Brands Hatch GP - GT Cup - 5th June 2011

Click on any image for a full-size version.

All pictures on this page are copyright

GT Cup Report - Brands Hatch GP - June 2011

Matt Seldon conquers the conditions

Action began on Saturday, with two practice sessions and qualifying on the 2.433 mile course, with the #99 TVR Cerbera of Michael Saunders ominously leading all three sessions. The spectacular yellow car was clearly at home on the GP circuit and its driver was no doubt intent on atoning for his error at the previous round, which had cost him a podium finish in the second race.

The Seldons were keeping Saunders honest in the #23 BMW, shadowing the TVR all day, while Oulton winner Danny Winstanley saw constant improvement in the #78 TVR Sagaris throughout the three sessions; the green machine qualifying on the front row for the first race just ahead of the championship-leading Porsche 997 GT3 of Andy Ruhan.

RACE REPORT

Race Two

The GT Cup field now had three and a half hours to grab lunch, effect repairs and generally refettle their steeds before the second race of the afternoon. For a number of runners in each class also, there would be the matter of adding or removing success ballast.

The rain began to fall more consistently and strongly as the afternoon progressed, meaning that, while conditions were unlikely to be easy in the later race, at least everyone would be starting on tyres much better suited to the conditions; i.e. wets!

And it was proper rain when the cars headed out to start the second race, to the extent that the first lap was run behind the safety car. Michael Saunders was again on pole, on account of his second-fastest qualifying time, but it was Matt Seldon in the #23 BMW E46 who began the ascent of Hailwood Hill in the lead after passing the #99 Cerbera at Paddock Hill Bend.

Andy Ruhan was up to third in the #6 Porsche, but Benjamin Harvey had again made a great start in the #45 X-Bow and was up to fourth after passing Danny Winstanley’s Sagaris.

Winstanley had a very difficult opening lap and had fallen to eighth by the end of it.

Things were going much better for Gary Eastwood, who had gone from eighth to fourth in the #8 Ferrari in the same distance after passing Harvey along the Brabham Straight.

At the head of the field Seldon initially held a second and a half advantage over Saunders, but from Lap 3 onwards the gap started to come back down as the yellow Cerbera became more sure-footed.

Kevin Clarke had made a great start in the #51 BMW E92 M3, going from 11th to fifth on the opening lap. He then was able to defend from Stephen Ritchie’s #71 Porsche, but was soon coming under threat from Winstanley’s TVR as it started to make progress through the field.

The fight for second in Group 2 was again between Tom Andrew’s Morgan and Colin Broster’s Porsche, while Adam Hayes was prevailing in the early stages over Mark Radcliffe in Group 3.

At the start of Lap 3 Eastwood dived down the inside of Ruhan at Paddock Hill Bend to grab third and was able to close the gap to second place to just over a second as Saunders and Seldon became more and more embroiled. But just as things looked like developing into a full-blown three-way fight for the lead, the Safety Car was back out on track for the third time that day after Andrew had dropped the Morgan into the gravel at Druids. The Morgan was quickly dragged out and was able to continue without visiting the pits.

At the end of Lap 6 the race went green again and Matt Seldon made the most of the breathing space that the Safety Car had given him, stretching his lead back out to eight-tenths of a second. The restart, however, was disastrous for the championship leader Andy Ruhan, who lost the back end of his Porsche at Clearways and dropped to the rear of the pack.

This took the pressure off Eastwood, who suddenly had a two-second cushion over Clarke in fourth.

And it wasn’t much better for Mark Radcliffe and Rupert Martin, the #19 Group 3 BMW and the #49 Group 1 Ferrari tangling at Surtees and losing a lot of time before resuming. This left Adam Hayes with a clear run in Group 3.

The battle for the overall lead again quickly heated up and by the end of Lap 9 Saunders was really pressuring Seldon. Just a quarter of a second separated the two at the end of that lap and they rounded Druids nose-to-tail. As the BMW headed out of Druids, however, the back end swung out suddenly. Seldon managed to hold it but exit speed was compromised, the TVR got along side on the run down to Graham Hill bend. Saunders took a wide entry line into the corner but was on the power too quickly and this caused the Cerbera to go into a spin. The #99 quickly recovered, but had lost seven seconds and two places.

Unfortunately, Kevin Clarke’s fine run in the #51 BMW had just come to an end. The car had set the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 8, but next time around was heading to the pits with a problem, and there it stayed.

The pace was increasing through the field and this started to bring the X-Bow into range of Broster’s Porsche as more and more Group 1 cars passed the Group 2 leader, and with two laps to go the yellow car was just two seconds behind the green one.

And it was a similar story at the head of the field as Eastwood got ever closer to Seldon; the gap being 2.162s on Lap 9, 1.154s on Lap 10 and just 0.479s as the last lap began.

All eyes were on this battle as the first half of the Indy circuit was navigated, but the leader kept things steady and had several car-lengths advantage as they headed out of sight and onto the Grand Prix loop. Half a minute later, the leaders burst back into view at Clearways and……Seldon was still ahead and far enough to prevent any further challenge. The BMW crossed the line after a dozen hard-fought laps to take an excellent win by just 0.472s.

Eastwood again took second, and this time would be allowed to keep it, while Winstanley resisted a determined assault from Saunders to win the TVR battle and take third to round off a very successful weekend for the youngster.

The battle for Group 2 ended in the same manner as that of Group 1 with Broster pushing Harvey all the way. It was, however, the KTM driver who prevailed over the Porsche, the gap here being 0.546. Francis Galashan had driven a steady race in the #57 Porsche 996, to take third in the group ahead of Sean Winder and Tom Andrew.

Things were a little more comfortable for Adam Hayes in Group 3, who took the win in the #9 E46 M3 by 25.466 seconds from Mark Radcliffe’s #19 M3. Barclay Dougall again finished third, a lap down after more difficulties in the #37, but there is little doubt that the Scot will bounce back at the next round.

This had been an excellent afternoon’s racing at Brands Hatch in the most challenging of conditions. There had been some scintillating individual performances throughout the field – might Benjamin Harvey have taken an overall win in the first race had there not been two caution periods? – and the racing was clean in both encounters, which is to the great credit of the whole field (compare this with racing elsewhere that day – in better conditions – at Silverstone and Oulton Park.)

The Bute Motorsport GT Cup now moves on to the Snetterton 300 on June 25th and 26th, where more great racing is guaranteed.