Grahame White of the Historic Sports Car Club, the managers of the championship. “It is very encouraging to have a 22-car entry for Hockenheim with a number of new drivers and new driver and car combinations.”

For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk

The first round of the Cardinus BRSCC F3 series kicks off at Silverstone this weekend.    Whilst there are many single seater racing series in the UK, with Monoposto currently being the largest, only BRSCC F3 (formerly Club F3) has special dispensation to run at the ultra low ride heights that these cars were designed and originally raced at.  Everyone else races at 40mm.     One of the big differences between 15mm and 40mm is that the underbody aerodynamics work as intended, so you can run less wing, but still maintain the same levels of downforce, with less drag.

They can do this because all cars are period F3 cars running to original specificiations, both mechanically and for bodywork.     Tyres are control tyres from Avon, and fuel is provided by Sunoco.

Magic Motorsport’s Mark Harrison is looking to do well in what will be his third year of Club F3.   The former Monoposto and British Sprint Champion had a difficult first year, but towards the end of the season found a setup which worked well and was consistently fast throughout 2009, finishing the season with two third places, and 2nd overall in the Championship, however race victory eluded them.   They will be looking for race wins and podiums this season.

Kat Impey also joins the series with her ex-Rowan Racing Dallara F302 Mugen Honda.  The former Formula Jedi and Monoposto racer has been testing in her new car and had steadily improved her times.   Once she has got the car to her liking she will be fast.

For 2010 the Championship has been demoted to a Series, as the numbers of participants during 2009 was not enough to maintain championship status, but hopefully the economic recovery will encourage more cars out of storage and for BRSCC F3 to regain its championship status.

James Tucker took part in his first ever car race this Easter weekend in Formula Ford at, highly technical, Oulton Park, in Cheshire.

Tucker, the multiple Kart Champion, from Burntwood, proved himself a worthy member of the prominent Works Van Diemen team, where the likes of Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna both began their careers. James drove superbly to take two 5th places and set the 3rd fastest lap of the day, after a disappointing qualifying session, which left him coming from 10th on the grid. He fought his way through the field of experienced drivers, in their second or third years, to prove himself a contender for the world prestigious, Dunlop MSA Formula Ford of Great Britain Championship.

In acknowledgement of this great achievement James was awarded the Spirit of the Weekend Award by the head of Ford Motorsport in Europe, ”We have been very impressed with James this weekend, his positive attitude and great performance on track. I think he has a great future ahead of him and in the championship this year and this award is a reflection of that.”

James Tucker is enrolled on the MSA’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme, marking him down as one of the UK’s most promising drivers aged 16-24.

James Tucker is inviting offers from further potential sponsors and can be contacted and welcomes you all to find out more on his website, www.jamesjtucker.co.uk

DOUBLE WIN GIVES FABRIZIO GIOVANARDI SERIES LEAD AFTER OPENING RACES AT THRUXTON

The UK’s premier motor racing series, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, burst back into life at a sunny Thruxton circuit with two wins for 2007 and 2008 champion Fabrizio Giovanardi plus a debut victory for Steven Kane. The Italian maestro’s double takes him to the top of the championship standings after the first of ten rounds and came in extraordinary circumstances.

The touring car legend feared he would be forced to miss this BTCC season following Vauxhall’s decision not to field a factory team in 2010. However a last minute one-off deal for Thruxton – only announced on the eve of the event – saw Giovanardi back behind the wheel of his familiar Vauxhall Vectra, this time as an independent entry under the Uniq Racing with Triple Eight banner.

“I was retired, now I’m leading the championship and, perhaps, I’m retired again!” shrugged Giovanardi. “The team has worked very hard to put this together so late and it’s great that I’ve been able to repay them with these results… but the future is still unclear.”

A large holiday crowd gathered in the Easter Day sunshine at the superfast Hampshire circuit and they were rewarded with three action-packed showdowns screened live on ITV4.

The opening race of the eagerly anticipated season was predictably drama-packed with the two Honda Civics of pole-sitter Gordon Shedden and Matthew Neal challenging hard during the early laps. The two Honda Racing Team cars, though, both suffered tyre deflations before mid-distance. Neal managed to limp back to the pits and eventually finished 12th; Shedden’s exit was even more dramatic – the Scot’s ailing Civic leaving the circuit at more than 125mph and hitting the trackside barriers.

Honda’s troubles handed second place to Jason Plato in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze – last year’s runner-up admitting that he’d opted for a conservative chassis set-up to preserve Dunlop rubber on a circuit that’s renowned for excessive tyre wear.

Mat Jackson completed the podium places. The Airwaves BMW driver spent the opening laps battling behind the two Team Aon Ford Focuses of Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton. The BMW driver finally managed to pass both LPG-powered Fords, which also then succumbed to tyre deflations.

Giovanardi then made it two wins out of two with a dominant victory from pole position in the second race. While the Italian made his escape, his pursuers were involved in several tight tussles. Plato made the most of his front row starting position to hold second place for most of the 16-lap encounter but he was under pressure throughout.

Paul O’Neill (Sunshine.co.uk) led the chase in the early laps but he was caught and passed by Neal’s hard-charging Honda Civic in the closing stages. Neal then mounted an escalating challenge on Plato. On the penultimate lap the dueling duo clashed on the approach to the Club Chicane. Plato spun back to fourth position behind a delighted O’Neill, while Neal grabbed second spot – a great fight back from 12th place on the grid following his issues in the opening race.

Race three saw the top nine finishers from race two starting in reverse order. Rob Collard (WSR BMW) led away from pole position chased by the two Airwaves BMWs of Steven Kane and Jackson with Neal hot on their heels. The Honda racer was quickly by Jackson and, at the end of lap six, tried an even more audacious move around the outside of both Kane and Collard at the Club Chicane. Contact seemed inevitable – the Civic struck the leading BMW, destroying the hopes of both drivers.

The controversial incident left Kane and Jackson clear to score an emotional one-two victory for Airwaves BMW with Plato fending off late challenges from first Giovanardi and then Shedden to complete the podium.

Plato was happy with his two podiums that give him second place in the standings as the teams head to Rockingham for round two in three weeks time. “We targeted 30 points here and our game plan was to adopt a very conservative approach with the car. It’s very easy to be over-aggressive with the chassis set-up and suffer punctures. It’s not worth taking any risks at this stage – come Rockingham we’ll be on maximum attack!”

For full race reports, results and images of the day’s action visit the BTCC’s official website www.btcc.net

Photographs kindly provided by Marc Waller of MW Motorsport Media.

BTCC Drivers Points after Round 1, Thruxton (provisional):
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi, 38
2. Jason Plato, 31
3. Mat Jackson, 28
4. Paul O’Neill, 23
5 Steven Kane, 19
6. Matt Neal, 12
7. Alex MacDowall, 11
8. Gordon Shedden, 11
9. Phil Glew, 9
10. Tom Boardman, 6

Manufacturer/Constructor Points (provisional):
1. Chevrolet/RML, 74 points
2. Honda/Dynamics, 45
3. Arena/Ford, 32

Teams’ Points (provisional):
1. Airwaves BMW, 46
2. Uniq Racing with Triple Eight, 45
3. Silverline Chevrolet, 41
4. Sunshine.co.uk, 25
5. Honda Racing Team, 20
6. Team Aon, 7

Independent Drivers’ Points (provisional):
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi, 40
2. Mat Jackson, 34
3. Paul O’Neill, 30
4. Steven Kane, 21
5. Phil Glew, 14
6. David Pinkney, 13

Independent Teams’ Points (provisional):
1. Uniq Racing with Triple Eight, 42
2. Airwaves BMW, 37
3. Sunshine.co.uk, 32
4. WSR, 18
5. Pinkney Motorsport, 18
6. Team Aon, 16

Click photos for larger versions:

Photographs kindly provided by Marc Waller of MW Motorsport Media.

Race 1: Harvey takes Carrera Cup GB round one at Thruxton

Tim Harvey got the Porsche Carrera Cup GB season off in perfect style at Thruxton today (Sunday 4 April) as he fended off Michael Caine to take the first victory of the season. In a race that delivered great battles all the way down the 25-car field, Tony Gilham stormed through to pro-am1 victory while Mark Hazell drove a fine race to win pro-am2.

With the cars running on a dry track for the first time all weekend, the opening race was all about tyre management over 21 laps of the notoriously abrasive Thruxton circuit. Harvey (Red Line Racing) got the jump over Tom Bradshaw (JHR) off the line and was able to move clear over the first three laps as Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) and then Caine (Motorbase Performance) edged Bradshaw back to fourth. “I pushed early then eased back to conserve the tyres,” said Harvey.

Caine had to battle ahead of Hankey to get into second and did it with a bold around the outside into the chicane on lap five. Caine then set off in pursuit of Harvey and closed the gap to less than a second. That was how it ran for many laps as the two most experienced drivers in the championship matched each other’s pace. “I knew Michael would have to push his tyres to catch me,” said Harvey, who crossed the line with eight-tenths of a second in hand. Caine had been close enough to try a move into the chicane, but Harvey was not about to let his lead slip. “It was important to finish that one,” said Harvey of the first of the year’s 20 races.

Hankey ran a safe third and was elated to score the first overall podium finish for a Carrera Cup GB Scholarship racer. “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Hankey. “I didn’t know what to expect and it was so challenging. I didn’t fight Michael Caine as I knew he was faster than me.”

Behind Hankey, a mighty battle raged for fourth as Bradshaw fended off Charles Bateman (Motorbase Performance), Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) and Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing). As Jelley mounted constant attacks on Bateman, Bradshaw had some respite, but it was very close all the way to the flag. “After three laps I had the front splitter stuck under the car so it was a tough race, but good fun,” said Bateman.

The contest for pro-am1 produced a great spectacle as Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) made the early running with Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Tony Gilham (ReDesign PHB Racing) right on his tail. Meanwhile, making up ground fast was Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) after a first corner knock left him with an ill-handling car. This made a tremendous battle until Gelzinis spun and that allowed Gilham to start attacking Al Harthy, just as Jackson lost his front splitter and dropped back. Gilham made his move with three laps to run and dived ahead under braking for the chicane. “I loved it,” said Gilham after taking pro-am1 victory from fifth on the grid. “We’d not done any dry laps here and the car faded towards the end,” added Gilham. Al Harthy was rightly pleased with his first Carrera Cup race. “I’m very proud to be on the podium in my first Porsche race. It was a tough challenge,” said the Oman racer.

In pro-am2, the lead battle was just as entertaining as Hazell (JHR) and Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) ran wheel to wheel for many laps. Eventually, Hazell’s experience told, and he edged away for a deserved win. “It’s hard work when you’re 50,” joked Hazell. “I was just waiting for the chequered flag.” Parish was never far adrift in second. “That was really hard, but it was brilliant. The best fun I’ve had in a racing car,” he said as George Brewster (Celtic Speed) worked through to third.

Race 2: Harvey completes Carrera Cup double at Thruxton

Tim Harvey completed a superb double in round two of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton today (Sunday 4 April), but the victory came under constant pressure from championship newcomer Euan Hankey. Ollie Jackson claimed pro-am1 spoils, while Mark Hazell wrapped up a great weekend by winning pro-am2 for the second time.

After 21 laps of the high-speed Hampshire track, at an average speed of almost 110mph, each of the three categories was decided by less than three-quarters of a second.

“If that’s the pace that Euan has at this stage of the season, it’s going to be hard work,” said Harvey (Red Line Racing) after a fiercely competitive race. With Hankey (Team Parker Racing) as a constant shadow and Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) going with them, the lead was always in doubt even though Harvey led from lights to flag. “Euan was all over me and kept me honest,” said Harvey.

For his part, Hankey was elated to run so strongly on his debut weekend in the Carrera Cup. “I was pushing my hardest and I’m still learning,” said the Carrera Cup Scholarship driver. He also had to contend with muscle pump-up in his right arm over the closing laps and concentrated on keeping ahead of Caine. Having watched Hankey’s race from close quarters, Caine joined Harvey in congratulating the championship newcomer. Hankey was declared ‘driver of the weekend’ for his performances.

Tom Bradshaw (JHR) completed a strong weekend with fourth place, despite early pressure from Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) and Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing). “Our pace was not spot on in the dry, but that’s two solid results at my least favourite circuit,” said Bradshaw. Geddie claimed fifth, but Meadows dropped to seventh behind Charles Bateman (Motorbase Performance) after losing his front splitter later in the race.

The pro-am1 category once again delivered a great contest as Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) led from the start and battled with Bateman for overall position. However, in the closing stages Jackson was nearly caught by Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing), who had been battling race-long. At the flag, less than a second covered the three cars. “That was really tough,” said Jackson. Gelzinis’ team of Juta Racing won the ‘team of the weekend’ award for it’s first weekend in the Carrera Cup GB.

The battle in pro-am2 was another highlight of the race as Hazell (JHR) worked clear of Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase). However, in the closing laps, Parish closed the gap once more as George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) made it a four-car train for the lead. At the flag, just 1.7s covered the quartet. “It’s been good fun but very hard work,” said Hazell after one of his best weekends of racing for several seasons.

Jonathan Walker, reigning R300 champion, showed that he won’t be giving up his crown without a fight this year…

April showers brought out the weather forecaster within every R300 competitor and team at the opening round on Easter weekend. On Saturday morning, the cars had an extended wait in the collecting area for qualifying due to a delay in the previous session; long enough for a big black cloud to live up to its promise. Whilst some frantically pulled off anti-roll bars to offer a little more compliance in the wet, others consulted seaweed and the fabled ‘licked finger held in the air’ which suggested the track would dry during qualifying.

Seaweed and moist digits were right.

As the track dried, the pitwall timing screens went berserk. Provisional pole went to just about everyone who crossed the line, making it hard to keep track of who was where. Pit-boards were several positions behind reality by the time the drivers saw them. Eventually, towards the end of the session, four names started to repeat themselves at the top, Fowell, Brannan, McMillan and Taylor, but it was newcomer McMillan that took the first pole of the year, with both Brannan and Fowell less than a tenth behind and in the dying seconds, Jamie Ellwood jumped from twelfth to fourth. Four new drivers making up the top four places.

A first attempt to run a race was made in deteriorating conditions on Saturday afternoon, but within two laps, championship hopeful Paul Wilson was already in the wall on the hangar straight. Seconds later, a melee ensued at Becketts. Andrew Harrison-Sleap had spun backwards across the grass, depositing him back on the track facing the wrong way, right in the firing line for a desperately unfortunate Dean Wilkin. As Harrison-Sleap’s car became mobile again, though not under its own steam, it was tagged by the left rear of Gordon Sawyer. When the three cars came to rest the drivers emerged unscathed, but with time fast running out and conditions no better, stewards declared the race abandoned.

Blue skies greeted the drivers back to the revised Silverstone Bridge GP circuit on Easter Sunday. The circuit already had a disarming new look thanks to a wilderness of gravel at Woodcote where the used to be a grandstand. With work was still underway around the circuit, grass runoffs had been replaced by peat bogs and with the aid of wayward GT and Superleague cars, the track was now a fully-fledged rallycross circuit.

Andy McMillan, head of the well-established but new to R300s McMillan Motorsport team, was unfazed by the conditions and set about building a small margin from pole, but was quickly caught by reigning champ Jon Walker who carved through the squabbling front runners to find him. Firmly believing that the race isn’t won on the first corner, but quite possibly on every corner after that, Walker launched a smoking torpedo down the inside of McMillan at Vale without the success. Moments later, the pair arrived at bridge and the DPR Motorsport driver thought he saw his opportunity. Unfortunately, his Avon tyres thought otherwise and elected to down-tools at the prospect of being told to cling on through bridge at an impossible speed. Walker collected McMillan and the pair speared through the gravel trap of the complex, emerging seventh and ninth respectively.

This left former Roadsport sparring partners Paul Brannan and Trevor Fowell to take up the lead, with their Fauldsport team-mate James Sharrock third in his familiar dayglo orange car. But whilst the duo argued over first spot, McMillan and Walker were far from done.

Walker, who had been least disadvantaged by the gravel safari, reached the lead fight within two laps, dispensed with the upstarts quickly and set about building a cushion helped by those behind refusing to give up places to anyone else. Whilst Walker cruised ahead, McMillan found the leaders shortly after and also squeezed past while they were pre-occupied, though they were alerted to the threat this time and it took him a little longer.

Further down the field, Jamie Ellwood was being hampered by his lack of time in the car. With virtually no practice, the six-times champion was having a Schumacher-esque comeback time, having dropped from fourth to ninth; handling woes afflicting his performance. Despite also having just stepped into the car, former Roadsport ace, David Pearce was having no such bother and had battered his way to fourth. However, inexperience of the R300’s brake pedal emerged at Vale and despite Paul Brannan’s assistance in slowing down, Pearce’s trophy hopes ended in the gravel trap. A furious Brannan was spun down to seventh, sustaining a large gouge out of the left rear tyre and some minor bent suspension parts. Amazingly, he kept going at a front-runner pace and was ultimately rewarded with sixth for his determination.

SPY Motorsport team-leader Peter Young gave a strong performance throughout the race to take fifth place (promoted through the Pearce/Brannan clash), a little behind Ambitions Racing’s Ollie Taylor. Taylor had a brief glimpse of the podium, but fractionally ahead of him was the fastest man on the track, Trevor Fowell. Fowell pushed Andy McMillan to the very end, but the pair had no chance of catching Walker who by now was ten seconds, an eternity in Caterham racing, up the road and driving to victory.

Although the 2009 champion has made his mark on the 2010 campaign, the newcomers didn’t make it easy for him and things are set to get even closer as the series moves to Oulton Park. Walker benefits from the most experience behind the wheel of an R300, yet his Silverstone lap record was taken from him by one of 2010 inductees and if it hadn’t been for their coming together at Bridge, McMillan would surely have been a contender for the win. Ellwood’s eighth place finish belies the fact that it was only the third time he’d driven the car, so he will only be getting faster. Good performances from Mark Shaw, David Walley and Mark Blackburn suggest that as experience grows the title fight will be on…

Next Rounds: Oulton Park International, 15th May.

Caterham Superlight R300 2010:dpr motorsport driver Jon Walker leads the way at Silverstone

Thirty plus Caterham Superlight R300 racers came to the Silverstone GP circuit keen to establish the new pecking order for 2010. With race one abandoned following four crashes within the first three laps, race two became the proving ground for challengers old and new. Newcomers Andrew McMillan, Trevor Fowell and Paul Brannan held the initial lead. However the man on the move from his qualifying position of 6th place was the 2009 championship winner Jon Walker who gained a convincing race victory of just over ten seconds from second place Andrew McMillan.

Jon Walker said “The conditions in race one were horrendous and the Clerk of the Course made the right decision to red-flag this race. I felt the dry conditions for race two would suit my driving style but I was unsure how I would fare against the new field for 2010. I was pleased to find that I had the pace not only to get to the front but also to break the tow from the following pack.”

dpr motorsport team principal Dave Rowe said “Due to technical changes in the 2010 regulations we had to implement a new set-up for Jon and with the uncertainty over the weather we had to plan for both wet and dry options. As the results show, we provided Jon with a car that allowed him to outrun the opposition with lap times around a second a lap quicker than his nearest rival. All of the dpr motorsport team cars finished without any mechanical or race incidents. Caterham newcomer Mark Shaw gained a very respectable 9th place driving our own dpr motorsport R300 in his first-ever Caterham championship race. Our two novice drivers Johnathan Packer and Jake Bonham did well to finish in 16th and 17th place respectively.”

“Flash’ Gordon Shedden has qualified on pole position on the grid for the first round of this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship to be staged at the super-fast Thruxton circuit on Easter Sunday.

The Scot, driving his Honda Racing Team Honda Civic, overcame tricky wet conditions to set a best lap time of 1m 24.061s to achieve pole position and with it score a bonus point that puts him into a very early championship lead.

“That’s the hardest point I’ve ever scored,” admitted Shedden who never experienced the flat-out sweeps of the notorious Hampshire circuit in wet conditions before this morning’s damp opening Free Practice session. “I managed to get a good clean lap and it’s great to be starting from front. Whatever the weather conditions tomorrow, there’s going to be lots of excitement, so to be starting with a clear track ahead is the best position to be in.”

Shedden will be joined on the front row by Fabrizio Giovanardi. The Italian touring car legend seemed destined to miss this year’s BTCC after Vauxhall withdrew its official factory team at the end of 2009. However the Triple Eight team, which fielded the works Vectras in recent seasons, put together a last-minute deal to keep the 2007 and 2008 champion in the series.

Despite missing all the pre-season testing, Giovanardi maximised his huge experience and was disappointed not to be fastest. “I don’t like to be second,” he said. “The car had the potential to be on pole but we had a small gearbox issue when the track was less wet and, by the time we had sorted that out, there were puddles on sections of the circuit.”

Adding to Honda’s delight, Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal qualified third to make it two Honda Civics in the top three. “It’s a brilliant start for the team to have both cars right up at the sharp end,” enthused the 2005 and 2006 champion. “It’s going to be pretty fraught tomorrow but the Civic feels good in the wet and the dry, so we’re ready and confident whatever the weather.”

Next up was an impressive Andrew Jordan whose Pirtek Racing Vauxhall Vectra is debuting the new NGTC engine, a turbocharged power plant being introduced by the series organisers to reduce costs. Completing the top six was many people’s pre-season favourite Jason Plato in his new Silverline Chevrolet Cruze and Tom Chilton who is giving the LPG propelled Team Aon Ford Focus is first outing in this holiday weekend’s opening round of the UK’s premier motor racing championship.

Tomorrow’s three races will be shown live tomorrow on the ITV4 TV channel during a mammoth broadcast from 11.30am-6.00pm.

BTCC Qualifying, Thruxton, leading positions:

Gordon Shedden (GBR), Honda Racing Team/Honda Civic, 1m 24.081s

Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), Uniq Racing with Triple Eight/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.256s

Matt Neal (GBR), Honda Racing Team/Honda Civic, +0.553s

Andrew Jordan (GBR), Team Pirtek/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.772s

Jason Plato (GBR), Silverline Chevrolet/Chevrolet Cruze, +0.807s

Tom Chilton (GBR), Team Aon/Ford Focus, +0.956ss

Mat Jackson (GBR), Airwaves BMW/BMW 320is, +1.228s

Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), Team Aon/Ford Focus, +1.443s

Phil Glew (GBR), Uniq Racing with Triple Eight/Vauxhall Vectra, +1.502s

Paul O’Neill (GBR), Sunshine.co.uk/Honda Integra, +1.771s

Tim Harvey got his Porsche Carrera Cup GB season off to a perfect start with a double pole in qualifying at Thruxton today (Saturday 3 April). However, Tom Bradshaw and Michael Caine were right with the 2008 champion during a wet qualifying. In pro-am1, Ollie Jackson also bagged a double pole, while in pro-am2 Pace twice topped the grid sheets.

Rain just before the start of qualifying sent everyone out on wet tyres and many of the best times were set in the early laps. Initially, Bradshaw (JHR) held pole, but a big push by Harvey (Red Line Racing) grabbed the place by six-thousandths of a second. It was nearly as close for the grid for race two, decided by their second best laps, where Harvey was 26-hundredths of a second faster than Bradshaw. In both races, Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) completed the top four grid positions.

“It was tight,” admitted Harvey. “I knocked the front splitter off on the first run and I was concerned about missing the best of the conditions. It’s good that the grid is so close, but it’s going to be a guess on set-up if the races are dry.” For Bradshaw, it was his best Carrera Cup qualifying performance to date. “That’s better,” said Bradshaw. “It was that greasy that slicks were never an option.” However, over the second half of the session, many drivers tried slicks rather than carrying on with wets. The slick times were well adrift of the best times on wet tyres.

Caine had started the session on worn wets and suggested that had been the wrong call for the best of the track conditions. “It probably should have been new wets,” he said later. But with the top 10 for race one covered by six-tenths of a second, the top of the grid is extremely evenly matched.

Another great battle is in prospect in pro-am1, where Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) claimed pole for both races from the

impressive newcomer Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing). “I’m a bit disappointed not to be further up overall,” said Jackson, while Al Harthy continued his good progress as he gained more experience of the car. “I needed to repeat my performance from testing and I did,” said the Oman racer. A tremendous performance to take third in pro-am1 for both races came from Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing), who belied his very limited experience of Thruxton to get faster and faster through the session. Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) and Tony Gilham (ReDesign PHB Racing) completed the top five in pro-am1.

Another double pole came in pro-am2 as Mace (GT Marques) headed the category. “I could see that the rain was easing, so I came in, cooled the tyres and went again,” said Mace of the run that took him to both poles. Leading the chase of Mace was a closely matched trio comprising George Richardson (Motorbase Performance), Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) and Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing). “I’m over the moon with that,” said teenager Richardson. “It’s coming together every time I get in the car.”

Formula 3 racer Kat Impey completed her third and final unofficial pre-season test at Silverstone, home of British motor sport and the 2010 British Grand Prix, in preparation for the opening round of the BRSCC F3 Cardinus Championship on 10^th-11^th April.

It was a productive day for Impey, whose enrolment on the Motor Sports Association (MSA) Academy’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme marks her out as one of the UK’s most promising young drivers.

Impey said: “It has been a difficult day’s testing due to the amount of traffic on the circuit, and it was very tricky to get a clear lap. However, I’ve made significant improvements which I’m very pleased about.”

Besides preparing her race car over the next two weeks, Impey will be working on her fitness regime at the Porsche Human Performance centre, a world-class facility based at Silverstone.

Source: Kat Impey
Photo: Norwich Photo