RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Glynn Geddie took pole position for the British GT championship race on the new Snetterton 300 configuration in the Ferrari 458 Italia during a day of mixed conditions. Geddie, sharing the car with his father Jim, staked his claim for pole position early on in the session, and it was good enough as none of his rivals could come close.

Joining Geddie on the front row is the United Autosport Audi R8 of Michael Guasch and Matt Bell with the Lester and Simonsen Ferrari 430 Scuderia and the Black and Hall Aston Martin DBRS 9.

Heading GT4 class was the KTM X-Bow of Athanasios Ladas and Michael Mallock, beating the two Lotus Evoras entered by Lotus Sport.

Cars to watch will be the Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 of Adam Wilcox and Phil Burton, which sat out much of the practise sessions with a misfire, and also the Mercedes SLS of the Jones Brothers who only managed to qualify in 14th position.

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Felipe Nasr took pole position for both F3 races, but it was Kevin Magnussen, son of the 1984 F3 Champion and later F1 driver Jan, who stole the win of the first race with a slipstreaming move against Nasr up the Senna Straight and taking the lead into Riches Corner.

Nasr established a new outright lap record with a best time of 1m 40.103s to take away Aaron Steele’s MSV F3 Cup record established in March.

All cars were varieties of Dallara chassis, with Volkswagen and Mercedes engines powering them.   Volkswagen engines took the first 6 positions, and the Carlin Racing team took a 1-2-3-4.

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Jamie Orton took pole position for the Caterham R300 Championship, Ben Anderson and Stuart Pearson share poles for the Ginetta Challenge and Steve Chaplin converted 2nd on the grid for the Volkwagen Racing Cup to a race win in his No. 53 (naturally) VW Beetle, and Scott Malvern triumphed in the first Formula Ford race.

Sunday sees a full day of racing, with the 2hr British GT race taking place after lunch.  Two more rounds of the F3 championship, two more Formula Fords races, plus more racing from the VW Cup, the Ginetta Challenge and the Caterham Championship as well.

Photos: Norwich Photo

Snetterton is preparing to host its first major race meeting since undergoing a multi-million pound circuit redevelopment, when the new 300 track configuration hosts the upcoming round of the British F3 & GT Championships on 14/15 May.

Several club level motorsport events have taken place on the new 2.99-mile 300 circuit since it opened in mid-February, and the transformed layout has met with widespread praise throughout the motorsport community. However, the British F3 & GT Championships’ double headline meeting will mark the first time a national series has raced on the new circuit.

Lining up on the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship grid will be a mouth-watering array of cars, including the Mercedes SLS ‘gullwing’, Ferrari 458, Audi R8, Porsche 911 and Aston Martin DBRS9. Norfolk based manufacturer Lotus will also be entering their Evora GT4 car into the championship’s two-hour endurance race at Snetterton, which will feature mandatory pit stops and driver swaps.

In addition, Snetterton will host three races from the Cooper Tires British F3 Championship – the series that launched the careers of F1 stars such as Jenson Button and Ayrton Senna. 2011 is the diamond anniversary of both Snetterton circuit and British F3, and among the young talents hoping to sparkle in Norfolk will Carlin’s Rupert Svendsen-Cook from Ipswich. Svendsen-Cook is currently the leading British driver in the F3 standings, lying fifth after taking victory at the season opener in Monza, Italy and a further five top ten finishes this season to date.

Spectators will be able to enjoy superb viewing opportunities of the 300 circuit’s first major meeting, as a number of elevated viewing areas have been constructed at key vantage points overlooking the new layout.

As well as five headline races from the British F3 and GT Championships, the weekend will feature racing from Caterhams, the Volkswagen Racing Cup and British Formula Ford.

Discounted tickets for the British F3 & GT Championships at Snetterton on 14/15 May are now on sale from £17 for adults, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.snetterton.co.uk.

Despite today being a MSV track day rather than Test day, racing teams still turned out in force. One particular championship was being represented very well indeed, the VW Cup. Having got more and more successful over the years with more competitive, bigger and more varied grids, it is no wonder that the teams are out to fine tune there vehicles.

A pair of distinctive red and white VW’s, one Golf and one Corrado, were being shaken down after the long winter by Didge and brother Alex Dziurzynski. After a season in Ginetta’s, Alex has come back to the VW cup. Well, all working out financially. Alex had this to say to Racing Exposure:

‘Me and my brother, Didge, are out today. We are testing both the Corrado and the Golf. The plan this year is to stick with the VWs but it is all dependent on financial backing!  We would like to run both cars and hope to attend the Oulton Park meeting here in Easter, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that we get the money.’

Getting used to his quicker and updated Scirroco, Mike Kurton was fine tuning his new stead. The Scirroco has been updated the ‘R’ spec with a much quicker and smoother car to drive. Racing Exposure managed to grab a quick chat with Mike on his hopes and thoughts for the 2010 season:

‘This is the first time out with the new and updated car. For this years championship we have a new Scirroco R which has been completely updated and should be on the pace this year. With last year being a development year for the Scirroco we didn’t do to well in the championship. We finished 7^th but condisdering that we missed two races and had 4 DNF’s that isn’t bad going! So we do hope to be at the sharp end this year with a quicker, more reliable car.’

Steve Chaplin’s 3.2 V6 Beetle was the final VW out tweaking and trying out there car ahead of the 2010 season. Hoping to improve upon his result last time he raced at Oulton Park, he had this to say:

‘The car is going well. Today’s aim is to work on the suspension and the overall set up of the car. At the moment the suspension is working very well and the car feels good. We are hoping for a really good title challenge this year. Helping to fettle the car and set it up are driver Phil Keen, AST Suspension and Powerstation who help with the technical and timing side of the car. Unfortunately the Beetle isn’t best suited to this circuit. The car is more suited to an open, flowing circuit rather then the tight, technical challenge that Oulton Park offers. When it comes to the first round here at Oulton Park on Easter Weekend, we are hoping for a better performance than last year. 9^th was the best we managed at this round last year with a DNF to go alongside that, so hope to have a huge improvement over that. Our target for the Easter Weekend meeting is a top ten finish in both races.’

After seeing how the cars were going around Oulton Park and speaking to the drivers, it looks like 2010 is going to be a season to remember!

Photography – Matt Sayle