Britcar, Brands Hatch GP April 2007Click on any image for a larger one! All pictures on this page are copyright
Friday Testing ReportSteve Wood - © DSC / EERCThere were a few surprises in the GT Cup and Class 1. Colin Simpson and Jeff Wyatt were impressive in the Scottish garagiste’s Marcos Mantis, the Cup class machine eighth overall, and nearly a second quicker than the Pete Morris / Craig Wilkins Porsche 996. Splitting these two, though, was the amazing Class 1 BMW M3 E36 of Peter and Matt Seldon, posting 1:36.115, over two seconds quicker than their nearest Class 1 rival, the lone Michael Symons in the Geoff Steel M3, and disturbingly quicker than both Nero Ferraris, the ASM Falcon, and the Chad Racing and BS Motorsport Porsches, and even more amazing when it was discovered that occasional racer Matt Seldon set the time rather than the vastly experienced Peter. “I think you’ll find that the other teams weren’t running their fastest driver’s today,” said the modest Kentish businessman, “but maybe we’re out to prove something because we’re so hacked-off with GTR, and we have got a lot of local knowledge – we know this place like the back of our hands.” ............... RACE 1 50 minutes : Britcar, A1GP Meeting, 28th April 2007Steve Wood - © DSC / EERC
Even three hours after the race had concluded, at 13.05, the official result hadn’t been released, confusion stemming from the fact that the commentators knew that the race would have to finish at the appointed hour, but the teams were expecting to run for the full 50 minutes – even as they started what turned out to be the last lap: the leader pitted with brake trouble, not realising that he could have almost coasted to the win. We’ll clear up the confusion at the foot of this page (or try to). Qualifying Old hands Michael Vergers and Phil Bennett decided to sit out the end of qualifying in the 650 bhp Nigel Mustill-owned V8 Star – “Nigel wanted to see what two fast drivers could do with it” – because of the oil, and were content to start ninth. Michael Vergers wouldn’t take long to improve on that position in the race.
Pole went to the Chamberlain / Allen 935 replica (1:31.290), which John Allen was due to start. Richard Chamberlain was too busy anyway, kissing all the grid girls.
Mike Jordan qualified Gerry Harrison’s ex-Jones bros. Porsche second (above), John Gaw took third with the Nobby’s Nuts Porsche, while the Corvette-engined Topcats Marcos was fourth. David Back was impressed with partner Aaron Scott’s 1:33.440 for fifth in the first of the Nero Motorsports Ferraris (and fastest in GT Cup) – which looked immaculate, despite a torrid time at the first round.
Sixth was Mike Donovan – who last raced regularly in British F3, in 1986-87, while the likes of Johnny Herbert and then Andy Wallace were earning their titles. 20 years later (“I’ve missed it dreadfully”), a move to Florida – and now he picks and chooses his events on his return trips to the UK. He would drive alone in his IN2-run Porsche – and would drive very well indeed.
The Jay Wheals / Dave Longstaff (ex-GNM) Marcos LM600 was seventh, Wheals setting the time right at the end, after the car had suffered with a shortage of brakes. More to come on that score… Round 1 at Silversone saw the undertray detach itself, and no testing since has left the team scratching at the surface of the big Marcos. Car owner Longstaff decided to let Wheals drive alone today. The second Topcats Mantis completed the top ten, ahead of the Pete Morris / Craig Wilkins Porsche and then Paul Hogarth, driving alone in the second IN2Racing Porsche. Darren Knutton’s turn on Sunday.
Peter and Matt Seldon tied up the C1 class, no trouble at all (above), five spots ahead of the Symons / D’Cruze rival, but C2 was much closer, the Cunninghams (Mark and Peter, his father) on pole in their SEAT, just ahead of the Plotnek / Smith MG (the one having its engine changed). The grid had a real Porsche look about it at the front – but the early laps of the race, well, they didn’t, on the whole, see the Porsches shine. Race But despite about four laps less than it might have been, it was still a very entertaining race. Britcar PR man Steve Wood predicted some of what happened in the early going. Porsche dramas began as the parade lap started, the pole car breaking a driveshaft. That held up the cars behind it, notably Rostaert in the Nobby’s Porsche, who was about to begin a frustrating stint. So was Gerry Harrison in the car Mike Jordan had qualified so well. Wheals in the big Marcos spun exiting Druids, surprised at how slowly the orange Porsche was travelling. Pete Morris took to the grass in avoidance, all this taking place behind a fast starting Mercer in the Marcos (-Corvette) and Aaron Scott in the GTC Class Ferrari. These two were 1-2 then, with Donovan up to third – while Harrison then spun into the gravel. Michael Vergers was bound to take advantage of all this, and at the end of an interesting opening lap, he was already past Donovan for third. Britcar doesn’t wait for the lapping to start for the passing to commence. Vergers and a V8 Star pounced on the Scott Ferrari down Pilgrim’s Drop on lap 2, and chased after Mercer’s similarly (American V8) powered Marcos, the gap between these two less than a third of a second after three laps. Scott and Donovan were still third and fourth – while fifth was a car we haven’t even mentioned yet. With six cylinder engined cars having a mainly bad race so far, it had to be another V8 machine: it was Kevin Clarke’s (sharing with Ian Donaldson) Torquespeed BMW, up from 13th on the grid.
More Porsche-related dramas: the leader spun, avoiding the Harrison Porsche, which was dawdling, so Vergers led – by a whopping 5.4 seconds from Aaron Scott (above). Mercer was third, then Clarke and Donovan, then Peter Cook in his Porsche and Paul Hogarth in his. All very entertaining so far, with plenty more to come. Mercer and Clarke then powered past the GTC Ferrari, and after six laps, the Marcos trailed the Vergers V8 Star by eight seconds. Jay Wheals had set the fastest lap of the race though, in the recovering LM600 (below): he was up to ninth.
As Mercer and Clarke diced entertainingly (above), Vergers drew away to a 12 second lead after 10 laps. The silver BMW had passed the silver Marcos by this point, at Druids – and with 15 minutes of the ‘50’ elapsed, Jean-Marc Rotsaert began the pit stops, leaving John Gaw to fight back from a lap down. After a brilliant display, Clarke ruined the Torquespeed speed race with a wild off as he headed onto the GP loop – “I got a bit out of shape. It’s a bit bruised, isn’t it?” – and with Mercer pitting quite early, suddenly Vergers was all on his own at the front. “But I had a vibration for the last two laps of my stint. The splitter has come loose.” Phil Bennett had the same only more so, and that was the V8 Star effectively out of it.
Peter Cook (above) was one of the last to stop and he led until he did, but already there was a good race going on between Fores, now in the Corvette-engined Marcos, and Donovan in his Porsche. Where would the pit stoppers emerge relative to these two? Cook’s car had a battery problem at its stop – and suddenly, despite that lap 1 spin, Jay Wheals in the LM600 returned to the track in the lead, 15 seconds ahead of Hogarth in #6 Porsche, then Fores, Back in the (Scott started) Ferrari and Pelle in Cook’s Porsche. Donovan? He’d got mixed up in traffic approaching Druids, and swerved to avoid a Clio, sadly ending up in the gravel. “There were two lots of lapping going on, and the Clio driver seemed to be overwhelmed and stood on the brakes. I tried to go round him but it didn’t work.” The best race was now Fores catching Hogarth, the Marcos piling past on the pits straight, the Porsche winning out on the brakes. Marcos (Corvette) power then won through down Pilgrim’s Drop, and it was looking like a Marcos 1-2. 25 laps completed – and the commentators were sure there was one left.
But Wheals was slowing, with no brakes: “I would have killed myself if I’d stayed out there – but wouldn’t have pitted if I’d known it was the last lap!” He was coasting towards Clearways, as Fores (below) and Hogarth consumed the gap – and rushed past to finish 1-2.
Wheals was made aware of the situation in pit lane, and hurried across the ‘finish line’ ahead of Pelle, but behind the back Ferrari.
Pete Morris / Craig Wilkins came home sixth in #31, second to the Ferrari in the Cup Class, Gaw racing through to seventh, the top ten completed by the second Top Cats Mantis, the big Adam Sharpe Motorsport Falcon and the McInerneys’ Porsche.
Class One was fairly straightforward, Matt Seldon taking over in what he expected to be the lead – “But I was surprised to be second, having expected a 20 second lead,” although the team did have to tape up a window at the stop. Seldon was disappointed not to have a dice with Andre D’Cruze, who was leading: the diff. went on the #45 BMW.
Mark and Peter Cunningham took Class two in their #76 Seat, ahead of the similar car of Clynes / Beaumont. Then it started to become very unstraightforward. Wheals protested the early finish to the race, the stewards spent some while deliberating – and meanwhile, the pit stop times arrived. Everyone was supposed to spend at least 60 seconds between pit-in and pit-out, but some spent less. The big loser was the GT Cup Class ‘winning’ Nero Ferrari of Scott / Back, which dropped from third overall to eighth, so Morris / Wilkins took this class. The final, still provisional result, looks like this (to be confirmed on Sunday), but Britcar had put on a thoroughly entertaining show. NB. By Sunday morning, the result had been revised again - with the result back-dated a lap, so #17 wins... but it probably isn't going to rest there.... 1 #26 Mick Mercer / Richard Fores Topcats Marcos Mantis 13 #3 Peter Seldon / Matt Seldon Serverware Group BMW 1st C One RACE 2 50 minutes : Britcar, A1GP Meeting, 29th AprilSteve Wood - © DSC / EERC
So Saturday’s race swung to and fro, after the chequered flag – and the Sunday morning news was that the final (final?) version of the result showed the cars as they crossed the line one lap before the flag fell, so that was victory for the Jay Wheals Marcos LM600. Topcats team owner Warren Gilbert hurried off to see the stewards – “I’ve got a win to fight for” – and returned to announce that he was going to “appeal the appeal, and the appeal”. It was all getting very confused, even James Tucker piping up in favour of Topcats. It reminded one of the finish of the World Cup cricket final in the West Indies. A big crowd, rather than a huge one, was worth impressing, the Britcars following a rather tedious A1GP sprint race. Just a few more additions to tales sfar though – beginning with a correction: Kevin Clarke’s BMW may perform as if it is V8-powered, but there’s definitely a six cylinder under the bonnet, producing “440 bhp,” according to Ian Donaldson. The car’s retirement yesterday saw it line up 31st on Sunday’s grid, so Clarke (first) and Donaldson (who’d had clutch problems on Friday and in yesterday’s sole qualifying session) had a lot to do. So did the Jemco Marcos (have a lot to do and have clutch trouble), the team having worked until 23.00 last night to install a new clutch, to make sure the Mantis occupied 36th place on the grid. Alun Edwards was next up, having met the gravel at Paddock yesterday, while other fast cars lining up well down were the Richard Chamberlain 935 (right at the back), the V8 Star (14th) and Mike Donovan’s IN2 Porsche (32nd). The other IN2 Porsche should have been third on the grid, but Darren Knutton had returned to Cheshire overnight, and fallen foul on his return journey – the final leg of which was in a taxi from Biggin Hill. He didn’t make it in time, so “we ain’t seen Knutton yet”, reckoned Steve Wood! ast detail before the off – the LM600 would be driven by Dave Longstaff today, but although he took up his place on the grid, he didn’t fancy trying to head this lot into Paddock, so he rumbled along the pitlane after the parade lap, and started last. Race
Pete Morris may have had a great scrap with Sean McInerney yesterday, but he was tipped into the Druids gravel “by a Ferrari” on lap 1, and out of the race. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me,” said the burly midlander. Mick Mercer had made the best start in the Corvette-engined Marcos – or should that have been George Haynes in the Falcon (“I had a great start, up to second place” – from seventh), but by Hawthorns second was taken by the 14th placed car on the grid, that of mighty Phil Bennett. John Gaw was mighty too, passing the Falcon before the end of the lap in the Nobby’s Nuts Porsche – and with Bennett passing Mercer by Clark Curve, the top six (second to fourth, below) past the line looked absolutely nothing like the grid order.
Jon Harrison in the second Topcats Mantis spun and pitted with a deranged bonnet, but typically the place changes were clean. There was no shortage of overtaking, already. Haynes in fourth was being chased by Scott’s Ferrari and McInerney’s Porsche, and then it was the best C1 car (the Seldons again) and Witt Gamski in his Ferrari.
Keep an eye out for the men from the back though: Clarke (above) had made up 16 places already, and had Chamberlain’s 935 right behind.
Next time round they were 12th and 10th respectively. Peter Seldon already looked as though he had C1 sewn up again, but Chris Wilson was involved in a great scrap with one of the Geoff Steel BMWs for third, behind Mark Smith’s Metcalf E30, and just ahead of the C2 leader (the Cunningham’s Seat again).
Lap 4 and we had some sort of settled pattern, Bennett 3.4 seconds ahead of Mercer, a gap back to Gaw and the Falcon, then Aaron Scott in the Cup Class leader – just ahead of the flying Chamberlain. Clarke was tenth and Donovan 12th. Scott relinquished a position at Surtees, the Falcon at Druids, Gaw onto the GP loop – and Chamberlain was third. No, hang on, traffic delayed him and Gaw nipped by again, “but I had a vibration from the r/front, caused by a slow puncture.” Air leak or not, he wasn’t going to keep the Chimp Tune 935 behind for long, and then succumbed to the Falcon and Ferrari. Aaron Scott was quite outspoken about the Falcon’s lack of cornering speed, “but he was just a bit wound up when he got out of the car. He apologised to me later,” said George Haynes. “We had a good race.” Lap 8 then and Bennett led Mercer by nine seconds, who led Chamberlain by just three. Next time by the 935 was second, and over the next five laps, the gap came down by two seconds a lap. Lap 14 and Bennett pitted, so Chamberlain had gone from last to first. Vergers in the V8 Star was delayed on his out lap (by yellows for Mike Wilds’ car being snatched from the Paddock gravel – no safety cars here, a theme of the meeting), and a lap later the gap between these two was 72 seconds. With a minute for Chamberlain’s stop, plus entering and leaving pit lane, this could be interesting – except that the 935 was piling it on, and the gap became 76 seconds four laps later. Wilds later suggested that perhaps he was a bit ambitious in passing the #88, “which must have got out of shape”.
Another car currently down the order needed an eye keeping on it. Gerry Harrison had had a better stint than yesterday, Mike Jordan taking over the orange Porsche in 23rd place. “I drove every lap like a qualifying lap,” said the BTCC man – who was loving every second of a great charge in a GT car. We’ll come back to his progress. Chamberlain pitted after 20 laps, and some excellent TV work showed the 936 stationary, as Vergers gobbled up those 76 seconds: the 935 was out and away though, the gap now from 935 at Druids to V8 Star at Paddock. Next time through it was less than that, then Chamberlain was slowing, the gap down to under five – then four after 23 laps, then the 935 pitted, through the back door behind the pits. Race over, of course: a puncture, and Chamberlain didn’t want to complete the lap. He wanted a win or nothing – and got nothing. So we were back to the same two which had led from the end of lap 1: the V8 Star and the Corvette-engined Mantis, Bennett from Fores. The latter was in trouble with the splitter on #26, Mick Mercer having given it a pasting, and Richard Fores could hear it pattering under braking, and had understeer on left handers. So P1 and P2 stayed like that to the flag: the pros in the V8 Star had indeed shown what Nigel Mustill’s car could do, and it was a deserved win, with the Topcats Mantis second - again (depending on the appeal from yesterday).
The race for third developed into an absolute cracker. See if you can follow all this…. Lap 24 (of 32) and David Back was third in the Nero Ferrari, with Michael McInerney fourth, Mike Donovan right behind him in his IN2 Porsche, then Ray in the Falcon – then the flying Jordan, fastest man on the track. He passed the Falcon as Donovan passed McInerney – and the Panoz-driver-in-the-LMS had a 15 second advantage over Jordan’s Porsche. That shrank by six seconds a lap, Jordan was through – and chasing Donovan (who was chasing Back). Lap 28 and the two gaps were both nine seconds – three laps left for these three. Starting their last lap, the two gaps were both 2.8 seconds. “We were managing the gap, talking David through it over the radio,” said Aaron Scott afterwards. “I just hope we got the pit stop right!” Er…. The three had changed order by the time they came into sight, Jordan having passed Donovan at Stirlings – the orange Porsche side by side with the Ferrari at the line, the gap just 0.023 seconds. Donovan was seven-tenths behind. A fantastic finish.
“I’m really p’ed off with fourth – it’s the worst finishing position,” said the former British GT Champion, “just off the podium.” But hang on – just as there were yesterday, there were penalties to apply for stops lasting less than a minute. The main ones to suffer, again, were Scott and Back, who apparently were timed at 59 seconds – so all that time management at the end was in vain, and they lost the Cup Class win, to the McInerneys in #21 (but didn't know it yet).
The Topcats Mantis also had a minute applied, but such was its advantage – over Mike Jordan, who did get third – that Mercer / Fores stayed second. Third in class, eighth overall, was the Gamski / Smith Ferrari, ex-England cricketer David Smith – “I was good at cricket, but it wasn’t a passion: racing is a passion” – eventually getting away from the track to play in a charity match in Essex. He and Gamski threatened, unconvincingly, to start a fitness regime. They’ll be together for the season, thanks to backing from GFX Capital Markets (and Gamski’s MJC concern). Fourth and fifth were the recovering #24 Topcats Mantis and the Jemco version, Jemco’s The Davis Group backers having provided the trophies for the weekend.
So lots of good racing in front of Britcar’s biggest crowd ever. Last word to David Smith: “When you race in front of a crowd like that, it makes you brake as late as possible, so that you’re putting on as good a show as possible.” And the Britcars did just that. James Tucker was a happy man after an eventful and entertaining pair of Britcar races. Provisional Result |
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