RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Cars line up for the first ever Snetterton event in 1951. Image courtesy of AMOC

This weekend the Aston Martin Owners’ Club holds a landmark meeting at Snetterton. The club has been established for 75 years and held the very first meeting here in 1951, making it 60 years since racing engines were first heard at the Norfolk circuit. Motorsport artist and circuit historian Andrew Kitson guides us through the years:

Motor racing was a popular pastime in the immediate post-war period, with an abundance of circuits made up from the access roads of airfields that were now surplus to requirements. The Eastern Counties Motor Club originally used Fersfield for racing activities but after they could no longer use this facility, they started looking for another airfield where they could organise race meetings. ECMC members Oliver Sear and John Wyatt were the driving force and approached Fred Riches, owner of farmland at Snetterton, just 7 miles away. Snetterton Heath had been home to the US Army 8th Airforce during the war.

Oliver Sear was also a member of the Aston Martin Owners Club and he invited the club to organise the first meeting. The airfield perimeter road made a fast and flowing 2.7 mile circuit and on October 27th 1951 racing started. The president of AMOC, Dudley Coram, was clerk of the course and corners were named after him, Fred Riches and Oliver Sear.

That first event was a sprint race meeting and the fastest time of the day went to Ken Wharton in a pre-war 2-litre ERA, at 82mph. The Eastern Counties Motor Club organised the next meeting in April 1952, where Archie Scott Brown scored his first race win in his MG TD. He became a legend at Snetterton, particularly his performances at the wheel of a Lister Jaguar and there is a permanent memorial to him in the paddock.

The circuit grew in stature and the crowds flocked in throughout the 1950s, 60s and beyond to watch their heros, such as Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt. F1 and F2 races drew huge crowds, in the days when Grand Prix stars could enter other events away from the World Championship. Motorcycle racing first came to the circuit in 1953 and remains an important part of the calendar, whilst Drag racing and Rallycross also took place at Snetterton in the ’70s.

Snetterton became and remains an important circuit in the UK, and a circuit also favoured by many manufacturers and teams to test cars. In 1967, the most successful Grand Prix engine of all time, the Ford-Cosworth DFV, was tested by Graham Hill in the new Lotus 49, ahead of its winning debut.

The world’s first racing school was based at the circuit from 1957, started by Jim Russell, and the world famous Formula Ford Festival also started at Snetterton in 1972 before moving to Brands Hatch. Night racing came to Snetterton with the Autosport 3-hour race, the European Touring Car Championship and the Avon Tour of Britain, and Britain’s first round-the-clock race was held in 1980, the Willhire 24 Hour, starting a tradition that continues to this day. Night races were also revived by the British Touring Car Championship in the late 1990s.

Two cars from Snetterton’s long history will be present at Snetterton on Saturday: Archie Scott Brown’s MG TD from that second meeting and the winning Ford Sierra Cosworth from the 1989 Willhire race, which celebrated the sponsor’s 25 years by being extended by an hour – the longest ever race to be held in the UK. There will also be appearances from special guests and relatives of those who were key to the early years, including Leslie Marr, winner of ‘best Aston’ at the first ever meeting, and Jack Sears. The transformed circuit will be used in both 300 and 200 layouts over the weekend, both providing great entertainment with fantastic viewing opportunities from the new spectator banking. These improvements ensure that Snetterton is ready for the next 60 years.

Snetterton's new 300 layout is the biggest change to the circuit since 1974

Tickets for the Aston Martin Owners’ Club 300/200 weekend are available on the gate for £13 per day, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information, call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.snetterton.co.uk

POLE, FIRST RACE WIN – DAN DARES & WINS!

Clean sweep – pole position and solo race win for Dan de Zille in round 8 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge at Brands on Saturday 27 August.

Dan de Zille was driving solo this weekend due to prior commitments leaving his co-driver Karsten le Blanc absent from the no.12 car for Nicholas Mee Racing in the 90-minute GT4 endurance race. In an exciting qualifying session, Dan was running 2^nd fastest to Richard Abra in the Generation AMR car, with just 6 minutes to go, a change of rubber – Dan went out to post a lap time of 49.8 on his last lap, promoting him to pole position – despite Abra chasing hard.

“With Friday’s practice being a washout I was having to push to the limits in qualifying and when the team told me Abra was hot on my heels I put everything into that final lap.” Dan

The 90min race started at 14.20pm and Dan led the field into Paddock Hill Bend and for the first few laps. On lap 5, Richard Abra his nearest challenger got ahead, but Dan remained firmly on his rear bumper. By the pit stop window, Abra only had a 3 second lead over Dan, Generation AMR pitted first to hand over to Mark Poole and Dan went back into the lead.

By the time NMR made their pit stop Dan had accrued such a lead that he was able to pit and rejoin the race still as race leader. A professional and faultless drive from Dan saw him maintain his lead right to the end of the 90 minutes finishing two laps head of the Vantage Racing pairing of Tom Black and Alan Bonner.

“I had to pace myself, Abra would be getting out the car at the stop whereas I would have to finish the race so settled into a rhythm, keeping the pressure on but making sure I didn’t take too much life out of the tires. As it happened, a mistake by their second driver took them out of contention and from then on it was a matter of looking after the car and myself and keeping an eye on Vantage Racing.” (Actually Mark Poole reported brake failure – Ed)

The Aston Martin GT4 racing has been close all season, and Dan’s result puts the NMR car level on points with the Vantage Racing pairing of Black and Bonner who took their first win at Oulton Park earlier this month. The final round will be at Dijon 10/11 September where Karsten le Blanc will be back in the car also driving solo to decide who takes the title.

This result is Dan’s fourth win in just five outings the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge this season and is the Series’ first ever solo win!  Dan will be back out driving the NMR car as part of a team in the Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone in October.

Meanwhile, its back to Brands Hatch next weekend for Dan for rounds 16-18 of the British Formula Ford Championship where Dan is currently lying in 6th position overall.

Dan commented “It was an amazing weekend but not quite as easy as it looked! It was a physically hard race, but probably the most satisfying of my career. We are back again next week in the Ford and I can hardly wait!”

Following victory in Round 2 of the AstonMartin GT4 Challenge at Snetterton. Dan joined Nicholas Mee Racing at Donington Park at the weekend for rounds 3 and 4. However, with Saturday’s 3hr race curtailed and an electronic gremlin hampering progress in Sunday’s extended race, NMR’s highly competitive pace wasn’t accurately reflected in the result.

Saturday morning’s qualifying was held in light drizzle, and, driving well within his limits, Dan de Zille set a lap time that would place NMR third on the grid. With a drying track it became a battle of who got the last good lap to win pole position, Dan got badly baulked on his last lap but still managed to place the car in 3rd position on the grid.

Saturday’s race started in the dry with NMR’s regular driver Karsten le Blanc at the wheel of the team’s V8 Vantage GT4. Le Blanc made a good start, but drove with caution early on to preserve the Dunlop tyres and in the process lost a place to a hard-charging Michael Mallock who was making his AM Challenge début alongside his father, Ray Mallock – a name well known in Aston Martin circles due to his involvement in the company’s mid 1980s Group C endurance racing efforts.

Unfortunately, after 40 minutes and with de Zille ready to take over and hunt down the leading cars, Mario Cordini’s car had a heavy accident which brought out the safety car and then the red flag due to substantial damage to the safety barriers. With insufficient time to repair the barriers that day a restart wasn’t possible and so, with less than 75% of race distance completed, the race was declared null and void.

Sunday’s race length was subsequently extended from its original 90mins to 120mins with grid positions again taken from Saturday’s qualifying session.

Rejoining NMR for his first race of the 2011 season, Christiaen van Lanschot started from 3rd on the grid and, after a fantastic 40min stint, he pitted while still in 3rd to hand over to Karsten le Blanc.

Le Blanc also enjoyed a good, solid stintbefore handing over to de Zille who immediately set about reeling in the Generation AMR car of Mark Poole and Richard Abra. Regularly lapping about 2secs faster than the leading car, de Zille’s progress was halted by an electrical issue (most likely an ECU error reading) which caused him to coast to a standstill by the side of the circuit and complete a reset procedure twice. Team Manager Dawson reckoned this cost the team some 54secs which dropped NMR down to 4th position.

Undeterred by this setback, de Zille set off in hot pursuit of Bonner and Black’s Vantage Racing car in 3rd place but the chequered flag came out before catching it and so NMR finished in 4th, just 8secs behind Vantage Racing and a mere 48secs adrift of the Stratton Motor Co car of Hall, Chittenden and Kemp which snatched victory from Generation AMR moments before the end of the race.

Dans comment “Its been a very eventful weekend, with no running before qualifying but I still managed to put the car in P3, with my last and best lap completely baulked!

We knew we had the pace to perform in the race and it was a huge disappointment to have to abandon Saturday’s event. However Christiaen and Karsten very generously allowed me to join them in the extended Sunday race and this started even better than we could have imagined. Both of them put in an amazing effort and jumping in for the last stint my task was to catch the Poole/Abra car to put us in the lead. I was pushing with everything I had, reeling them in by up to 2 seconds a lap. Suddenly the car developed a fault that required it to be stopped and reset twice while on track, dropping us back to 4th place. It was so disappointing not to be able to show our potential here, but hopefully there will be a chance later in the season to make amends.”

Giles Dawson and the team are preparing for rounds 5 and 6 at the legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit on 9-10th July, Dan will be at Spa on the same weekend for the next Formula Ford Euro Cup round.

Maiden WIN for Nicholas Mee Racing in the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge

Pic: Xynamic Motorsport Photography

Dan de Zille secures maiden race win for Nicholas Mee Racing in the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge at Snetterton this weekend, alongside Karsten Le Blanc.

Jersey based Dan was guest driver for Nicholas Mee Racing in this weekend’s Aston Martin GT4 Challenge. The 3-hour event was the 2nd round in the Championship held at Snetterton where Dan and Karsten lined up against a full grid of professionals and gentlemen driver pairings. Confident of NMR’s high standards of preparation, the team started the weekend in cautiously optimistic mood.

In qualifying Karsten went out first to set the time. But a major excursion at the first corner by another competitor halted the session and by the time Dan got in the car it had started to rain. Staying out on slicks in varying conditions, Dan did remarkably well to set the quickest time to qualify the duo on the front row in P2 overall, with a time of 2m 03.1s just behind the pole-sitting car of Richard Abra and Mark Poole.

Come the race, Karsten took the start and led by the 2nd corner. The 3-hour race was pretty eventful with several safety car periods, one in particular caused by the Frankel/Watkins car dropping oil from The Esses right round to Corum causing Karsten to spin dropping them to 6th place. The NMR strategy was to swap drivers halfway through the race, and when Dan took over they were back up to 4th overall.

During another Safety car period, NMR team manager Giles Dawson decided to make the last fuel stop of the race, leaving Dan a clear run to the finish. The strategy paid off, as most other teams still had one stop to make, and by the 2-hour mark Dan was up into 3rdposition. In the last half-hour Dan took the lead, and though the chasing car of Richard Abra looked threatening at once stage, officials notified the team that Richard had exceeded 66% of race distance, forcing them to pit and change drivers.

In 2nd place, Stuart Hall thenbecame Dan’s pursuer, but he was no match for the Le Blanc – De Zille duo who romped home to a comfortable win, a clear minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Dan’s reaction on the weekend “What an amazing day! While it was disappointing to miss out on a shot at pole Karsten did a great job in his stint, keeping us in contention at the front of the pack. It was great racing coming through the pack and the guys behind ensured I could never let up the pace, pushing hard to the end. As a first outright race win it’s brilliant and do to it in an Aston Martin and by such a margin is the icing on the cake. It’s a great boost heading into thenext Formula Ford round at Brands Hatch and I’m hoping I can get back in theAston later in the season.”

NMR ‘s Team Commercial Director Neal Garrard commented, “All credit to Team Manager Giles Dawson! He’s done a great job this year, and it was his strategy, which helped us win this weekend. Dan was consistently on the pace and both drivers kept it clean, despite the race becoming quite a battlefield. Great teamwork by all, and we’re looking forward to the next round.”

Karsten Le Blanc commented “Its been a fun race, with lots of drama, but all in all a great experience. Thanks to Giles’ great set-up and smart thinking on the pit wall, Dan’s consistent, precise and quick driving. I am obviously delighted for everyone to take the first genuine top step podium finish for the NMR team.”

Talks with the team may see Dan back out in the Aston Martin later this season. Meanwhile it’s back to the MSA Dunlop Formula Ford Championship for Dan, who will be back out in action at BrandsHatch on 18th June. Dan is currently lying an excellent 5th overall in the championship.