Steve Wood from Britcar has compiled this report on the latest round, at Donnongton.
Britcar GT and Production Report – Donington, 30/10/10
Shock and Gaw from Kinfaun, but MJC Again in GT.
JC Rises Again in Production
Once again, Witt Gamski and Keith Robinson took the honours in the MJC Ferrari 430, but only after the awesome John Gaw dominated the early stages in the Invitation-entry Kinfaun Porsche 997 shared with Phil Dryburgh. In Production, Mark Smith and David Cuff enjoyed a jubilant return to the championship, and a return to form, in the JC Racing BMW E90.
With the night practice session taking place at the end of Friday’s test day, this left the way clear for a day-to-night format for Saturday’s race, lasting three hours for the GT runners, whilst the Production contingent would be flagged-off in the twilight after 90 minutes.
The Saturday lunchtime 50- minute qualifying session saw a real ding-dong for pole between John Gaw’s Class 2 Porsche 997 and newly-crowned British GT4 champion Jamie Stanley, in the Orbital Sound Lotus Elise. Ian Heward, in Mike Millard’s Prosport LM3000 joined the fray, but could only get up to third place, before being deposed by Javier Morcillo in the Azteca Porsche 996, and the Julian Draper/ “Mikey” Brown Barwell Ginetta G50. Witt Gamski was holding the ninth grid slot 20-minutes into the session, but Keith Robinson hauled the Ferrari up to second with 1:09.824, before claiming provisional pole at 1:08.807 next time around. Job seemingly done, the MJC Ferrari was parked, whilst other’s began to rise towards the front end ; Mike Millard crept towards the Ferrari’s pole, and joined the MJC car on the front row, whilst the Huggins/Fiorentino Marcos Mantis cut-in ahead of the Kinfaun Porsche to complete the second row, alongside the Elise. Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz had banged-in 34 laps in their attempt to climb up the order, with Schulz getting the Challenge-spec Ferrari 430 onto the third-row towards the end of the session. Robinson came out again at the end, putting in a banker of 1:08.309 just before flag-fall, just to make sure.
In Production, it was the Intersport BMW E46, with CSL champion Dan Stringfellow joining regulars Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson, claiming pole at 1:12.223, placing them 12th in the overall order. They were less than half a second ahead of the Smith/Cuff BMW E90, then Gino Ussi, who had been mightily impressive in free practice, in the Geoff Steel BMW E46. Late into the session was the Eurotech Ford Mustang, after doing just a handful of laps in the earlier free practice period, but there was no cause for concern, as a waiting Steve Wood explained; “There’s no problem –it’s a 50-minute session, and, we’re totally satisfied with our set-up, so we’re just waiting for the initial scramble on the track to settle”. Mike Jordan had placed the machine fourth in class, but some over-exuberance by Wood to move ahead saw a spin at the Goddards chicane as the session drew to a close. A late gasp by Owen Thomas, claiming the BPM Seat Supercopa’s best time as the flag dropped on the 35th of the car’s 35 laps, could not improve their position, and Piers Johnson’s Class 2 pole, in the Kalmar Union Volvo, was to no avail, as the notorious bottom-end knocking had returned, side-lining the machine, leaving the five remaining Class 2 runners together at the rear of the grid, which lessened the worries of Dave Cox, in the Ford Escort Turbo, which had encountered head gasket problems; “it’s a way to the front” said Cox, looking up the pit straight during the pre-race Grid Walkabout, “but our competition is altogether at the back here. Denchy’s concerned, because it’s a bit bubbly around the gasket, so we’ll be taking this cautiously, to finish the race”.
A quickly-executed rolling start saw Gamski draw ahead from the lights, but Millard’s Prosport in front through Redgate, and a fast-starting Gaw in second by the time the pack reached the Old Hairpin. Losing out on the first lap were Gamski, and Chris Headlam in the Orbital Sound Elise, deposed by Javier Morcillo’s Porsche 996, and Fiorentino’s Marcos. Gaw had seized the lead at Redgate at the start of the second lap, but there were incidents and accidents in the early stages, and lap five saw the Safety Car deployed. Gary Furst slowed along the pit straight, and parked the Mitsubishi on the grass at the pit exit, whilst Mikey Brown in the #38 Barwell Ginetta had clashed with a Production car, and the damaged machine needed recovery from the vicinity of the Goddards chicane.
Now, this worked against Gamski, for, having yielded sixth place to Gareth Jones’ Porsche 997, he found himself behind pit-lane starter Matt Irons’ Honda Accord, which the Safety Car had picked-up.
Frustratingly, Gaw, and the rest of the pack, were creeping gradually towards the back of the SC crocodile during the three-lap caution, and once the field were let loose again, the Ferrari had the Kinfaun Porsche barely 16 seconds to the rear of it, and in danger of being lapped. Eight laps is what it took, with a seemingly effortless move by Gaw through Schwantz. This would have come as no surprise to Witt though, for both MJC and Kinfaun had not touched their radio systems since their joint Britcar 24hrs win, and were sharing the same frequency!
Mean while, in Production, Wayne Gibson and Mark Smith had been disputing the lead intensely – less than half a second at some points – while Simon Blanckley squandered a good early showing with a atypically slow lap of 1:44 in the Sibsport Seat. The similar TF machine of Bernard Hogarth pulled off at the pit exit, and was pushed round to the garage for attention. Gary Furst rejoined for the first of several exploratory laps before retiring the Mitsubishi. Gino Ussi made a stop, costing him six laps, and putting him on the back foot.
There was drama on lap 17 – Mike Millard slowed coming out of Goddards, and cruised to a halt on the grass opposite the pits with a total loss of power, thought possibly attributable to recurrent crankshaft issues that the Prosport has suffered. So now the order was; Gaw, eight seconds ahead of Fiorentino, again eight seconds ahead of Morcillo, Gareth Jones, Headlam, then Gamski a lap adrift. That soon changed, for Headlam pitted the Lotus; a damaged splitter was causing a vibration throughout the car. This would be the first of seven pit stops that put them out of contention.
With the Glynnsport TVR Sagaris absent, Sam Head had bought-out Warren Gilbert’s proposed drive in the Topcats Class 3 Marcos Mantis, and upon freeing himself from the Production lead battle, was now up to seventh place. That Production lead battle came to an end shortly after, though, Wayne Gibson bringing the Intersport BMW straight into the garage, with clutch problems. “The release bearing failed and seized the clutch. It’s a silly little problem, and would have taken us just an hour to fix if it happened before the race. Wayne tried to drive round it, but nearly took a GT car off, and that’s not what we’re all about, so he brought it in. We’ll find the other team, and apologise” reported a disappointed Kevin Clarke. Also having problems was Gary Smith; his MG ZR was recovered from the Old Hairpin, and made it back to the pits, but was retired.
Gamski was now on the move, unlapping himself from Gaw – “a bit of an unusual situation; I heard him get the hurry-up from his team on the radio, so I told him where to pass me on the inside” said the Scot later – and setting his sights on wresting fourth from Morcillo’s Porsche. In front of them, Gareth Jones was clinging to the tail of Fiorentino’s Marcos, which was 28 seconds adrift of the Kinfaun Porsche. The 90-minute Production race was now around the half-way stage, and the mandatory stops were in full swing, but pitting too, with just 55 minutes on the board, was the MJC Ferrari, Witt surrendering the seat to Keith Robinson, who was immediately on the pace, punching in the fastest lap of the race on his first flying lap; and then another, then another……
This signalled, being around the one-third distance for the GT race, a flurry of pit stops – Gareth Jones (to cousin Philip), Paul Bailey’s Ferrari 430 (Andy Schulz) and Morcillo (Manuel Cintrano), and by lap 52, only the top three of the race hadn’t stopped, being Gaw, Fiorentino, and Ben de Zille Butler’s Barwell Ginetta G50, which had risen to the front by solid driving and economy. The Jones’ pitstop had been non-compliant though, and they were penalised two laps for speeding, dropping them down the order.
The Production race was now drawing to a close, with the JC Racing BMW E90 heading the Eurotech Mustang in Class 1, and Gary Robertshaw in the Sibsport Seat taking the similar machine of Mark Cunningham for third , while in Class 2, Anthony Wilds, having taken over Ian Lawson’s BMW 320i, was having difficulty resisting the attention of David Green, who had relieved Richard Adams in the Bullrun Seat Leon. Robertshaw’s Seat was soon observed in the gravel at Goddards, though, signalling another Safety Car period.
John Gaw had entered the pit lane for his mandatory pit stop just seconds before the SC boards went out, so two full churns of fuel were dispensed into the Porsche before Phil Dryburgh took over. There was trouble with the seat belts though, and precious time was lost before the Kinfaun car was back on track. Raphael Fiorentino now led, with Robinson second, a lap behind, and 22 seconds ahead of the remaining Barwell Ginetta.
When the safety car came in, there were just seven minutes of Production racing left, and Mark Smith and David Cuff duly took the win, after a dominant performance, and atoning for the dismal early season woes in the former Andy Priaulx WTCC BMW E90, though they endured a leaking CV joint for much of the race, which had sprayed fluid onto the back wheels. “Driveable, yes, but scary” was Mark Smith’s post-race summary. Mike Jordan brought the Eurotech Ford Mustang home second, in front of Mark and Peter Cunningham’s Seat Supercopa. David Green wrested the Class 2 lead from Anthony Wilds in the closing stages, and, claiming fastest lap too, seized a tenuous lead to the championship. This had been a big weekend for Bullrun, who had upped their game with grid girls, publicity material, and filming; “We’d focussed on the ING team all weekend, looking at their times, and we had a plan. The car was faultless, and the plan was faultless” said Richard Adams. The final Class 2 podium spot was bagged by Dave and Michael Cox, who plugged around conservatively in the Escort Turbo, finishing ahead of the Samsboyz Honda Accord of Andre Severs and father-in-law Matt Irons. Elsewhere in Class 1, the Taylors Foundry Seat of Bernard and Marcus Hogarth recovered from earlier problems to finish fifth in class, and Gino Ussi came home sixth, his early-race concerns affecting his championship aspirations. Carrying on into the GT race, as an Invitation entry, was the BPM Seat of Owen Thomas and Ashley Woodman, which was classified fourth in Class 1.
Back to the GTs, and Fiorentino pitted the Topcats Marcos as the Production flag was flown, the exact half-way mark; it had been a stunning stint from “Raffa”, who commented on tyre choice; “We went with the softer compound on the rear – the harder compound is more durable, but needs more heat to make it work, so we took it safe, but the soft tyres are brilliant for 10 laps, then they go off and on, so you need to adapt your driving style”. Also stopping now, but not for the first time, was the yellow TVR Sagaris. Steve Glynn had joined the Tonge/Hood pairing for this race, but the machine was not having the best of races, enduring wheel bearing problems after an earlier knock, with the misery now being compounded by a two-lap penalty for a short pit stop. They would continue to circulate between pit stops, and just manage to complete the 40% distance required for Britcar classification. Ben de Zille Butler finally brought in the Barwell Ginetta in from third, handing over to team boss Mark Lemmer. “It could have run for another hour” Butler told Autosport’s Peter Scherer, commenting on the car’s remarkable economy. Darkness had now fallen over the circuit.
Jamie Stanley, out of the running after the problems in the Elise, and still enduring an in/out relationship with the pits, was nevertheless now flying, and, with the race now entering its final hour, the final stops were being made. Philip Jones handed the Porsche to Morgan, then Dryburgh back to Gaw and Cintrano back to Morcillo. Rejoining their cars after refuelling were Schulz, Huggins, and Robinson. Strategies were coming in to play.
Robinson posted the race’s fastest lap, in the darkness, 110 laps in, at 1:08.493, and for a spell, enjoyed a side-by-side dice with Gaw, but with four laps separating the cars. Gaw had been closing the gap to Huggins, and after claiming second place, began to draw away.
More misfortune befell the Jones’ family Porsche, for with 14 minutes left to run, they pitted for a splash and dash. Britcar rules forbid refuelling in the final 15 minutes, and they were duly penalised a further two laps, dropping them back to sixth place. Another late pitter was Neil Huggins, with just seven minutes to go, though this was to fix the ubiquitous Topcats puncture, an un-missable feature of any Britcar race. “I could smell it coming, I could smell the rubber, for several laps” rued Huggins after coming home third in the race, and bagging the class points for the win.
So after a gross of laps (that’s 144, for those reading in metric), the MJC Ferrari posted another win – a clean sweep of every Britcar race in 2010 – finishing five laps ahead of their close friends Kinfaun, and with the earlier Safety Car concern now long-dispelled. “It was the usual nightmare start for me, poor handling, cold tyres, full tanks, and this is a challenging circuit” said Witt, whilst Keith added “I’d like to dedicate this win to my best friend and mentor Mike Bray, who is terminally ill. He guided me through my early years in endurance karting, and was even on the phone to me all through the Britcar 24hrs, giving encouragement”
Phil Dryburgh was happy in second place, and magnanimous in defeat; “The only way we could have had good fortune in this race would have been at MJC’s misfortune, and that’s the last thing we wanted four our friends. All we need now is a faster car. Getting back into the Porsche after driving the Ferrari at Silverstone felt so slow”. The two teams’ joint post-race celebrations ended with Kinfaun’s Will and MJC’s Neal performing a full-frontal streak along the pit lane, showered with champagne by John Gaw running alongside, apparently the settlement of a bet.
Lemmer did it again; every Autumn, the Barwell boss raids a Britcar night race, and nicks a trophy! It was an impeccable drive, though, shared with Ben de Zille Butler. bagging the Class 3 win, and fourth overall. The Class 3 points, though, went to Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano in the NGR/Azteca Porsche, fifth overall, and they were followed, theoretically at least, by the Jones boys in their Porsche, who had four “virtual” laps docked from their tally. Relative novice Paul Bailey was delighted to finish seventh overall, and complete the Class 3 podium with co-driver Andy Schulz. Just off the class podium were Owen O’Neill and Sam Head, in the #36 Topcats Marcos, and Head, a long-term Topcats TVR customer, was pleased with his progress in a different car; “i moved up from 10th to fifth in my first stint – that was the highlight of my race”. The BPM Seat Supercopa , now a Class 3 invitation entry, finished ninth, giving valuable track time and night racing experience to Ashley Woodman and Owen Thomas, and the Orbital Sound Lotus Elise rounded off the top ten finishers. Circulating at the finish, though unclassified, was the Draper/Brown Ginetta G50, the Barwell team managing to patch the car up and get it out on track before the end of the race.
Words – STEVE WOOD/Britcar
A fantastic weekend for Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing, with a race win and two second places, made it the best ever in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park over the weekend (16/17 April).
