RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Andy Ruhan

A huge crowd basked beneath a cloudless sky for the first of Sunday’s two GT Cup Championship races, and was suitably entertained by twenty-five minutes of close-fought action, a fair few spills, and a dominant win by championship-leader Andy Ruhan.

The Porsche driver had arrived in Norfolk with a 13 point lead over Ferrari-man Dave Tomlin, and these two provided most of the front-running action, although Tomlin certainly didn’t romp as easily to second as Ruhan did to his fourth win of the season.

The only rough patch that Ruhan hit was on Saturday afternoon, when his Porsche sustained a tyre deflation early in the twenty minute qualifying session. Gary Eastwood looked to have pole in the bag, until Ruhan emerged in the dying moments and managed to snatch the top slot with a last-gasp effort. That gave him the best line into Riches from the rolling start, and he’d eased out enough of a margin on the short run into the first corner to be clear of the shenanigans that broke out in his wake.

Tom Andrew

Tomlin, so intent on staying in touch with Ruhan from the second row, missed a gearchange, and made contact with Tom Andrew, starting alongside from Group 2 pole in the rumbling Morgan Aero 8GT. Both cars recovered quickly – Andrew better than Tomlin – but behind them, several others came to grief. Leon Price and Colin Broster wouldn’t complete the lap, while Michael Symonds would succumb shortly afterwards with power steering failure. Peter Bamford was the principal beneficiary, moving through to fourth in his white Ferrari 430.

While Ruhan eased clear into a comfortable lead taking full advantage of no success ballast, establishing an advantage over Eastwood with 40gk success ballast from the last race that hovered around the five second mark, the rest of the field remained in a state of animated flux for the remainder of the race. Eastwood looked to have second under control, and even if he had no reply to the leader, he did seem to have the edge over Bamford and the recovering Tomlin. The latter soon caught, briefly tagged, and then passed Bamford for third, and started to hunt down Eastwood’s black Ferrari. What Tomlin didn’t know was that Eastwood had been forced to refit an old set of boots at the last minute, when damage was discovered in one of his intended race set. The tyres he ended up using had worked hard to earn second last time out at Brands, but the combination of added ballast and weary rubber took its toll. Barrelling down towards Riches at the start of lap seven, the Ferrari finally gave way, and Eastwood trekked out across the grass and ended up deep within a field of barley, much to the surprise of the chasing Tomlin.

Adam Hayes

That gave Tomlin an easy run to the flag, crossing the line just four seconds shy of Ruhan, but 22 ahead of Bamford, recovering from a spin on lap 3 to take third in Group 1.

For nine out of twelve laps, Tom Andrew held the Group 2 lead, running as high as third overall, but as the race entered its closing stages, the thundering V8 started to flutter. Low fuel pressure was the problem, and Andrew simply had no answer. A four second lead over Peter Morris dwindled to nothing, and on lap ten, a “moment” at Murray’s saw Morris through. With just two laps to go, Andrew held on gamely, but had to concede two more track positions before crossing the line, sixth overall, but still runner-up in Group 2, fourteen seconds clear of Sean Winder’s Ferrari 360. Nail-bitingly close, but in fourth by two one-hundredths of a second, came Francis Galashan, those 15 kilos from Brands probably all that stood between him and another podium.

Andy Yool

Adam Hayes held the edge in Group 3 for the first half of the race, keeping a determined Mark Radcliffe at bay, but once again, misfortune was to dog Andy Yool in the #53 Chevron GR8. To begin with, he missed the cut at the pitlane exit, and was prevented from taking up his position on the grid. That meant losing a third-row slot and starting from the back, where it took him five laps to get any heat into the tyres. Once up to speed, though, Yool started working up through the field, and while Hayes slipped back after a spin at Riches, and Dougal moved through to take the Group lead from Radcliffe, it was Yool making up the most ground. On lap 9 he moved through to second, and started to close rapidly onDougal for the Group 3 lead. On the last lap, dicing within the shadow of Dougal’s rear wing, the Chevron’s 2 litre Cosworth suddenly lost power. Starved of fuel, Yool coasted to a halt near Bombhole, another DNF to his credit.

Sean Winder leads Barclay Dougal

That left Dougal to take the Group 3 win by three seconds from Radcliffe, with Hayes a fairly distant third, with five unclassified.

Regular followers will notice several significant names missing from the Snetterton line-up. Danny Winstanley’s TVR Sagaris was withdrawn after qualifying fourth with ECU problems, and Robert Koenig’s Porsche 996 gearbox also meant an early return home. Matt Seldon, winner at Brands, Michael Saunders (TVR Cerbera) and Benjamin Harvey (KTM XBow) had commitments elsewhere.

Race 2

The day’s second race couldn’t have been more different from the first. With the success ballast redistributed, and 60 kilos in the #6 Porsche alongside Andy Ruhan, it was always going to be a closer race, provided his main rivals kept on the black stuff and could be persuaded to stop tripping over one another. With a Ferrari lock-out on the front row – Gary Eastwood starting from pole alongside David Tomlin – Ruhan had his work cut out even before the start . . . but you’d never have thought so to watch him off the line.

Andy Yool's Chevron spits flame on the over-run

GT Cup championship races run from a rolling start, and as the pace car peeled away at Murray’s, Eastwood held everyone in check right to the line, but while his speed control was exemplary, his positioning wasn’t. Easing into the centre of the track from the second row, Ruhan was left with just enough of a gap to see daylight through the middle. He timed his run to perfection. Flooring the pedal just a fraction before the leaders, he was able to carry a tad more speed across the line and then elbow his way through to the front. Trading red paint on one side, black on the other, he emerged as ahead even before they took the exit at Riches.

Not wishing to see a repeat of race one, Tomlin conceded the place gracefully and let Ruhan through, but Eastwood (now on fresh rubber!) tucked in behind the Porsche and hared off in pursuit. Even before the first lap was completed, these two had already generated a two second gap over Tomlin in third, and they’d build on that steadily as the race developed.

Gary Eastwood

If everyone swept cleanly through the first corner this time, they didn’t at the last. Yool, with those tyres on the Chevron not yet up to temperature, caught the kerbs and spun atMurrays. Symonds, following just behind, was forced to brake hard, and left team-mate Mark Radcliffe nowhere else to go but into the rear of the #31 BMW. Both orange BMWs were badly damaged, but Symonds was able to continue – as was Yool, but Radcliffe became the race’s first retirement.

Untroubled by any of this, Ruhan and Eastwood continued to stretch their lead, extending the margin over third to more than ten seconds, yet remaining tightly paired   themselves. Tomlin in the red #66 Ferrari simply didn’t seem able to maintain their kind of pace, and had enough on his plate as it was, with the constant attentions of Peter Bamford in the #60 Ferrari and Leon Price, a close and determined fifth. On lap nine it all came to the boil, with Bamford snagging the rear bumper of Tomlin’s Ferrari (in a near carbon copy, in reverse, of their Race 1 meeting) and Tomlin running wide at Hamilton to lose three slots, rejoining behind Group 2 leader Tom Andrew in the Morgan.

Rupert Martin

There was no repeat of the fuel pump problems for the grumbling V8 this time, and Andrew held the Group 2 lead from start to finish, although Colin Broster’s yellow Porsche must have loomed large in his mirrors nearly all the way. The gap between the two rarely grew much beyond a second or two, and it was only when Tomlin rejoined and separated them that Andrew looked at all secure.

With the effective loss of the pacey Andy Yool so early on, the battle for Group 3 settled down to a straight match between Barclay Dougal and Adam Hayes. Having taken the lead on lap 4, the white BMW of Dougal always seemed to have the narrowest edge, but Hayes harried hard, regaining the class lead briefly on lap 8, only to have it snatched away again with a matter of seconds. Hayes appeared to be untroubled by the plumes of white tyre smoke billowing from his rear arches for much of the second half of the race, and pushed hard right to the flag. Yool would still claim third, but only by dint of being last man standing in the Group.

David Tomlin

The colour of the flag when it came wasn’t the usual black and white chequer, but a bright red. As the leaders bellowed through to begin their tenth lap, with less than seven tenths between them, it looked as if Eastwood was going to get the better of Ruhan’s failing rubber. Carrying the extra weight, and being pushed hard relentlessly for lap after lap, the championship leader was clearly struggling to maintain his advantage, and things grew significantly worse for him as he headed for the Montreal Hairpin. He’d sustained a puncture, and Eastwood pounced, moving through to take the lead, but to no avail. Behind them in the race, Paul Winter and Francis Galashan, disputing eighth place, had come together ending up stranded on the side lines. They weren’t about to be moved easily, and the race officials had no hesitation in stopping the race.

Peter Morris / Paul Winter

With ten of an anticipated twelve laps completed, the result was called, based on a count-back to the previous lap. That reinstated Ruhan as the leader, giving Eastwood second, and Peter Bamford third. With Winter and Galashan both retired, third in Group 2 went to Sean Winder, with Andrew taking the win by three seconds from Broster.

Although denied an almost certain win, Eastwood accepted the result with good grace. “Andy coped really well with all that ballast, and all credit where it’s due – he drove a fantastic race. I thought I’d get him in the end, and I could see he was struggling with the tyres, but he held onto the win with the roll-back. I still enjoyed it!”

Both Andy Ruhan and Barclay Dougal recorded a brace of wins on the day, with Tom Andrew and Peter Morris sharing the spoils in Group 2. Full race reports and pictures will be posted to www.gtcup.co.uk later in the week.  The tv program will air on Friday 8^th july at 17:25 on motors tv and soon after via the website.

Pics: Norwich Photo

The Superstar Series blasts off the in the UK with the reigning FIA GT1 Champion, Bertolini, at the head of the field.

The SuperStars Series made its maiden visit to Donington Park this weekend, with an array of support series from the UK and Europe, despite a number of cars not present, a field of 20 cars took to the flowing Donington Park circuit.

Farrara leads the championship despite not claiming a win at Donington.

Race day greeted the teams with typical British Summer weather – overcast, very little sunshine and a threat of rain with some very heavy clouds heading over the circuit throughout the day. Thankfully, they decided to empty their contents elsewhere and the circuit stayed dry.

A familiar name to Formula 1 fans from the 1990's

Bertolini’s 3.2s lead began to come down in the last 3 laps as his tyres began to fade due to the setup of the car. Herbert was faster in all areas of the circuit apart from the GP Loop where Bertolini was 3 tenths quicker than the Mercedes.

Report: Nick Deeley
Photography: Surreal Illusions

Calum Lockie won round four of the MSA Britcar Endurance Championship in the Strata 21 Mosler, from 22^nd on the grid at Thruxton on Sunday. Paul White didn’t get to drive during the race as the two hour combined BEC and Production GTN Championship was stopped after 70 minutes due to heavy rain.

“The weather was foul for the start, but the car felt absolutely stunning in the wet,” said Calum. “It was very wet with big puddles and it was really tricky; I went sideways off the startline and the spray was intense. I was being careful and not taking big risks.”

The weekend had started off with blue skies during qualifying on Saturday, with both Strata 21 cars not in attendance due to a problem with the BMW of Sarah Bennett-Baggs and Jenson Lunn – logistics meaning both cars we absent. Another Mosler took pole position – Javier Morcillo setting a time of 1:13.354, some eight tenths quicker than the Viper of Wilkins & Scott. The Aquila CR1 was a further half a second back, with the McInerney’s in their Ferrari 430 in fourth.

No MJC team at Thruxton, due to their engine blow up at Donningon – it has been sent back to Italy for a rebuild. Hopefully we will see the team back soon. Also absent were the Cunningham father and son team in their Production Class 1 Seat Leon Supercopa.

Taking the Production pole was an invitation entry from Atkins and Alpass in a Ginetta G50 (car #89), who set an excellent time of 1:20.251 to line up 10^th overall, ahead of some BEC runners. Just two tenths behind were Kevin Clarke & Wayne Gibson in their BMW – who nearly didn’t make the start of the race. An engine blow up in Sunday morning practice (which caused a red flag for 10 mins or so while the oil was cleared up) meant they had to get a spare car driven down from Birmingham. The car didn’t quite arrive in time for the race, but they got out with 6 laps already run.

The rain, which was already going when I arrived at the track in the morning, and would keep going all day, intensified towards the start of the race, so the grid actually got two laps behind the safety car before being released. The conditions still caught people out – Manuel Cintrano, taking the first stint in the Azteca Mosler, went off on turn one, and although managed to regain the track crossed the line at the end of lap 1 in last place. This let the Aquila through to lead.

Going in the other direction, however, was Lockie who was up to tenth place at the end of lap 1. Going into lap 2, the Honda Civic of James / Ludlow went off at turn one, but unfortunately was unable to rejoin. A safety car was deployed while the car was removed and the tyre barrier repaired.

The race was back on 5 laps later as the safety car came in. The Aquila was leading from the McInerney’s in the Eclipse Ferrari, another Ferrari in third place – the Bailey / Schulz entry with Andy Schulz at the wheel, then the #89 Ginetta in fourth place overall and leading production.

By lap 9 Calum Lockie had dispatched the remaining drivers and was in the lead, a slight change of position meant Schulz was in second place, the Aquila down to third, the McInerney’s in fourth and the #89 Ginetta in fifth. This top five would remain the same, with Lockie slowly but surely extending his lead to 16 seconds by lap 20.

On lap 23 the Viper came into the pits, for a routine stop – the Achilles heel of this car is how thirsty it seems to be. On lap 24 the safety car came out again for two laps, for an unseen spinner over on the far side of the track – possibly the #75 Mazda, who subsequently posted a 4 minute lap. The McInerney’s took this opportunity to pit and dropped one place, to re-emerge in fourth. A spin on their next lap would see the car return to the pits to retire, and it may well have caused the return of the safety car on lap 30, after just three laps of actual racing. For five laps the field followed the safety car round before it came back in. One flying lap followed, before the chequered flag was thrown to end the race after just 70 of the 120 minutes. Some cars hadn’t even pitted, as a one stop was going to be the strategy for the majority of teams, meaning a few drivers didn’t even get in the car.

Of the 36 laps completed, 22 were at racing speed. Due to the conditions, it appeared to be the right decision to end the race early. Andy Schulz: “Conditions, especially after the last safety car were truly appalling and there was no surprise there were so many cars off everywhere, you just didn’t know if there was grip in the same places from lap to lap as there was so much rainfall and the visibility if you were behind anyone was really bad so a lot of the track had to be driven from memory rather than by sight & I had a couple of very “interesting” moments!
I managed quite early on to get passed the leaders but was trying to be reasonably cautious & had no real answer for Calum in the Mosler, I did manage to just about keep with him for the remainder of the race & would have liked to see how the full distance race would have panned out with pit stops and driver changes.”

The next round of Britcar is at Spa from 24^th-26^th of June.

Words: Alex Ings / Images: Alex Ings

AmD Milltek Racing.com can announce that it has come to an amicable agreement to part company with driver Tom Onslow-Cole in order to allow him to take up the offer of a drive elsewhere.

Tom joined the team on the eve of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season in its ever-improving Volkswagen Golf.

AmD Milltek Racing.com is pleased to have helped Tom to remain on the BTCC grid and wishes him well for the future.

Further details on who will drive the Volkswagen for the remainder of the 2011 season will be made in due course.

“We have enjoyed working with Tom during his short time as part of the AmD Milltek Racing.com team and wish him all the best for his future career,” team principal Shaun Hollamby said. “We were told of Tom’s decision 15 minutes before the final race today at Oulton Park and that he would no longer be driving for us.

“AmD Milltek Racing.com is staffed by a strong and talented group of people who will continue working hard to build on the progress we have made this season. As a team, we remain focused on moving the Volkswagen Golf up the BTCC grid and will evaluate replacement drivers to allow us to continue with the progress made so far through the remainder of the season.

Photos: Nick Dungan / Sportstock.co.uk

In front of a huge appreciative crowd, the second round of the Time Attack series took place at Knockhill racing circuit in Scotland on Sunday 16th May. Despite the bitterly cold conditions, the crowd were kept entertained all day by the field of some of the fastest modifed cars in the country.

Gavin Renshaw driving NR Autosport EVO to victory at Knockhill

Warm up

Despite the chilly conditions on track, the leading Club Challenge drivers were keen to find the limits of their cars and the Pirelli P Zero control tyres. The top 6 drivers were separated by just over a second with the Impreza of Chris Bennett setting the fastest time of 59.205 ahead of the exuberantly driven Impreza of Adam Kindness (husband of Time Attack regular Fiona), who was stood in for Gary Searl who was unable to make the journey north. It was interesting to note that almost all the drivers set their fastest times between the 4th and 6th laps, which indicated that the tyres were taking some time to reach their peak performance on the cold track.

Romain Levesque, Buddy Club CRX at Knockhill

In the FWD class, Bo Nielsen in the Forge Motorsport Astra VXR was again biting on the heels of the Japanese 4WD machinery, with his best time of 1:01.851 being almost a second clear of nearest challenger Romain Levesque in his Buddy Club CRX.

Warren Kelly, Airtec Cosworth at Knockhill

In Club Pro, Warren Kelly again set the early benchmark in the Airtec Escort Cosworth with a time of 58.737, beating local expert Fiona Kindness in her Track Scotland Nissan Skyline by almost a second. Fiona in turn was almost a second clear of Neil Robertson’s EVO and Walter Morris (Nissan Skyline). Rob Cowling was finally getting to grips with the Ameon Racing EVO which wasn’t ready for the first round at Oulton Park.

Fiona Kindness, Track Scotland Skyline at Knockhill

In Pro class, Marcus Webster stayed out for almost the full session, and was the only car to dip into the 56 second backet with a 56.674 set on his 11th lap. Despite undergoing spinal surgery only a few days after the first round, Mike Mahoney showed the potential of his Wallace Performance EVO, setting the 2nd fastest time of 57.106 ahead of fellow EVO drivers Gavin Renshaw, and Russ Paton.

Duncan Graham, BC Racing Impreza at Knockhill

Practice

With dry conditions on track, it was only a few laps before some seriously quick times were posted during the morning practice session. Leading the pack was Allan Freeland in his distinctive pink EVO setting the Club Challenge benchmark at 56.685 on lap 3. Under new rules for this season Allan was standing in for regular Eric Holmes, who despite many long hours in the nights leading up to the event, was unable to resolve his engine problems in time. Jon Mathers in the Pro-R Impreza was just over 1 second adrift with a 57.804, with EVO driver Andrew Barbour close behind on a 58.053.

Adam Kindness, Track Scotland Impreza at Knockhill

Despite some talented and aggressive driving by Adam Kindness, who at times was using all the track and more, he was unable to improve on the time set in the earlier warm-up session and just failed to get under the minute with a 60.240. A special mention must go to Gerry Atkinson, in his 300bhp Seat Leon Supercopa backed by Billy Connolly’s Ticketyboo Films. Despite heavy rainfall midway through the session which saw all his rivals return to the safety of the pits, Gerry stayed out lap after lap, completing a total of 18 laps during the 20 minute session.

Gerry Atkinson, Seat Leon Supercopa at Knockhill

Fiona Kindess made full advantage of her many hundreds of laps experience of the Knockhill track in all conditions, to lead the Club Pro times and set 4th fastest time over with a 57.658, some 1.5 seconds better than rivals Warren Kelly and Neil Robertson. Walter Morris suffered a power steering failure in his Midlands Performance Skyline, and could only manage two laps during the session.

Still nursing head gasket issues after winning the previous round, Duncan Graham managed an impessive 57.947 in Pro Class, to keep close to leader Gavin Renshaw in the NR Autosport EVO who recorded a 56.748 in the challenging and variable conditions. Mike Mahoney was only 3/100ths slower than Gavin, with local expert Russ Paton only 3/10ths behind with a 57.198 in his Performance HQ EVO whilst demonstrating his drifting skills around some of the slower corners.

Russ Paton drifting his EVO at Knockhill

Qualifying

Whilst still cold, the track was at least dry for the afternoon qualifying sessions. Allan Freeland wasted no time in setting the fastest time of the session, with a 56.958 on only his second lap.

Allan Freeland EVO at Knockhill

Andrew Barbour improved on his morning times with a 57.258 and earned him valuable qualification points. Jon Mathers qualified 3rd with the Pro-R Impreza on 58.298 ahead of first time competitor Matt Lawson in his Wallace Performance EVO. Adam Kindness again pushed hard to break the one minute barrier, but struggled against the higher powered cars now their drivers were more familiar with the track.

Andrew Barbour EVO at Knockhill

In the FWD class, Romain Levesque stayed out on track for most of the session, and his perseverance payed off as he qualified in first place with a 60.257, ahead of Gerry Atkinson’s Leon Supercopa (60.563) and Bo Nielsen’s VXR Astra on 60.727. The stage was now set for a thrilling final between these closely matched rivals.

Mark Pollard 6R4 at Knockhill

It appeared as though distaster had struck RWD title contender Umar Masood, in his flame throwing Mazda RX7 as his car completely died midway through the session. Umar had endured a tortuous 16 hour journey to Knockhill from Wolverhampton as his tow car broke down 3 times en-route. Having set his fastest time of the day of 61.699, he was unsure if he could get the car fixed again in time for the final. First round winner Jimmy White in the lime green VX220 was not without his own problems, despite the extra confidence gained from a new front splitter. Jimmy struggled to match his earlier times, and could only record a 62.244 to qualify in second place behind Umar.

Umar Masood getting pushed back onto track at Knockhill

Slippery conditions once again confronted the Pro and Club Pro drivers as they took to the track for their qualifying session. Gavin Renshaw set the pace early on with a 60.289 on his 3rd lap, despite some lurid powerslides around the lower section of the circuit, before returning to the pits to preserve the car for the final.

Marcus Webster Skyline at Knockhill

However the light rain eased off, and with a strong wind blowing the track conditions quickly improved. At the midway point of the session, Walter Morris lead the field with his best time of 59.562 on his 10th lap, before his power steering gremlins returned. With the conditions improving by the second, the crowd were enthralled as the lead times changed several times per lap. In the end, it was the powerful Skyline of Marcus Webster that mastered the tricky conditions to qualify first overall with a 57.076. Marcus was recording terminal speeds in excess of 140mph on the main straight before braking for the blind Duffus Dip corner, a remarkable feat under the circumstances. Fiona Kindness also took advantage of the fast drying conditions to qualify 2nd fastest outright near the end of the session, with a 57.783, closely followed by Russ Paton’s EVO (57.844) and Duncan Graham’s Impreza on 57.871

Duncan Graham BC Racing Impreza at Knockhill

Club Challenge Finals

FWD

Romain Levesque in his Buddy Club CRX inflicted a rare defeat over Bo Nielsen’s Astra VXR in the FWD cateogry. Bo had set the early pace, recording his best time of 60.415 on only his second lap. Ever wary of the threat from the hard charging Romain, Bo remained out on track for most of the session, recording a long consistent series of laps in the 60 second bracket, but none to better the earlier effort when his tyres were at their peak. Bo was right to be concerned, as toward the end of the session Romain bettered Bo’s time with a 60.263, and on his very last lap raised the bar even higher with a 60.222. Dave Thorpe in the Civic EP3 took the third podium spot, ahead of Gerry Atkinson in the Seat Leon Supercopa.

Bo Nielsen, Astra VXR at Knockhill

4WD

In the 4WD category, Allan Freeland again wasted little time and was right on the pace from the outset. Allan set his fastest time of the day with a stunning time 56.127. 2nd place was claimed by Andrew Barbour in his EVO 5 (56.704). Andrew had a very nervous end to the session, as his clutch release bearing failed after completing only 6 laps, rendering his car immobile. In his first ever competitive event, one hit wonder Matt Lawson claimed third fastest time with a 56.810. As Matt wasn’t entered for the championship, the third podium position went to a delighted Jon Mathers in the Pro-R Impreza, who was also awarded the SIDC fastest Subaru trophy for the second event running.

Jon Mathers Pro-R Impreza at Knockhill

Matt Lawson - Wallace Performance EVO at Knockhill

RWD

Umar Masood overcame his electrical gremlins suffered during qualification, to record his first ever Time Attack victory, with a lap time of 61.151. Umar’s winning time was comfortably ahead of rival Jimmy White who suffered engine problems on his out lap, and limped around to secure valuable championship points.

Jimmy White congratulates Umar Masood on his Knockhill Victory

Pro and Club Pro Finals

With a point to prove after failing to qualify in first place, Gavin Renshaw pushed his NR Autosport EVO hard from the outset, recoridng a blistering time of 55.188 on his 3rd lap. Gavin could not rest easily though, as Russ Paton immediately responded with a 55.570 with the promise of more to come. First place qualifier Marcus Webster took a few laps to settle into a rythym, and on his 10th lap recorded a 55.904 which was enough to secure his first podium position of the year. The fight was still very much on for first place though, as Renshaw and Paton returned on track and set a series of ever faster lap times. It was Renshaw who took the honours in the end, with a 55.024 proving just enough to pip Paton’s best of 55.161.

You can watch Gavin’s winning lap here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pnSw77WZMc

Gavin Renshaw NR Autsport EVO at Knockhill

Renshaw, Paton and Webster celebrate at Knockhill

Despite continued problems with the head gasket in his BC Racing Impreza, Duncan Graham did just enough to secure the valuable championship he needed to remain top of the points standing after two rounds. Duncan was also awarded the SIDC trophy for fastest Pro Class Impreza.

Mike Mahoney was looking good for an excellent result during the early part of the final session, before he put a wheel onto the grass exiting the hairpin and heavily impacted the tyre wall bringing an early end to his hopes. Thankfully it appears the damage is merely cosmetic, and assuming that replacment body parts can be sourced in time, “Daisy” will be back on track for the next two rounds at Brands Hatch at the end of June.

Mike Mahoney, Wallace Performance EVO at Knockhill

In the Club Pro category, the experience and determination of Fiona Kindness around her local track proved too much for her rivals. Fiona’s best time of 56.900 was enough to earn her 4th fastest time overall, as well as her first ever Club Pro victory. Despite recording his fastest time of the the day, Warren Kelly’s time of 57.584 wasn’t enough to threaten the dominant Kindness on home turf. Both fondly remembered last year’s Club Challenger rival Scott Robson who is taking a year out of competition, by wearing t-shirts emblazened with the words “Scott Who?” on them. Fiona now leads the Club Pro title race ahead of fellow Skyline driver Walter Morris, who amazingly completed all of his 7 laps in the final session and set a competitive time of 58.662 with no power steering, as once again it failed as he was leaving the pit lane.

Walter Morris piloting his Skyline with no power steering at Knockhill

Fiona Kindness enjoying her first Club Pro victory at Knockhill

The full results from the Knockhill round can be found by clicking here

The Time Attack series now moves south again to Brands hatch in Kent, for the first ever double header weekend on the 25th and 26th June.

Words: John Stewart
Images: Flat Out Photography

The points standings after two rounds are as follows:

Round 2 points table

A feast of legendary Formula One cars will demonstrate on track at this year’s Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch on Spring Bank Holiday weekend (28-30 May), which takes place on the full Grand Prix circuit on the Sunday and Monday.

Topping the bill will be Damon Hill’s World Championship-winning Williams-Renault FW18 from 1996. Hill won eight races on his way to the title that year, chased all the way by team-mate Jacques Villeneuve.

Damon Hill’s tenure at Williams will be forever associated with his rivalry with German Michael Schumacher and a range of cars celebrating his Benetton team from that period will also be on track. The 1992 and 1993 Benetton cars that were designed by Ross Brawn, now of Mercedes F1, helped develop Schumacher into a Grand Prix winner and eventual World Champion.

Before Schumacher joined the team they had former World Champion Nelson Piquet on their driving strength and his 1990 car is another of those taking part in the demonstrations. Finally the era of Turbo cars in 1985 will also be represented, and fresh from running Ayrton Senna in his first year of Formula One, the Toleman team’s profile was sufficiently raised to enable them to attract sponsorship from Benetton. Later in the season the famous Italian fashion house bought the team, which still survives today as Lotus Renault F1.

In addition to these wonderful cars, the Masters Festival also features racing from Formula 1 machinery from the ’60s to the ’80s, courtesy of the Grand Prix Masters series, plus World Sportscar Masters, as raced at Le Mans, and many other historic championships.

Tickets for the Masters Historic Festival, are available from £17 for adults with free admission for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

Sean and Michael McInerney, assisted by Phil Keen, made it two wins on the trot in the Eclipse-run Ferrari 430, in Donington’s four-hour race, that had a very different complexion to the previous round at Rockingham.

Four hours, after negotiations with the MSA, became a race of two halves; the governing body had developed a wariness of the Britcar procedure of flagging-off the Production race part-way through the sanctioned GT championship, the compromise for this round being a full chequered flag for all competitors at the two-hour mark, and the immediate deployment of the Safety Car once the last runner had crossed the line, enabling the Production competitors to safely leave the circuit. The Safety Car would then circulate for as few laps as possible until it was safe to continue, then let the field go green again. In effect, a four-hour race with safety car period, but, because of the display of the mid-point chequered flag, described as pair of two-hour races.

The longer race gave the opportunity for some ringers to be drafted in, chief amongst these being the addition of Aston Martin Racing boss John Gaw into the MJC squad, though, it seemed, not at a good time. Having suffered electronic issues in Friday testing, the team’s red and white Ferrari 430 spent the first half of the 50-minute qualifying session in the garage, having a new drive shaft fitted. Gaw put in a time that would bag eighth place on the grid, but the planned engine servicing that was due immediately after the race was pulled-ahead somewhat when Keith Robinson entered the pit lane with a plume of blue-grey smoke emitting from the rear of the car. The plan was to have taken the engine down to the Michellotto factory for an interim rebuild on the Monday after the race, but, with dropped valves and deformed pistons, this looked likely to be terminal, but you should never doubt the resolve of true racers. With very few engines in the world – some said four, others a dozen – with the identical ecu and mapping characteristics, it was a stroke of luck that Dutch Supercar team Veka Racing had the exact engine sitting as a spare in their truck. A Saturday evening of negotiation culminated in a lease deal, and by Sunday breakfast the MJC Ferrari was re-engined and ready to roll, an installation lap behind the safety car getting the nod of approval from a beaming Keith Robinson.

The Eclipse Ferrari had an atypical early session too, the team bolting on wet tyres in anticipation of the downpours that had blighted the earlier qualifying sessions, and it wouldn’t be until late into the 50 minutes that a place on the second row was claimed.

Up front, Javier Morcillo, in the Azteca Mosler shared with Manuel Cintrano, bagged pole at 1:06.798, a full one and a quarter seconds ahead of the revelation of the race, the self-built Praga R4S of Dutch Supercar regulars Racing4Slovakia, with car builder Dick Kvetnansky sharing the drive with young hotshoe Martin Sedlak.

The pack was almost alongside the Safety Car as it peeled into the pitlane for the start of the race, and Morcillo took the lead from pole, whilst, in the melee into Redgate, Calum Lockie’s Mosler sliced under the rear valance of the Eclipse Ferrari in front as they all hit the braking zone; “I was launched” exclaimed Michael McInerney later. Making a storming start was Adam Wilcox in the MacG Racing Ultima, scything through a wide, empty gap left by cars choosing either side of the track, but it was Morcillo who led as they crossed the line for the first time, ahead of Kvetnansky in the Praga, Aaron Scott’s Viper, John Gaw in the MJC Ferrari, a recovering Lockie, McInerney in a similar condition and sporting a flapping rear diffuser, and Bob Berridge in the Aquilla.

Within five laps the leaders had caught the tail end of the Production runners, and Lockie, having already dealt with Gaw, made an all-too-easy move on Scott down the inside at Redgate, it becoming clear just a moment later that the Viper was struggling, and once again taking an unplanned pit stop early in the race. This time, rim failure on the front right had caused the tyre to deflate, dropping them to 10th place as the mandatory “ballasted” 105-second pit-stop timing was observed.

There was an early pit stop, too, for the Ultima – an ignition coil had fallen onto the exhaust and burnt through – and Michael Millard’s Prosport (depping for the usual Rapier, which was awaiting an engine rebuild). This was to be the first of several stops before the car was retired after doing 51 laps. The Ultima, though, was fixed rapidly, though now way down the order. Posting the first retirement, once again, was the luckless Orbital Sound team, Chris Headlam driving the yellow Lotus Elise straight into the garage with clutch failure just 24 laps in.

Moving up now was Bob Berridge, taking the first stint in Nigel Mustill’s Aquilla, and the vastly experienced historic driver getting past the second-placed Praga, and holding the position until an issue, and an atypically slow 1:53 lap dropped him back down to fifth place.

Simon Atkinson pitted the #28 Lamborghini fairly early, then again some 10 minutes later, by which time, at 45 minutes into the race, the dual-Hyabusa engined Praga made the first of its stops. A good time, at this point to review the positions; Morcillo’s Mosler, 45 seconds ahead of Lockie’s similar, but newer machine, Gaw in the MJC Ferrari, Berridge’s Aquilla, Michael McInerney, Jay Shepherd moving steadily up in the Hawthorn’s Porsche997, then the Topcats twins running in formation, Kyle Tilley in the “big green” Marcos ahead of returnee Raphael Fiorentino in the less developed Class 3 car. This was something of a pivotal moment for Tilley, leading Class 2 and getting to grips with the car, but it was to go sour in the second hour of the race, when a broken alternator lead caused a misfire. Ten minutes were lost while the problem was fixed, and Sam Head rejoined.

The closing of the first hour saw fuel stops made in earnest – there seemed to be no attempts at economy drives, as in previous races. Even Morcillo, who has hitherto stretched the Mosler out to 90 minutes, was in after 70 minutes, leaving Jon Gaw to lead in the re-engined MJC 430. This wasn’t, though, a scheduled stop for the Azteca Mosler, and it was pushed into the garage; “I lost fifth, then sixth gear, then the paddle shift – I don’t think we can fix it” rued the Spaniard.

Gaw stayed out on track, whilst other late-stoppers included Fiorentino, now a stunning third overall, Gareth Jones, keeping his head down in the Eurotech-run Porsche 997, Martin Byford, the leading Class 2 runner in the Bullrun Ferrari 360, and Paul McClean, in the glorious GT Classics Porsche993. In fact, Gaw eked out nearly 90 minutes before he pitted the Ferrari, handing over to Witt Gamski for an atypical middle stint. “I came here with a job to do, and I’ve done it – I brought the car in from the lead, though the tyres were coming and going to me” said the Scot confidently. Perrhaps he spoke too soon, though, for the officials had deemed that he was a little too hasty entering the pits, and slapped a draconian two-lap penalty on the MJC team. Others incurring the similar wrath of the men in serious trousers were the Fiona James/Neil Huggins Lamborghini, and the Stark Racing Ginetta G55 of Ian Stinton and marque boss Lawrence Tomlinson; the Ginetta had been lapping consistently, but never really in the hunt, and what Stinton described as a “bit of fun, really” sadly ended 103 laps into the race. Surprisingly thirsty, the Horsepower Racing Ferrari 430 Challenge of Paul Bailey and Andy Schulz was already on a five-stop strategy, and a penalty for them, incurred during one of their already-numerous stops, compounded the problem. Schulz had been visibly pushing the narrow-tyred, poorly-handling car to its limits.

A shake-up following further pit stops now saw the Eclipse Ferrari 430 – just the one stop so far, and with guest driver Phil Keen (fresh from piloting the Neil Garner FLM entry at Spa the previous day)now at the wheel – assume the lead, with Witt Gamski second, but losing around five seconds a lap. It came to a head for Witt just before the half-way mark, as he tried to pass a skirmishing Marcos and Lamborghini on the outside of Redgate. There was contact, and the Ferrari spun onto the grass on the inside of the corner; it was a while before he could safely regain the track, and he immediately pitted for checks, before rejoining, now down in eighth place, and two laps further down again .

The two-hour mark came, 99 laps on the board and the Production runners safely pulled-off under the Safety Car , which stayed out a little longer than anticipated as the marshals dusted some oil at the chicane. Lap 103, and the caution was lifted, with the Bullrun Ferrari 360 into the pits straight away, followed next time around by Keen in the 430, handing over to Sean McInerney.

Further pit stops for the Lotus Exige of Dan Norris Jones/Fulvio Mussi, which had been stealthily working its way through, and the Hawthorns Porsche 997, Rod Barrett taking over from Jan Persson, but neither would go much further, though; the Lotus pulled off, and the satin-black Porsche was out after 114 laps, the recurring fuel surge problems still dogging the Neil Garner-run car, as Rod explained: “ We had fuel surge issues on the test day but these increased over the race weekend from surge at 40 ltrs to 50 plus as one pump after another started to give up the ghost, and then the whole lot packed up, and the risk to the engine was too great, having gone into lean mode. It wasn’t all negative however, as we managed to find the elusive base set up we had been searching for with the new Nitro dampers, so that was good news “

Bad news, too, for the MacG Racing Ultima; the rapid machine had recovered well from its earlier woes, but became the next retirement; “We had two hours of running on the pace, with two excellent pitstops, and recovered from 33rd up to 12th by the end of the safety car period. We then managed to overtake all but the top two guys after the safety car, only for the UJ on the driveshaft to snap” explained car builder/driver Jonny MacGregor.

Philip Jones pitted the Eurotech Porsche from third position, having had a trouble-free run as always, handing over to cousin Morgan, and Keith Robinson was plugging away to reduce the deficit in the MJC Ferrari 430, whilst, at the front, Sean McInerney held a lap’s sway over Paul White in the Mosler as the third hour ticked over. The Horsepower Racing Ferrari 430 was the next casualty, Paul Bailey bringing the car smokily to a rest on the grass near the Old Hairpin.

It was generally now settled at the front – Eclipse leading, with Sean McInerney in for the duration now, the White/Lockie Mosler a lap adrift, and the Slovakian Praga having relinquished third to the GT3 Racing Viper after a longish stop for oil and brake alignment. Owen O’Neill, in the #36 Topcats Marcos, had been giving the Praga a run for its money, the pair circulating together for several laps, but the bigger Topcats machine was in trouble, as Kyle Tilley recounted later ; Sam Head had us up fourth h in class, and we were very hopeful of still claiming a class podium on fuel strategy. Then, with seventy minutes remaining the car lost drive, thankfully at the end of the pitlane. The marshals pushed the car back down the pitlane and the team set about diagnosing and solving the problem-a broken differential. Thirty minutes later I was back in the car, setting the car’s fastest lap and desperately trying to get the car back within the 80% of the winner’s time rule. Sadly this was something we missed out on by 18 seconds!”

As the race drew to a close, there were woes for a pair of Ferraris – The Bullrun machine came to a halt at the Craner Curves, and Keith Robinson was crawling around in the MJC FerrarI, some 30 seconds off the pace, in a desperate attempt to finish the race after the fuel stop window had closed 15 minutes from the end. He came home fifth, but lost a further lap to the Viper and Praga in front of him.

At the front, Lockie got a lap back on the cruising Eclipse Ferrari, but had been in no position to challenge; “We’re just not quick enough, and the problem for the Mosler is fuel consumption. The Ferraris are so efficient they do one stop less than us. Without their problem, Eclipse would have been two laps ahead of us and that’s another pitstop ”rued the Scot after the race, whilst Sean McInerney confirmed that he had nursed the car home; ” We had to back off considerably since we took the rear section off the car after getting hit, and it cracked an exhaust manifold, so we couldn’t let too much heat build in the back of the car”.

Behind the top five, Class 3 victors Gareth, Philip and Morgan Jones got all of their drive shaft issues out of the way in Friday testing, and once more proved that a consistent pace and driver skill are the secret of stealthy success in endurance racing.

The Backdraft Lamborghinis didn’t appear to fare as well as previous races, but nevertheless completed the Class 2 podium; the #28 car of Simon Atkinson and Alistair MacKinnon ran steadily to second, whilst Neil Huggins shared #27 with regular pilot Fiona James, the car sustaining front-end damage which took several pit stops to fix.

Former Britcar regular Raphael Fiorentino had a stunning drive in the #36 Topcats Marcos, and he and Owen O’Neill claimed second in Class 3, whilst the glorious invitation entry Porsche 993 RSR of

Peter Fairbairn, Paul McLean and Tony Littlejohn took the final class podium spot.

The Aquilla, marque importer Nigel Mustill sharing the drive with Bob Berridge, finished 12th after encountering gearbox issues along the way, but Berridge showed the machine’s capabilities between the problems.

So, a Ferrari has won every race so far this season, the GT3 Racing Viper is proving unbeatable in Class 2 despite an inordinate amount of pit stops, and the Jones family are bagging valuable championship points in Class 3 by reliability and consistency. What opened eyes at Donington, though, was the pace and reliability of the Praga, one of two machines running regularly in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Designer/constructor/driver Dick Kvetnansky has threatened to return before the season ends…

Photography by Chris Enion

Britcar Dunlop Production GTN Championship - Donington Park, May 8th

Intersport All The Way

The budget-strapped Intersport team  took another convincing win in Donington’s two-hour counter, Wayne Gibson converting pole position to race lead right from the start, and the faithful BMW E46 never lost the lead, even when pitting around the half-way mark to let Kevin Clarke take over.

Sound dull? Well, it wasn’t; the black Intersport BMW had breached the GT field by the time it took its mandatory stop, and behind it, there was a race of highs and lows.  High for the Reflex-run Ginetta of Peter and Matt Smith, starting second on the grid, then low as the car, started by Peter, fell back to the back of the field, then high again as son Matt put in a series of belting laps after an early driver change, followed by a final low when the car expired with drive shaft failure. Low for the TF Motorsport Seat – turbo trouble in testing, and the first retirement of the race, just four laps in. High for BPM Racing, expert advice in testing finding them the realistic base set-up at last, but low as their race went sour, a grassy trip along the Wheatcroft Straight heralding retirement before the half-hour mark with electrical issues. Low for the John Danby Racing Honda NSX, Rob Fenn coming to a halt at the pit entrance, an overheated driveshaft having sheared and shot through the exhaust, denying guest driver Rob Barff a stint.

The only semblance of a challenge to the Intersport domination came from the SG Racing Seat Supercopa. Mark Cunningham stayed on the lead lap in his opening stint, making a blinding start from eighth on the Production grid after set-up issues in qualifying, but contact late in the race caused a puncture and subsequent pit stop, robbing Peter Cunningham of an assured podium finish. They came home fourth, relinquishing the podium spots to the Strata 21 BMW M3 and the works-backed , Jota-run Mazda MX5 GT. Sarah Bennett-Baggs had maintained track position in the BMW, and, this time free of any pit penalties, Jensen Lunn drove solidly to the finish, whilst Owen Mildenhall and Mark Ticehurst ride their luck in the Mazda.

Simon Philips was tackling the race alone in the Motionsport Lotus Elise, and kept in touch with the Cunningham’s Seat in the opening stages, but a violent misfire and subsequent cut-out, attributed to cv grease on the crankshaft sensor, caused an unplanned pit stop. A later clash with a BMW at Coppice saw the heavily be-winged Lotus snatched from the gravel by the circuit’s John Deere tractor. Simon takes up the story:” We were almost ready to throw the towel in, especially when the marshals couldn’t get us moving by pushing (bloody deep gravel there!) when a snatch vehicle appeared like a ray of light from heaven, towed us out to the grass where the marshals then got down and cleared the gravel from the diffuser and sent me on my way! How lucky to still be in the race, with nothing more that cosmetic damage too! Ten minutes to go and the misfire came back….quick trip to the pits to clean the sensor again (we didn’t want to risk the engine cutting out and getting stranded) and we finally, like a cat with nine lives, managed to take the flag, fifth in class too”.

Running well in fourth was the #56 BMW GTR-lookalike, first-stinter Rob Day proclaiming that he and Paul Phipps had found some pace in the car. Within a few laps of the start, a recovering Mark Smith, in the JC Racing BMW E90, came up to spoil things, though both cars would hit trouble; the silver Whiteacre  retiring just half an hour from the end, whilst Smith endured brake problems, and co-driver George Agyeton picked up a two-lap penalty for a pit lane infringement. Adrian Watt was a welcome invitation entry, and the former Duke Video BMW M3 was well on the pace, but he slowed to a snail’s pace towards the end, clearly running on fumes as he cruised to the flag.

With Dave Allan’s Synchro Honda Jazz joining the race late due to brake binding issues getting to the grid, and Mike Wilds admitting that the Mazda MX5 he shared with Mark Hales was virtually in road-car trim, Class 2 honours were disputed between The Ing Sport BMW 320i and the APO Sport Seat Leon. James May made the early running in the Seat, but Ian Lawson, starting the BMW, pitted early, and made a slick pit stop. A somewhat tardy pit stop put the Seat a lap down, but the officials had studied the Ing Sport pit timings, and awarded new driver Anthony Wilds a two lap penalty, leaving the Seat to bag the class victory. Lone driver Tim Saunders had a much better race than of late, bringing the TH Motorsport Honda Civic home to a trouble-free third position in the class.

STEVE WOOD

United Autosports take the win

Despite two pit lane penalties, Matt Bell brought the #23 Audi R8 LMS to the finish in top spot after long-time leader Glynn Geddie was forced to bring his CRS Racing Ferrari 458 Italia into the pits with just seconds remaining after being shown a black and orange flag for damage to the front of the car.

Geddie took the flag in second place with Allan Simonsen third in the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia, while GT4 honours went to Marcus Clutton’s KTM, which also had to overcome a pit penalty before taking victory.

Light rain prior to the start ensured a slippery circuit greeted the drivers for the start of the two hour race, with Stuart Hall getting the jump at the start to climb from fourth to first in a matter of corners in the Vantage Racing Aston Martin DBRS9; building a lead of more than two seconds over Michael Guasch’s Audi and Charles Bateman’s Ferrari 458 Italia on the opening lap alone.

As Guasch and Bateman battled for position, Hall was able to pull away through the opening laps and maintained a gap even after Bateman had got ahead of the second placed Audi heading into Riches on lap four.

Behind the top three, pole sitter Jim Geddie found himself in fourth place ahead of the Porsche of defending champion David Ashburn and Hector Lester’s Ferrari; the Rosso Verde driver finding himself under increasing pressure from David Jones’ Mercedes, Duncan Cameron’s Ferrari and Gregor Fisken’s Porsche in a heated fight for sixth place.

As the top four remained static through the opening quarter of an hour, Jones was making up places in the Mercedes to climb into fifth ahead of Ashburn, Cameron, Fisken, Lester and Andrew Howard by the end of the eighth lap.

Father and son Jim and Glynn Geddie in their Ferrari 458

On lap nine however, that all changed as Ashburn got out of shape with a suspected puncture exiting Williams and left team-mate Fisken with nowhere to go; the resulting contact put both cars out on the spot and led to a lengthy safety car period as the two Porsches were recovered.

“David was struggling with what we think was a rear puncture,” Fisken said. “I was behind and as we came on to the back straight he speared right and I had nowhere to go. He hit me and I went off into the barriers three different ways.”

The race would eventually resume on the 19th lap, with Hall staying out as long as possible in the lead before pitting to hand the Aston Martin over to Tom Black for the run to the flag. By contrast, Guasch battled back ahead of Bateman into second place and was then quick to dive in and hand the Audi over to team-mate Matt Bell at the first opportunity. Geddie and Cameron were also among the early stoppers and it appeared the Audi was going to emerge at the head of the field when the pit stops had cycled through, only for a six second stop-go penalty to be handed out for the stop being completed too quickly.

That meant Glynn Geddie found himself at the head of the field with Matt Griffin giving chase; Bell having dropped behind Michael Lyons into fourth place once his penalty was completed. Two separate battles then started to develop on track as Cameron closed on to the rear of Geddie in the fight for the lead and Lyons found himself under increasing pressure from Bell for the final place on the podium.

The fight for third would come to an end on the 43rd lap when Bell managed to get alongside Lyons on the infield only for side-by-side contact between the pair to cause damage to the suspension of the Ferrari that would see the Oulton Park winners forced into retirement.

Just three laps later, the fight for the lead between Geddie and Griffin would also end in tears as the pair came up to lap the Vantage Aston Martin, now in the hands of Black and running down in seventh place. While Geddie managed to clear Black going into Riches, Griffin was left with nowhere to go when the Aston Martin suffered a spin. Although contact between the cars was light as Griffin jumped on the brakes, damage to the radiator meant he was forced to park up without making it back to the pits.

Griffin’s retirement left Geddie with a lead of nearly 30 seconds over Bell’s Audi but damage to the front of the leading Ferrari was becoming more visible with loose bodywork meaning the Scot wasn’t able to relax. That was until a second penalty was given to the Audi for a yellow flag infringement, which saw Bell forced to take a drive through that dropped him further back from the lead.

Geddie looked comfortable despite his problem until being handed a black and orange flag with minutes to go. Diving into the pits as he prepared to start the final lap, Geddie’s car was quickly repaired but he exited the pits just as Bell flashed past and it was the Audi that took the chequered flag first having led just the final tour of the new Snetterton layout.

“Five minutes to go and 40 seconds behind, I was just looking after the car,” Bell said. “I was keeping it tidy and then it was a surprise to me when I saw the Ferrari coming out of the pits and I was able to get him into the first corner. I managed to put some space between us and bring it home.

“There is a long way to go in the championship and I’m not thinking about that at the moment. I’m just focusing on arriving at each circuit and doing the best job we can. Then we’ll see where we are at the end of the year.”

Having led for the second half of the race, Geddie was left to bemoan the decision to call the Ferrari in for its repairs as he crossed the line 2.946s down on the Audi.

“It’s the most disappointed I’ve been with second,” he said. “To be fair, I’m more disappointed with whoever made the decision to call us into the pits. We got second when it clearly should have been a win, and its disappointing not to get it when it was right there in front of us.”

The podium was completed by Allan Simonsen after the traditional storming stint from the Danish driver at the wheel of the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Having taken over behind the wheel in eighth place, Simonsen gradually worked his way up the order and secured a place on the podium in the closing minutes when he got ahead of Godfrey Jones in the Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS GT3. It meant the Jones brothers had to settle for fourth place, although that was still a strong result for the pair on a circuit they admitted wasn’t well suited to the big German machine.

Jay Palmer and John Bintcliffe clinched fifth place in the second of the United Autosports Audis while the top six was completed by the Chad Racing Ferrari in the hands of Steven Kane. The former touring car star had taken over the green 430 Scuderia after a strong opening stint from team-mate Iain Dockerill although time was lost in the pit stops with a starter motor problem.

Andrew Howard and Jonathan Adam took seventh in the Beechdean Aston Martin having been forced into an additional stop when Howard suffered a puncture during the opening stint of the race, while the top eight was completed by the GT3B class winning Ferrari of John Dhillon and Aaron Scott. Dhillon’s performance through the opening stint of the race was good enough to secure the Sunoco Driver of the Day award.

Ninth place went to the GT4 class victor, although – like United Autosports out front – ABG didn’t make things easy for itself as Peter Belshaw and Marcus Clutton took their second win of the season.

Belshaw had moved to the head of the class through the opening stint of the race after battling ahead of the Lotus of Leyton Clarke and following the demise of the Ginettas of Dan Denis and Josh Wakefield. However, pulling away at the head of the class, Belshaw stayed out too long before being called in to hand the car over to team-mate Clutton; which meant Clutton was unable to complete the mandatory 50 minutes of running.

The team was handed a stop-go penalty of 71 seconds, which Clutton then took while leading the class; dropping him behind Freddy Nordstrom’s Lotus into second place. Lapping consistently quicker, however, Clutton was able to reel in the Evora GT4 before retaking the lead near the end.

“We need to recalibrate our stop watches as we were out too long and that was why we got the penalty,” Belshaw said, “although it made the race quite exciting! Despite the penalty, we never gave up hope and we did think it was possible to catch the Lotus again. Marcus did a sterling job and pulled him back in. All things ended up in our favour.”

The Lotus Sport Evoras ran close together

Nordstrom brought the Lotus home in second place, the second successive race in which the car had finished in the runner-up position after a similar result at Oulton Park, while Jack Drinkall was third in the sister car.

“When you’re leading the race and they are catching you, you always do your best,” Nordstrom said. “I did all I could to stay ahead but when the car behind is so much quicker, they will inevitably get past and I couldn’t stop it. Second is still a good result and even though the pace of the KTM may have masked our performance, we’ve made good progress this weekend.” The sister KTM of Athanasios Ladas and Michael Mallock took fourth in class.

The GTC class Chevron of Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid pulled off the circuit early with a throttle issue although the Safety Car period allowed the car to be recovered to the pits where the team worked to put it back on track to complete the race. A trouble free run from that point onwards saw the team running at the finish, albeit some 18 laps behind the overall winner, in 19th.

Photos: Norwich Photo

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

Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey were well on their way to a second win of the season as the Dunlop Wonago MSA British Historic rally Championship moved out of Wales for the first time this season, for the Carlisle-based Pirelli Historic Rally (Saturday 30 April).

Having built up a 28-second lead, an electrical failure put them out on the penultimate stage, handing category three victory to fellow Escort Mk2 crew Nick Elliott and Chris Brooks.

Graham Waite and Gill Cotton (Volvo Amazon) topped category one and Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard (Escort Mk1) claimed category tw2o, after Rupert Lomax’s Escort Mk1 suffered a gearbox problem on the final stage at Chirdonhead.

Category 1
Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes (Porsche 911) set the pace on the opening stage through Falstone, with Waite 3.9s down, but well clear of third placed Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911).  But Proffitt’s glory was short-lived. “it was great to have all six cylinders for the time in three rallies, but then we managed to jump a ditch on the second stage. I thought that was it, but we put it into first gear and managed to drive back out,” said Proffitt.

Waite was the new leader, but only by six seconds over Proffitt, while Nutt was struggling to stay on the pace and began to slip down the order. “There is a problem but we don’t know what it is,” he admitted.

One more stage through Blackaburn preceded first service, and Waite arrived as the leader with just over a minute in hand. “We lost third gear though on stage three, so it’s going to be hard now,” he said.

The Lotus Cortina of Simon Wallis/Graham Wride was up to third, rebuilt after its roll on the Bulldog Rally. “We had a bit of a tank-slapper on stage three, going from ditch to ditch, but it’s my first visit to Kielder,” said Wallis.

Up to fourth came Dave Reynolds/Bob Duck (Volvo Amazon), having consolidated the place over Nutt. In sixth were Bulldog winners Ian Beveridge and Peter Joy in their Volvo PV544, “We picked up a small oil leak and are adjusting the rear brakes a bit,” said Beveridge in service.

The pressure was off Waite as they negotiated Shepherdshield as Proffitt picked up a 10 second road penalty and had a spin, which dropped him to fourth behind Wallis and Reynolds.  But the Porsche driver was straight back on the pace and by the end of the penultimate stage he was back into second.

Waite took the spoils by just under 16 seconds, “it was really hard on the last two stages, trying to carry the speed without third gear,” he explained. “That spin blew it for us,” added Proffitt, who reclaimed a solid second and took the class B5 spoils.

Wallis managed to consolidate third place over Reynolds during the closing stages. “I was happy to stay out of the ditches and it went well all day,” said Reynolds.  Beveridge was fifth: “Our tyres just held out, but we got a bit loose at the end,” he said. Nutt finally settled in sixth. “It just got worse, a bad day for us,” he said, after taking second in B5, just ahead of the Porsche of Derek and Roisin Boyd. “We finally got rid of our misfire during the afternoon,” said Derek.

Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill reported that their Sunbeam Imp felt quicker. “We stalled at the chicane on the last stage and damaged the exhaust on Shepherdshield too, but overall much better,” said Taylor after taking eighth and class B1.

Apart from a minor off in the stages, Edmund Peel/Janet Craine had a clear run to ninth and fourth in B5 with their Porsche. On their first gravel rally for seven years John and Stephen Moxon brought their Volvo Amazon home tenth, with Paul Mankin/Peter Scott (Lotus Cortina) completing the finishers. “We were in trouble only yards into the first stage, but finally solved our problem by running two fuel pumps,” said Mankin.

Category 2

The expected three-way fight for victory in category two between the Escort Mk1s of Rupert Lomax/Phil Harrison, Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard and David Stokes/Guy Weaver didn’t prove to be as close predicted. Stouf had been quickest in Falstone, but Lomax immediately responded and turned a 3.6s deficit into a one-second lead on stage two, with Stokes a solid third, but 8.5s adrift of his rivals.

But on stage three Stouf had a problem with his notes. “We had to slow down to sort ourselves out,” he explained, after arriving at service in third place, one second down on Stokes.  “It’s been excellent so far,” said leader Lomax. “We have been a bit slow,” admitted Stokes.

Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne and Chris Browne/Liz Jordan had established themselves in fourth and fifth, although Browne had briefly fallen behind C3 leaders Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson after the second stage. “We had a major moment on that stage too,” said Siddall. “We were all over the place and just held on, settled down and got back on with it,” he added. “We just need to go faster,” added Browne.

Stouf soon reclaimed second place and reduced Lomax’s lead to 3.5s with only the Chirdonhead finale to go.  But Lomax’s gearbox gave out and left him stranded, handing Stouf victory by over 16 seconds from Stokes. “We had no more problems at all,” said the victorious Belgian.

Smith was relieved to see the finish.” That was the main thing,” he said after clinching third.  Although Browne was fourth, he was disappointing not to have done better. “We had a hold up and I lost my momentum.  I should have been able to push Peter harder over the last two stages,” he said.

Class C3 winner Siddall kept a safe margin over Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing for fifth and sixth overall. “I had to try a different approach to the chicanes and it worked,” said Slaughter. “I hit or glanced three chicanes during the afternoon I think,” Siddall added.

Mark Holmes and Tony Lindsay had been well inside the top 10 in their C3 Escort Mk1 until they hit a log pile on stage three. “If we hadn’t hit it we would have had an even bigger one,” said Holmes. Chris Nixon/Chris Davies also went out when they lost drive, which left Jeremy Wells/Ken Bowman to take seventh. Ian Drummond/Yvonne Coppin recovered from losing their brakes in the morning, to finish third in C3 and eighth overall, with C2 victors David Kirby/Sean Kennedy in ninth, having completed the final stages with only second and fourth gears.

Nick Danks/Martin Corbett retired their C2 Escort, leaving Peter McDowell/Ian Orford (Porsche 911) and Steven and Tony Graham (Lancia Fulvia) to take undisputed victories in C4 and C1 respectively.

Category 3
With one win each so far this year Reynolds and Elliott were both looking for victories in Kielder, but both started behind the Escort Mk2 of the non-registered Steve Bannister/Louise Sutherland.

Reynolds grabbed the immediate initiative with six seconds in hand over Elliott and Will Onions/Dave Williams in Falstone. But over the next two stages all three consolidated their positions, with Reynolds reaching service with a lead of 16.7s. “It’s very hard. I had two scary moments, the worst on stage two when we went in a ditch but got back on and nearly hit the bridge,” said Elliott.

“It’s a clean run so far for us. We went wide a few times as its slippery,” Reynolds added.

Onions found visibility in the dust one of the biggest problems, while in fourth Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks had picked up the pace after a couple of minor moments.

Reynolds flew through Shepherdshield and his lead grew by a further 12s, until disaster struck in Pundershaw when an electrical failure put him out of the rally. Onions reckoned he had “really gone for it,” during the afternoon and following Reynolds’ retirement Elliott had the lead but it was down to 8.4s with the Chirdonhead final stage to come.

Elliott made it home but the margin was considerably reduced. “I felt more relaxed in the afternoon and just took it steady,” he said, as Onions delivered another mighty Kielder performance. Pearcey had looked set to follow Onions home in third, until he collected a last stage puncture and fell to fourth behind Bannister.

Walker also came unstuck on the last stage. “We spent 11 minutes in a ditch in sight of the finish of the last stage,” he explained. Mark Barnett/Phil Clarke moved up to clinch fifth, with Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson surviving a few early ditch explorations to seal sixth and victory in class D4.

Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams retired in Shepherdshield with a misfire on their Escort, which left the Escorts of Nick Woodman, Simon Crook, Roger Kilty and James Slaughter to complete the top 10. Guy Woodcock/Hu Kent (Escort Mk2) dominated D3 all day, while John Worthing/John Cadwallader held off Wayne Bonser/Richard Aston for second in class and maximum BHRC points. “We got stuck at a chicane on the penultimate stage for 20 seconds, but fortunately had enough in hand,” said Worthing.
Jimmy McRae and Pauline Gullick brought their Tuthill Porsche home second in D5 and 12th overall. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to make my return in the same forests I hurt myself in three years ago. The car felt good and strong but the driver was very rusty,” said McRae.

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship roared into life in the traditional season opener on Easter Weekend at Oulton Park with a bigger grid compared to last years, with new cars from Aston Martin, Lotus, Mercedes and Audi and Ferrari saw a more varied grid than previous years. New rules and regulations came into play also, with both races been on the Race Day this year.

Race 1, saw the Ferrari 458 on pole on its debut, with driver Michael Lyons at the wheel for the start of the race initially leading away from the rest of the field. The other 458 in the field, run by MTech, suffered gearbox trouble in qualifying and lined up at the back, alongside another car suffering problems throughout the weekend, #44 KTM X-Bow which brought an early halt to the mornings warm up.

Just behind the leading Ferrari at the start, the #1 Porsche of defending champion David Ashburn was slowly falling away with the Mercedes SLS driven by the 2009 Champions, the Jones’s brothers (moving away from the Ascari for this year) under pressue from Mike Guasch in the leading United Autosports Audi R8. With the #2 Trackspeed Porsche of Gregor Fisken catching them both, and the Aston Martin driven by Andrew Howard catching the Trackspeed car.

Phil Burton in the Predator CCTV Ferrari 430 was chasing down the Speedwords Corvette of Ron Johnson, eventually passing into Cascades for 11th spot. The Corvette later been passed by the recovering Duncan Cameron in the new MTech Ferrari 458.

Most teams choose to change within a few minutes of the pit window opening. After the pits, Richard Westbrook took the lead, with Matt Bell in the Audi chasing them down. The battle for 3rd hotted up, with the Mercedes holding up the #2 Porsche, with Jonathan Adam, now in the Aston Martin, closing them down.

The race settled down after the pit stops, but as the race drew to a close, and the minutes ticking down, the fight was still on, as Bell reels in the leader, Simonsen (taking over from Lester) in the #3 Ferrari gets past Bateman (taking over from Cameron) in the Ferrari 458. The #5 car dropping to 6th after its early lead. And Jonathon Adam (taking over from Howard) gets past Jones for the final podium spot. The Mercedes falling a further place as Simonsen makes more progress to take 4th.

More incidents for the Jones’s brothers, as a tangle with Tim Bridgman in the Trackspeed Porsche at Lodge left Bridgman with a puncture, leading to his retirement. The Mercedes surviving and finished in 5th.

Simonsen was still closing, but the chequered flag came just at the right moment for a couple of the teams. Westbrook and Ashburn took the top spot, just ahead of the Guash/Bell Audi.

“The Audi had the edge at the finish and it wasn’t pretty through the final laps,” Westbrook said. “We’ve got work to do but David did a great job in his stint and we’re delighted to start the year with a win and some good points”

With the Aston Martin, the engine let go in big plume of white smoke as it came across the line, leaving Adam to park up on the exit of Old Hall. With a new engine needed, the Aston wouldn’t be appearing in race 2.

“The car was getting slower in a straight line and the noise from the engine was getting worse,” he said. “Then as I crossed the line, it just let go in a cloud of smoke. That’s disappointing for us, but at the same time, it’s great to start the year on the podium as there are circuits coming up that will be better suited to the car.”

Race One Results:

1. David Ashburn/Richard Westbrook (Trackspeed Porsche 997), 36 laps

2. Mike Guasch/Matt Bell (United Autosports Audi R8), +1.528s

3.Andrew Howard/Jonathan Adam (Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9), +28.961s

4. Hector Lester/Allan Simonsen (Rosso Verde Ferrari 430), +29.362s

5. David Jones/Godfrey Jones (Preci Spark Mercedes AMG SLS), +41.753s

6. Michael Lyons/Charles Bateman (Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458), +43.353s

7. Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin (Mtech Ferrari 458), +1m03.783s

8. Jim Geddie/Glynn Geddie (CRS Racing Ferrari 430), +1m06.043s

9. Iain Dockerill/Steven Kane (Chad Racing Ferrari 430), +1 lap

10. Phil Burton/Adam Wilcox (Predator CCTV Racing Ferrari 430), +1 lap

Race 2 was alot more lively, with 2 safety cars in the early stages, allowing the Race 1 pole sitter, Michael Lyons, to make progress through the field, after a qualifying infringement left the car at the back of the grid.

Westbrook held onto the lead into Old Hall at the start, but further back the KTM of Belshaw and Clutton spun causing a safety car without even a lap completed. The lengthy safety car period allowed Tom Bridgman who was caught up with the safety car and almost a lap down on the leaders, to catch up with the back of field after been let past by the safety car by the untraditional and somewhat controversial method cutting the circuit at the Foster’s circuit. This resulted in the team manager been summoned to Race Control, however, steering rack problems forced unscheduled stops for the #2 Porsche later on in the race. The car eventually finishing 5th but the race stewards demoted them to 10th as a result of his corner cutting.

The safety car was deployed a few short laps later when an accident claimed 2 Ginetta’s at Druids, with the Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 and Andrew Jordan’s Team LNT Ginetta G55. Some teams utilised this safety car to make their driver changes, with some fairing better than others, especially with the new pit stop success penalties from race 1 finishing positions.

As the race resumed, the Rosso Verde Ferrari – now in the hands of Hector Lester – retained second position, ahead of the Trackspeed Porsches of David Ashburn and Gregor Fisken. David Jones’ Preci Spark Mercedes held fifth place.

In what became effectively a 30 minute sprint race, Bateman surged into the distance but a battle raged behind for the remaining podium positions.

The Mercedes was involved in further battles, this time with race 1 winner Ashburn for 2nd place, with Guasch in the Audi charging through the feld.

Ashburn passing David Jones for 4th, with Fisken the next target for the #1 Porsche. Fisken then effectively becoming a tail gunner for Ashburn from the mighty Mercedes. However, the #1 Porsche fell down the order after a 1 second stop/go penalty for not taking the right amount of success time at the pit stop. He rejoined in 6th, but worked his way forward to finish in 4th. Gaining places when Duncan Camerons charge came to a halt, literally, while running 5th on exiting the first chicane and after Tim Bridgman decided to take a trip across the grass.

In the closing minutes, the top 4 cars now spread out, with Michael Lyons and Charles Bateman closing in on their first ever British GT victory which they duly took after 36 laps, and after starting at the back of the grid.

“It’s great to get a win after we had just one day of testing before this weekend. Me and Charles are quite even on pace and we‚Äôve got to be among the favourites after this weekend.”

The Jones’ were very pleased with their result, despite finishing over 21 seconds behind the winning Ferrari.

“We didn’t think this would be the strongest circuit for the car,” David’s brother, Godfrey, said. “Oulton Park is a very tight and twisty circuit so to get a second and a fifth place finish is a good result. There are circuits that will suit the Mercedes more, so we’re very pleased”

The United Autosports Audi of Guasch and Bell, made their way back through the field after a late pit stop left them 14th, with Guasch performing a great job after taking over from Mike Bell, which earned him the Sunoco Driver of the Day award.

1. Michael Lyons/Charles Bateman (Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458), 36 laps

2. David Jones/Godfrey Jones (Preci Spark Mercedes AMG SLS), +21.633s

3. Mike Guasch/Matt Bell (United Autosports Audi R8), +30.411s

4. David Ashburn/Richard Westbrook (Trackspeed Porsche 997), +36.125s

5. Gregor Fisken/Tim Bridgman (Trackspeed Porsche 997), +45.222s

6. Jim Geddie/Glynn Geddie (CRS Racing Ferrari 430), +50.527s

7. Andrew Tate/Alex Mortimer (CRS Racing Ferrari 430), +1m06.906s

8. Hector Lester/Allan Simonsen (Rosso Verde Ferrari 430), +1m12.725s

9. Phil Burton/Adam Wilcox (Predator CCTV Racing Ferrari 430), +1m19.535s

10. Julian Draper/Freddie Hetherington (Century Motorsport Ginetta G50), +1m23.238s

Words: Nick Deeley
Photography: Surreal Illusions

Pic: Jakob Ebrey

Michael Lyons secured top spot for Scuderia Vittoria for round one of the new campaign after beating defending champion David Ashburn to pole position, but it was Ashburn’s team-mate Richard Westbrook who then came out on top in the second session to put Trackspeed’s Porsche on pole for race two.

In the first 15 minute session, Lyons was the first driver to lap quicker than 1m 40s at the wheel of the new Ferrari 458 Italia and the 20-year-old eventually posted a best time of 1m 38.757s, which saw him secure pole by 0.167s ahead of Ashburn’s Porsche 997 GT3 R.

“It was difficult with traffic and the lap was scrappy, but it was enough,” Lyons said afterwards. “It was tight with the Porsche and that is where the big fight is.”

Behind the top two, the new Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 was third quickest in the hands of David Jones while Mike Guasch’s Audi and Andrew Howard’s Aston Martin ensured there are five different marques filling the top five places on the grid for the opening 60 minute encounter on Easter Monday. Jim Geddie’s CRS Ferrari 430 Scuderia rounded out the top six.

On the home weekend for the Speedworks Motorsport team, Ron Johnson put the new Corvette Z06 R into the top ten with the tenth quickest time, while Mtech’s new Ferrari 458 Italia turned its first laps in the opening session but will start from the back of the grid in the hands of Duncan Cameron.

The second session went the way of Trackspeed after a storming lap from Westbrook was good enough to put the #1 Porsche into pole position. Four laps was all that were needed for the 35-year-old to secure his spot at the front of the field with a lap of 1m 36.505s putting him well clear of the chasing pack.

Allan Simonsen in the Rosso Verde Ferrari 430 Scuderia was Westbrook’s closest challenger, but his best time was some six-tenths of a second slower than the poleman.

“I really had to push,” Westbrook said. “David did a superb job to get second on the grid for race one and the car felt really good when I went out. The tyres came in on the second lap and I knew I had to push. I really hit the sweet spot with the tyres on my best lap and there was some luck in that respect, but you have to take any luck that comes your way. We’ve got to stay out of trouble and get a good points haul on Monday.”

Behind the top two, Charles Bateman was third quickest in the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari ahead of Matt Bell’s United Autosports Audi and series debutant Jonathan Adam in the Beechdean Aston Martin. Sixth quickest was Matt Griffin in the Mtech Ferrari, despite the car having failed to run in either free practice session earlier in the day.

“I’ve got to say big congratulations to the team as this was the first time the car had run,” Griffin said. “To come out of the box and get sixth on the grid is a massive achievement. We’re not on pole but we’re happy with sixth as there is a lot more to come. We haven’t even taken the lid off the bottle yet.”

The lone GT3B car, Mtech’s Ferrari 430 GT3 will start the two races from 21st and 15th on the grid for the two races.

In GT4, pole for the opening race went the way of the KTM X Bow of Peter Belshaw who beat the Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 of Dan Denis to class honours by three-tenths of a second in 16th overall. That result went some way to making up for the fact that the sister KTM was forced to miss the session with mechanical issues, although the team remains hopeful of two cars taking part in Monday’s races.

The Lotus Evoras of Freddy Nordstrom and Ollie Jackson were third and fifth quickest, sandwiching the Century Motorsport Ginetta of Jake Rattenbury.

“It’s a good result for the team,” Belshaw said. “I felt I could have gone quicker but its good to be at the front of the GT4 class. I struggled to get a clear lap but when there was some space, I had to push. With the traffic, it was a bit of a lottery.”

The second session saw the roles reversed as David McDonald put the Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta into top spot ahead of the KTM, now in the hands of Marcus Clutton. Leyton Clarke and Jack Drinkall then followed in the two Evoras with Jack Drinkall fifth in the Century Ginetta.

“I’m very pleased with that,” McDonald said. “I’ve not had a lot of time in the car and the first chance to test was only last week at Spa, so we weren’t sure where we would be. The car was fantastic and we’ve got good race pace so hopefully we can do a good job on Monday.”

The GTC Chevron GR8 impressed in both qualifying sessions, and will line up 14th and 16th for the two races having outpaced a number of the more powerful GT3 machines.

The British GT Championship is sponsored by UK tyre manufacturer Avon Tyres and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

Avon Tyres British GT Championship
Provisional results, Round 1 qualifying
Oulton Park 23/4/2011

GT3
1.  Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari  Michael Lyons 1m 38.757s
2.  Trackspeed Porsche  David Ashburn 1m 38.924s
3.  Preci-Spark Mercedes  David Jones 1m 39.088s
4.  United Autosports Audi  Mike Guasch (USA) 1m 39.883s
5.  Beechdean Aston Martin  Andrew Howard  1m 40.583s
6.  CRS Racing Ferrari  Jim Geddie 1m 40.853s
7.  Trackspeed Porsche  Gregor Fisken 1m 41.126s
8.  Rosso Verde Ferrari  Hector Lester  1m 41.132s
9.  United Autosports Audi  John Bintcliffe  1m 41.290s
10.  Speedworks Motorsport Corvette  Ron Johnson 1m 42.314s

GT3B
1.  MTECH Ferrari  John Dhillon 1m 46.217s

GT4
1.  ABG Motorsport KTM  Peter Belshaw 1m 44.995s
2.  Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta  Dan Denis  1m 45.224s
3.  Lotus Sport UK Lotus  Freddy Nordstrom  1m 45.916s
4.  Century Motorsport Ginetta  Jake Rattenbury 1m 46.423s
5.  Lotus Sport UK Lotus  Ollie Jackson 1m 46.512s
6.  ABG Motorsport KTM  Athanasios Ladas (GRE) No time

GT Cup
1.  Chevron Racing Chevron  Jordan Witt 1m 44.201s

Provisional results, Round 2 qualifying

GT3
1.  Trackspeed Porsche  Richard Westbrook  1m 36.505s
2.  Rosso Verde Ferrari  Allan Simonsen (DEN)  1m 37.156s
3.  Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari  Charles Bateman  1m 37.235s
4.  United Autosports Audi Matt Bell  1m 37.562s
5.  Beechdean Aston Martin Jonny Adam  1m 37.956s
6.  MTECH Ferrari  Matt Griffin (IRL)  1m 38.007s
7.  CRS Racing Ferrari  Glynn Geddie  1m 38.055s
8.  Predator CCTV Ferrari Adam Wilcox  1m 38.342s
9.  CRS Racing Ferrari  Alex Mortimer  1m 38.670s
10.  Chad Racing Ferrari  Steven Kane  1m 38.697s

GT3B
1.  MTECH Ferrari  Aaron Scott  1m 40.820s

GT4
1.  Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta  David McDonald  1m 44.502s
2.  ABG Motorsport KTM  Marcus Clutton  1m 44.563s
3.  Lotus Sport UK Lotus  Leyton Clarke  1m 46.575s
4.  Lotus Sport UK Lotus  Jack Drinkall  1m 47.185s
5.  Century Motorsport Ginetta  Josh Wakefield  1m 47.329s
6.  ABG Motorsport KTM Michael Mallock  No time

GT Cup
1.  Chevron Racing Chevron Anthony Reid  1m 42.390

Full TSL timesheets http://bit.ly/fwgptU

Saturday 16th April saw the opening round of the Time Attack series take place at a warm and sunny Oulton Park in Cheshire. A field of over 30 cars took to the track, competing against the clock as well as their fellow competitors. The biggest change for the 2011 series is a new control tyre – the Pirelli P Zero which is very much a high performance road tyre, compared to the semi slick Toyo 888’s used previously.

Duncan Graham - BC Racing Impreza at Oulton Park

The concept behind Time Attack is very simple – the fastest car around the track wins. There is no on-track racing between cars, it is purely a case of which driver can find space on the track and push their car the hardest record the absolute best lap time. In some ways it is very similar to the old style F1 qualifying sessions.

The cars compete in 3 main classes:

Club Challenge covers the majority of the competitors and is broadly for production cars with reasonable performance and safety modifications. Club Challenge is further split into categories for FWD, 4WD and RWD. Many of the cars are road legal and are driven to and from the event.

Jonny Fletcher - Astra GSi turbo

Club Pro caters for more highly tuned cars. These are fully stripped out cars, with a roll cage being mandatory. This class is dominated by Japanese 4WD machinery with 600+bhp being common place amongst the front runners.

Fiona Kindness - Nissan Skyline at Oulton Park

Pro Class is for the top end, extremely modified cars. These are very highly developed cars, with race level engineering, though a few are still being run on comparatively low budgets. Performance modifications are essentially unlimited, with nitrous oxide boosting some cars over the magical 1,000 bhp.

Paul Doyle - K Sport Impreza at Oulton Park

There are 20 minute sessions for warm-up and practice during the morning, before final qualification after lunch. The top competitors in each class then go on to the final shoot out later in the afternoon.

Warm up

Morning warm up was the first time that many competitors had been able to try out the new Pirelli P Zero control tyre in anger. With many cars still fresh from their winter rebuild, it was unsurprising that many were taking things easy during these early laps to debug any niggles. A couple of two or 3 lap sessions were the order of the day here, with only Mark Ward in his Subaru Impreza and Gerry Atkinson in the Seat Leon Supercopa completing more than 7 laps.

Mark Ward - Subaru Impreza at Oulton Park

The early benchmarks in Club challenge were set by the Imprezas of Lee Bullen (1:39.578) and Jon Mathers (1:39.946), both competing in Time Attack for the first time. Bo Nielsen in his Forge Motorsport backed Astra VXR returned for his second season complete with a BTCC aero package, and was immediately on the pace in the front wheel drive class with a best lap of 1:40.833, over 5 seconds ahead of Dave Thorpe in the TDI North Civic.

Lee Bullen - Impreza Spec C at Oulton park

In Club Pro, Warren Kelly in his stunning Escort Cosworth, showed his intentions early on by setting a blistering time of 1:35.820, over 3 seconds faster than his next nearest competitor, last year’s Club 4WD champion Fiona Kindness in her Track Scotland Nissan Skyline. Fiona in turn was more than 3 seconds faster than fellow competitors Dave Jackson (Spec-R Escort Cosworth) and Walter Morris (Nissan Skyline).

Warren Kelly - Escort Cosworth at Oulton Park

In Pro class, Gavin Renshaw topped the time sheets with a 1:33.454 in his NR Autosport EVO, bettering Marcus Webster’s wide body Skyline and Paul Doyle’s K-Sport backed Impreza by just over a second.

Gavin Renshaw - NR Autosport EVO at Oulton Park

Practice

The morning practice session is traditionally when the sandbagging stops, and cars start running at their full potential. In Club Challenge, Scotsman Andrew Barbour in his EVO set a blistering benchmark time of 1:36.790, just 3 hundredths ahead of fellow EVO driver Simon Nutter. Sadly the session was brought to an early halt, when Simon’s engine let go at 130mph, which closed the track for over 20 minutes whilst the car was recovered and the oil spill cleaned up.

Simon Nutter suffers catastrophic engine failure at Oulton Park

The drama wasn’t over yet though, as when the session re-started, Mark Pollard in the ever popular Metro suffered an engine bay fire, and was forced off the track to extinguish the flames before  returning to the pits with the tailgate open. Thankfully Mark and his 6R4.com team were able to fix before the start of the afternoon qualification session.

Mark Pollard - Metro 6R4 with fire damage

In Club Pro, it was status quo with Warren Kelly again setting the quickest time (1:37.282), followed closely by Fiona Kindness with a slightly improved time of 1:38.826, despite suffering a high boost misfire that was to hamper her progress for the rest of the day.

Gavin Renshaw continued his dominance in Pro class, improving to 1:32.944, but was now closely followed by Paul Doyle 1:33.476 despite suffering gear selection problems. Mike Mahoney gained confidence with every lap in the Wallace Performance EVO and improved to a 1:36.752, just bettering Russ Paton’s 1:36.861

Qualifying

With the earlier fire damage all cleaned up, Mark Pollard wasted little time in setting the fastest time of the session, with a 1:36.408in his shiny-once-more 6R4. Andrew Barbour narrowly failed to improve on his earlier practice time, but his best lap of 1:36.889 was to qualify him in 2^nd place in club 4WD.  Mark Ward had retired with suspected engine damage in his Subaru Impreza, but the camaraderie between competitors saw him strip the rear differential from his car to help out Pro class driver Duncan Graham, who had struggled all day with problems.

Mark Kemp - Mitsubishi EVO at Oulton Park

In the FWD category, Bo Nielsen continued his dominance with an impressive 1:38.995 beating many of the Japanese 4WD cars and comfortably ahead of Dave Thorpe (1:44.962) and Jonathon Fletcher (1:45.845). The Redbrick Racing ex-BTCC Honda Civics driven by Charlie Butler-Henderson and Steve Peel proved the benefit of their race engineered handling, setting times of 1:42.128 and 1:43.228 respectively, despite only have just more than 200bhp each.

Bo Nielsen - Forge Motorsport VXR at Oulton Park

In the RWD category, series newcomer Jimmy White in his lurid Green VX220 showed off the nimble handling of his sub 900Kg car, by qualifying first in class with a 1:42.190, ahead of Umar Masood in his FD3S RX7 who was one of a few competitors struggling with drive-by noise limits and running low boost.

Jimmy White - VX220 at Oulton Park

Disaster struck the leading Club Pro and Pro drivers during their qualifying session. After setting a blistering time of 1:31.220 on his 2^nd lap (Click to watch in car video) , Gavin Renshaw’s EVO had a track rod end failure, forcing him off the circuit in spectacular style. This destroyed the front bumper and Renshaw had to wait until the end of the session for his car to be recovered and repair work attempted. Following his warm-up lap, Warren Kelly’s Escort Cosworth suffered a transmission failure, locking all 4 wheels and preventing the car from being moved. Warren carefully supervised his car being lifted onto a trailer by the excellent Oulton Park marshalls and recovery team, before announcing his retirement from the event.

Gavin Renshaw off track at Oulton Park

Warren Kelly Escort recovery at Oulton Park

In Club Pro, Fiona Kindness experienced severe handling problems during the session, with her car trying to swap ends under cornering and heavy braking and she could only manage a best lap time of 1:40.533. This allowed Walter Morris in his Skyline to qualify first with 1:37.585 ahead of the 1:39.129 by David Jackson in his Cosworth Escort.

David Jackson - Spec R Escort at Oulton Park

Russ Paton qualified 2^nd in Pro class, despite his EVO sounding like it had terminal transmission problems. Russ’s time of 1:35.478 was just ahead of the improving Mike Mahoney  (1:35.926) and the BC Racing Impreza of Duncan Graham (1:36.154) which was now running smoothly for the first time following a differential swap.

Mike Mahoney - Wallace Performance EVO at Oulton Park

Club Challenge Finals

FWD

Bo Nielsen continued his domination of the forced induction FWD class, with his time of 1:38.502 comfortably outpacing rivals David Thorpe and Antonio Giovinazzo. Charlie Butler-Henderson upped his pace to record a best time of 1:41.090 and beat rapidly improving Redbrick Racing teammate Steve Peel (1:42.923) in the Normally Aspirated class.

Steve Peel - Redbrick Racing Civic at Oulton Park

4WD

In the 4WD class, Mark Pollard set the early benchmark with a 1:36.987, ahead of Eric Holmes’ 1:37.731 set on the same lap. However these times didn’t prove quite enough to take the honours, as on the very last lap of the session, Scots driver Andrew Barbour in his first ever Time Attack event recorded a stunning lap time 1:36.186 in his Mitsubishi EVO. Andrew’s astounding lap time proved faster than many of the Club Pro entries.

Andrew Barbour - EVO 5 at Oulton Park

RWD

In the RWD category, the honours again went to a Time Attack first-timer. Jimmy White in his brightly coloured VX220 exploited the combination of  light weight, fine handling and outright power to record a best lap of 1:41.769, ahead of Umar Massood in his flame throwing Mazda RX7 (1:45.646).

A special mention must be given to Ronnie Amis in the Airtech Cosworth Sierra, who suffered a bearing shell failure the night before the event, rebuilt the engine overnight only for the engine to fail again during the morning. Aware of the value of scoring points in each round, Ronnie nursed his car around in each other sessions, doing just enough to qualify and take the final podium position and earning himself valuable points in the process.

Ronnie Amis - Airtec Cosworth Sierra at Oulton Park

Pro and Club Pro Finals

After suffering ill-handling during qualifying, some last minute alignment changes provided the confidence and speed boost that Fiona Kindness needed. Despite a misfire preventing her running full boost, she set her fastest time of the day of 1:37.835 on her second lap and looked  setfor her inaugural Club Pro victory. However, on the very last timed lap of the session, Fiona’s time was beaten by David Jackson , who suddenly found almost 2 seconds on his very last lap in the Spec-R Escort to record a class winning time 1:36.850.

Walter Morris - Nissan Skyline at Oulton Park

Amazingly, fellow Skyline competitor Walter Morris also recorded  a very committed  1:37.750 on the same final lap, demoting Fiona to the final podium position. You can see Walter’s tail-out commitment on his final lap in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsnlX6xgSRk

Duncan Graham - victorious at Oulton Park

Many of the Pro cars suffered major problems during the final session, and it certainly was survival of the fittest. With his differential problems behind him, Duncan Graham took full advantage of the situation, and running on high boost for the first time he romped home for his first ever Pro class win in his BC Racing Impreza. Duncan’s winning time of 1:34.744 was his fastest of the day and gave him a comfortable winning margin of 1.39 seconds over Mike Mahoney driving “Daisy”, his stunningly prepared Wallace Performance EVO. Daisy encountered a wastegate problem earlier in the day which lifted the cylinder heads, forcing Mike to run on only actuator pressure for the final.

Paul Doyle wins SIDC trophy for fastest Impreza

Earning a well deserved podium place was Paul Doyle in his K Sport backed Impreza, despite serious gearbox problems meaning he only had 2 working gears (2^nd and 5^th) for the final session. This didn’t stop him from winning the SIDC trophy for fastest Impreza, with a trap speed of 133mph on the final straight. Both Marcus Webster and Russ Paton also suffered transmission woes during the final session, with Marcus narrowly surviving a harrowing brush with the Armco on the final straight that you can watch in this video: Youtube video

The full results from the Oulton Park round can be found by clicking here

The Time Attack series now moves north to Knockhill in Scotland on the 15th May, where Andrew Barbour, Fiona Kindness, Eric Holmes, Mike Mahoney and Russ Paton will be hoping to exploit their local knowledge and continue their first round successes.

Scots trio of Mike Mahoney, Eric Holmes and Fiona Kindness at Oulton Park

Words: John Stewart
Images: Flat Out Photography

The points standings after the first round are as follows:

Time Attack Round 1 Points Table

Sean and Michael McInerney took GT, and overall victory in their new Ferrari 430 GT completing 100 laps of Rockingham, with the last 30-odd of them closely fought with team MJC in a very exciting race. Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson won Production in their BMW M3 by two laps over the Phillips / Storey Lotus Elise in the combined 2 ½ hour race on a very warm spring day on Saturday.

Victory didn’t come easily for the returning McInerney’s, who undertook only a handful of Britcar races last year in their Mosler. Changing to a Ferrari for economical reasons for this season, they didn’t take part in the first round at Silverstone three weeks ago. Indeed, it seemed as if their participation at Rockingham was in doubt, after having to start from the pitlane due to starter motor troubles flooding the engine.

Before we got to the start of the race, we had already lost some entrants. The Saxon Motorsport BMW had engine problems during testing on Friday, and was unable to take any further part in proceedings. During qualifying the Bullrun Ferrari had a cam belt failure, dropping oil everywhere and causing a red flag to bring the session to a halt, and ensuring the team were heading off home early.

Qualifying ended with Javier Morcillo & Manuel Cintrano on pole in the Neil Garner / Ateca Motorsport Mosler, seven tenths ahead of another Mosler – the Paul White / Calum Lockie Strata 21 entry. Taking the class two pole was the only Dodge Viper in the field, 1.5 seconds off the pole time lining up just ahead of the Flat 6 Rapier.

Row three consisted of the Backdraft Racing Lamborghini and the McInerney’s in their Ferrari. Starting in 7^th was Team MJC in another Ferrari 430, Keith Robinson not concerned by their position on the grid: “We started down in 7^th for the 24hour and that worked out fine. Should be ok, fingers crossed!”

Taking the Production pole, and 12^th overall was the recently reclassified (down from GT class 3) Topcats Racing Ginetta G50, three tenths but two places ahead of fellow Production class one entries Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson in their BMW, who didn’t make Silverstone and are unsure of how much of the Britcar season they will be able to take part in given a loss of a sponsor over the winter.

Sandwiched in the middle was the #46 Lotus Elise of Chris Headlam and Jamie Stanley, who found their bad luck had continued. An upright bolt broke, sending the upright itself straight through the oil filter during qualifying. The damage was fixed in time for the race but while going out to the grid the ball joint broke, and with the speed of the banking it wasn’t worth the risk in sending the car out. “We started the first race last year with a road car, and so we expected some issues last year, but were hoping we would have fewer problems this year.” Jamie said.

Another Ginetta started 16^th overall – this one being the Reflex Racing G50, just two places ahead of Silverstone Production winners Mark & Peter Cunningham in their Seat Leon Supercopa, who were just two tenths behind. Due to an error in registration the Cunninghams, who had deliberately added weight and de-tuned their car over the winter to drop down into class 2, found themselves listed as being class 1, and so the extra ballast was taken back out again, and the engine tuned back up and they will run in Production class 1 for the rest of the season. Hoping for a podium place, and planning on running a one stop race Mark found himself causing a safety car on lap 20 when a suspension arm broke and completely sheared the wheel rim off. After spending a long time in the pits they did manage to get back out again and went on to complete 69 laps.

Not lasting even that long was the Honda Jazz of Synchro motorsport. Having had an engine change during the morning, Dave Allan made the start of the race but didn’t even manage a lap, pulling off at turn one.

At the race start Manuel Cintrano took the first stint, for the first time, and he had dropped down to 7^th by the end of lap one. This put Calum Lockie, taking the first stint in the Strata 21 Mosler up to first, Aaron Scott in GT3’s Dodge Viper up into second and Michael Millard up to third in the Rapier.

Making an excellent start was Andy Schulz in the Horsepower Racing Ferrari 360, moving up from ninth place up to fourth, Witt Gamski in the MJC Ferrari made up two places, leading the Backdraft Lambourghini who was sixth at the end of lap one.

In the Production race, it was all change also. Reflex Racing led production, ahead of the Topcats Ginetta, who were ahead of Wayne Gibson in the BMW, all three separated by less than a second after lap 1. Crossing the line last at the end of the first lap was Owen O’Neill in the Topcats Racing Class 3 Marcos Mantis, who had started in 20^th place, but suffered a spin on the infield section. O’Neill and Jon Harrison would go on to finish in 22^nd place.

By lap five Mike Millard had dispatched Aaron Scott in the Viper and was studying the rear of Calum Lockie’s Mosler intently – the first three separated by less than a second at the end of lap six. On lap seven Millard took the lead and by lap ten, had pulled out a ten second lead over Lockie.

By this time Witt Gamski had dropped to tenth place, just 1.5 seconds ahead of Wayne Gibson who was had taken a lead in Production that, barring pit stops, they would keep until the checkered flag. Michael McInerney was making slow progress through the field, up to only 23^rd position at this time.

Lap 20 signified the start of the pitstop window, with three cars stopping – Aaron Scott from third in the Viper and Manual Cintrano in the Azteca Mosler from sixth place both re-emerged with no problems. Andy Schulz stopped from fourth in the Horsepower Ferrari 360 at this point as well, and again three laps later with problems, which would cause them to complete only 63 laps.

On lap 35 the safety car was out for a second time, this time for the MacG Racing Ultima, who had started down in 17^th place due to throttle problems in qualifying. Having made up a load of places in the first 20 minutes Wilcox was forced to pull over on the outside of turn one with electrical problems and retired immediately. During this second stop Gamski pitted twice refuelling both times as Britcar rules allow only a 25 litre fill under safety car conditions. The second stop included a driver change, Keith Robinson taking over, coming out in 15^th place and staying in the car until the end of the race.

Mike Millard, who would later retire with a blown engine, pitted on lap 40, handing the lead of the race to Calum Lockie, who still hadn’t pitted and would stay out until lap 52. Over the next 10 laps, as various pitstop strategies played out, we had a couple of different leaders including the Jones family Porsche who looked like they may have been able to spring a surprise. Running a 62 lap first stint and only needing to stop once more, it looked like they could have had a shock result. The pace of the final stints of others meant that they finished seventh overall and won class three, just ahead of fellow class three Porsche from Hawthorns Motorsport. The Lotus Exige of Noris-Jones / Mussi rounded out the class three podium.

Scything through the field, and taking advantage of others stopping, Sean McInerney and Keith Robinson, who were quite often less than a second behind – even through traffic, found themselves in the top 5, and by lap 68 they were running second and third, behind Javier Morcillo in the Azteca Mosler, who was putting in very respectable laptimes of low 1:24’s. The question remained over fuel levels. The thirsty Mosler would have to stop again, of that there was no doubt, but would just fifty extra litres be enough for the two Ferrari’s?

In the end, both Ferrari’s made it to the finish without stopping, but with some incredibly close racing between the two of them. Sean McInerney hitting the wall at one point, but managing to hold on to the lead until the checkered flag for their first victory in their Ferrari. Sean McInerney: “We had a great race! Keith and I were at it hammer and tongs for the best part of 50 mins once I caught up with him. It didn’t help with me hitting the wall with 20 mins to go either! Last on the first lap, first on the last lap. Happy days!”

Rounding out both the overall and the GT class 1 podium were Javier Morcillo and Manual Cintrano in the Azteca Mosler, with the Strata 21 Mosler in fourth. All four on the same lap and within 50 seconds of each other – very close considering it was a 2 ½ hour race!

Taking GT class 2 honours was the Dodge Viper of Scott & Wilkins, who had a lap on the class runners up Backdraft Motorsport Lamborghini. Head & Tilley took third in class 2 in the Topcats Racing Marcos Mantis, finishing 12^th overall.

It appeared as though Kevin Clarke & Wayne Gibson had a fairly straightforward race to take Production victory a lap ahead of Norris-Jones & Mussi in the Lotus Exige, with Ticehurst / Mildenhall having the last step on the podium in their Mazda MX5.

Ian Lawson & Anthony Wilds won Production class 2 in their BMW 320i, two laps ahead of Osborne & May in their Seat Leon and were the only two Production class 2 runners to be classified.

The next round is at Donnington on the weekend of 6^th-8^th May.

Words: Alex Ings / Images: Alex Ings

Pic: Peter May

Silverstone Arena GP 16-17 April 2011

Steve Quick finally took the victory his recent form has promised in the Elise Trophy at Silverstone this weekend but the focus was firmly on former Formula Palmer Audi racer Emma Selway, who became the first female winner after more than a hundred rounds of LoTRDC races. Selway’s achievement followed two fighting performances.

Both races were full of action and featured Snetterton frontrunners Ken Savage, Luigi Mazza and Stuart Rowland. The trio fought over first place in the first encounter and contact between the former pair at Brooklands ended Savage’s race. Selway ascended the order and finished third, and taking heart from this result she took advantage of the reverse top ten grid in race two to lead early on and despite challenges from Savage, Quick and Mazza, she held out to take victory.

Pic: Richard Randle

In Lotus Cup UK, Mark Fullalove dominated the field to win by a minute from Simon Deacon and Marcus Jewell, the latter pair spending the race in each other’s company. This followed a 5-way battle for second in the early running but a shorter-than-regulation pitstop dropped the Steve Williams/Pete Storey pairing from second. The other two competitors involved in this tussle and just finishing off the podium were Exige class winners Glenn Sherwood and Jamie Stanley and Open winners Paul McNeily and BJ Chong.

Production fell to the charging Selway once more after another fighting drive, taking Quick right at the end as Phil Bennett and Clive Dunster’s shared drive claimed third.

Pic: Richard Randle

The GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed team was able to come away with two top ten finishes on a difficult second weekend of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park.

On a circuit where rivals running with a turbo engine had an advantage over those using normally aspirated units, Widnes-racer Paul O’Neill was able to battle hard to take two top eight finishes, while Guernsey-based team-mate John George came close to opening his account for the season after finishing just outside the points in two of the three races.

Having qualified in eleventh place at the wheel of his Chevrolet Cruze, Paul battled his way up to ninth at the chequered flag in race one before the exclusion of Honda’s Gordon Shedden saw him eventually classified in eighth.

More forward progress was the aim for the second race with Paul moving up to seventh on lap one, a position he would then hold through to the tenth lap. Having got ahead of Rob Collard into sixth through Redgate, Paul looked set to lead the normally-aspirated cars home before being tipped into a spin by the BMW at the Old Hairpin which saw his race end in the gravel trap.

At the back of the grid for race three as a result, Paul was forced to back off at the start to avoid a collision ahead and did well to come through the field to take eighth place again, despite being caught up behind Collard’s BMW for a lengthy period.

Paul now sits eighth in the overall championship standings and is fifth amongst the Independents.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult weekend but I thought we could have come away from it with three top ten finishes,” he said. “We managed to get two points finishes but the incident in race two really cost me. In that race, we had the pace to match the turbos and if I’d finished inside the top six there I would have had a better grid slot for race three.

“As it was, I got held up at the start with the accident in front of me and then lost time behind Rob but we managed to come through and pick up some points. We expected it to be hard at Donington so we just have to put the weekend behind us and it’s onwards and upwards at Thruxton; our championship will really start there.”

Team-mate John qualified 18th but his first race came to an early end when he was tagged by Dave Newsham’s BMW at the start and was sent spinning off into the wall on the start-finish straight. With the car repaired by the GoMobileUK.com with Tech-speed team for race two, he stayed out of trouble to bring the car to the finish in twelfth and put himself in a good position for the third and final race of the weekend.

Avoiding an incident ahead on the opening lap, John held seventh place when the Safety Car was deployed to remove the stricken cars from the gravel but on the restart he was powerless to keep a number of turbo cars behind and slipped down to tenth.

A spin on lap nine at the Old Hairpin after he ran slightly wide while running door-to-door with Paul dropped John down to 18th but attrition ahead meant he climbed back up to eleventh at the finish.

Although still to score an overall championship point, John picked up his first two Independents’ points finishes and now sits 14th in the Independents’ championship as a result.

“We were just out-powered all the way really by the turbo cars so it was a difficult weekend,” he said. “I got a really good start in race one but then all of a sudden I got hit in the rear and next thing I knew I was in the wall. In race two, it was a case of being steady and staying out of trouble and people just seemed to want to thrown themselves off in front of me.

“It all looked good in race three and I was up in seventh place, but we just didn’t have the power to match the turbos. I was forced wide through the Craner Curves and then when Paul was side-by-side through the Old Hairpin, neither of us wanted to make contact with each other and I just got a wheel off circuit and had a spin.

“It was a shame that I missed out on the chance to score some points, but we always knew it was going to be a tough weekend here.”

Despite a more challenging weekend on track, GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed sit seventh in the HiQ Teams’ Championship and fourth in the Independents’ Team Trophy, with six of the 30 races to be run once again this season now complete.

“We were aware of how difficult it would be at Donington and it was an up and down weekend,” Tech-Speed chief Marvin Humphries said. “Paul did what he needed to do in race one to make up places but what happened in race two was disappointing as it dropped him to the back of the grid for race three – and it isn’t easy to come through the field against the turbos.

“John being taken out at the start of race one was unlucky but the boys did a good job to get him out for race two, and he did well in both race two and three although it was a shame he had his spin. Overall, it was just one of those weekends but we scored points in two of the three races and we’ll crack on with it when we get to Thruxton.”

Pics: Speedsnaps.co.uk