PS1, Brands Hatch Indy, August 12th 2007

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RACE 50 minutes : PS1, Brands Indy, 12th August

Steve Wood - © DSC / EERC

Production Saloons
Brands Hatch, 12/08/07

Alec Livesley, in his little Ginetta G20 GTC, took the win in a rain-blighted and shortened race, but Paul Fenton stayed clear of trouble to win the inaugural Production Saloons championship, in the Moore Racing BMW M3 that he has shared this season with Mike Gardiner.

Originally planned for 50 minutes duration, the race was shortened to 40 minutes after heavy rain, falling as the grid lined-up, forced the start to be abandoned to allow the cars to change to wet tyres.

Some never made it to the grid, and started from the pit lane; the three-car TGM Motorsport team struggled logistically, meaning Joe Giovaninni and Richard Gane’s Honda Integras couldn’t get to their slots, whilst Matt Potter had a DIY tyre change on his Renault Clio. Poor Dave Shelton only had enough wets for three corners of his BMW Z3 anyway, so would be a cautious starter on slicks.

Steve Taylor converted pole position to the lead as the pack sped into Paddock, but Matt Seldon’s BMW M3 caught the Lotus Exige down the inside at Druids. Steve Hirst, in Phil Danbury’s BMW E30, came from nowhere into the lead pack , despite a lurid slide as they rounded Clearways. Livesley’s nimble Ginetta seemed to be relishing the tricky conditions, though, and, having taken Taylor for second, set about closing on Seldon.

Rod Barrett, running the Britcar Porsche 996 as an invitation entrant, was battling with Dutch Supercar regular Hirst for fourth, and Paul Fenton, after a cautious start, was on the move, taking Mike Thomas’ Honda, then latching on to the Barrett/Hirst skirmish. Not so much latch on, in fact, more get involved, but he found that three abreast round Graham Hill Bend doesn’t work, and he ended up on the grass, and back down in eighth place.

Back at the front, Matt Seldon was responding to Livesley’s threat, maintaining a two to three second gap, but Rod Barrett’s GT Porsche was on the move, taking Taylor’s Exige for third. Paul Fenton was sensing deja-vu, as once more he passed Mike Thomas and Sarah Bennett-Baggs to salvage his championship hopes.

With the race foreshortened, the pit-stop window had moved, and so, with 27 minutes left to run, Mike Thomas was the first to take his mandatory stop. Steve Hirst called time on his stint after a trip through the gravel at Paddock, and,,around the twenty minute mark, there was a glut of stops which saw just Matt Seldon and Rod Barrett. There was just a quarter of an hour left when Matt Seldon pitted, handing over to father Peter, leaving Rod Barrett leading.

That just lasted one lap, then the Porsche was pitbound, too, and, once the timing screens settled, they showed Livesley’s Ginetta in the lead, with Peter Seldon eight seconds adrift. Seldon had a scare, as Barrett’s Porsche spun exiting the pit lane, causing the BMW to take avoiding action onto the grass on the run down from Paddock.

That didn’t faze the Britcar regular, though, for the Porsche was positively flying as the race drew to a close, Barrett unlapping himself from Livesley, but still finishing the best part of a lap adrift at the end, with Peter Seldon between them in second. Steve Taylor came home fourth in his Exige, with Paul White , in the Butler BMW started by Sarah Bennett-Baggs, claiming fifth from an ailing Fenton, the diff temperature sky high in the Moore car for the last half of the race..

London cabbie Richard Gane was a popular winner of Class 2 in his Honda Integra, after TGM team mate Mike Thomas made most of the running in the class, but was strangely classified 11th overall, and fourth in class.

Matt Potter was the sole Class 3 runner, after the Crighton/Williams T-Car suffered a seized engine in qualifying, so the Team Think Clio was the obvious class winner, impressively eighth overall, in front of the Phil Danbury/Steve Hirst BMW E30. Porsche Club competitor David Stockton had a steady run to 10th overall, and third in Class 2 in his 944. TGM duo Joe Giovannini and team boss Tom Gannon came home twelfth, with the slick-shod BMW Z3 of Dave Shelton, Del Shelton, and Nigel Greensall bringing up the rear in 13th. Not all unlucky for them, though, since Greensall, as expected, and despite not having grooved rubber, posted the fastest lap of the race, at 51.761 nearly a full second better than Barrett’s GT3 Porsche. Dominic Jackson’s Honda Civic ended up in the Druids gravel after 21 laps, and was not classified.

So, the dominant Moore Racing team are the inaugural Production Saloons champions, with Mike Gardiner doing the bulk of the season’s driving, and Paul Fenton stroking the car home in the final race, whilst Gardiner was on duty at Silverstone in the team’s British GT Dodge Viper. “Mike would have killed me if we hadn’t won it today” said a relieved Fenton.

Mike Thomas, in the TGM Honda Integra, has been strong all season, and was a close overall runner-up, just five points adrift, and a worthy victor of the Class 2 crown.

Fiona Leggate, absent at Brands Hatch, had been mixing it with Class 2 runners in her Class 3 MG ZR, and had already claimed the class championship honours.

STEVE WOOD