Snetterton GT CUP: June 2009

This was a great weekend, with lovely weather and a nice crowd for the popular Lotus Festival at Snetterton. The GTR is running beautifully - despite some minor problems with the ABS - and we set the fastest time that the car has ever done around around here. Qualifying was busy and slightly hampered by ABS problems, but Peter did well to get onto the second row, behind the hugely powerful American Iron machines (Dodge Viper & Corvette) and the Aston Martin DBRS9. Two good laptimes were set so that both Peter and Matt were starting 4th for their races.

Race Reports - From GT Cup website & MotorsTV : www.gtcup.co.uk

Race One...With one or two of our regulars away this weekend on ‘other business' the racing was, as expected, still very busy. Mike Gardiner used the power of the Viper to stamp his authority on matters from the outset and was never under much pressure which series organiser Bute Motorsport have now decided to take a look at from an equalisation point of view.  Behind him Barrie Whight and Mitch Millett had their own race ahead of Peter Seldon

In Group Two it was a Ferrari ‘lock out' following an early trip to the outfield for Andy Ruhan in his Porsche who put himself out of contention despite qualifying a creditable second in the Group 2 line up.. Messrs Price, Leadley and Hartley gave F.F Corse a rather impressive 1st/2nd/3rd with GT Cup regular Leon Price recording his maiden victory having finally seen off Leadley after some epic duals in previous rounds.  

In Group Three we saw the BMWs taking control with Michael Symons and Keith Webster having their own race leaving Alex Martin in his Porsche with a rear view mirror full of Jon Dhillon's Ferrari.   Michael Symons had his maiden GT Cup win having crossed the line only 1.1  seconds in front of second place Webster after 25 minutes battling with Alex Martin coming in 3rd.

Winning Group Four seems to rather suit Will Goff and his Aston Martin GT4, he is now accustomed to the top step of the podium and we are not sure who will nudge him off his perch but several contenders are threatening to.. Second was David Botterill whilst third went to Matt Cummings in his fiesty Lotus Exige.  All in all a good race despite five non finishers due to mechanical failures.

Race Two ... Saw another busy grid that was spectacularly bigger than any other GT racing going on that weekend despite an unusually large number of mechanical gremlins which baffled so many during the course of the weekend and had knocked out eight cars by the end of Friday testing.  Luckily on track accident damage was not to blame with some very fair but robust driving throughout the impressive grid.

In Group One clearly the man to watch was Mike Gardiner but Mitch Millett kept him honest and was in touch. Apparently Gardiners dashboard was beginning to look a bit like the Blackpool illuminations .. there were lights flashing everywhere.  So he backed off and Mitch took the lead.  Sadly Mitches valiant effort to rein in the dominant Gardiner came to nothing as he retired with cooling fluid leaking from a blown gasket. 

Meanwhile Matt Seldon and Barrie Whight were involved in a spectacular wheel to wheel race of their own. Matt's BMW could keep the pressure on the Aston Martin in the twisty stuff and Matt kept Barrie working hard to stay ahead. But with Matt putting all sorts of pressure on him, this resulted in Whight running wide onto the kerbs which possibly caused the puncture that eventually sidelined him. So the fun was over. 

Seldon crossed the line in second place with new comer Peer Slipsanger 3rd in his beautifully prepared Ferrari 430 GT3 having worked his way back through the grid folloowing an early spin leaving the spoils to Mike Gardiner in his Viper.

In Group Two Andy Ruhan, new to the 997 this year has got his head down and worked hard to master Porsches very physical new Cup car which is obviously paying off.  Having clearly decided that all this Ferrari nonsense had to stop Andy had a fine race taking first place ahead of Leon Price and was another well deserved maiden victory in the GT Cup.  Ian Hartley was lucky to recover from a big spin without damage and came in 3rd.

In Group Three Marco Pullen was driving in ‘what will happen next' mode! His paddle shift system had a will of its own and it was a voyage of discovery wondering what gear it would select itself next. When he got the hang of this and used whatever gear that came up effectively he came home first ahead of the diminutive but incredibly rapid supercharged Lotus Exige of Steve Taylor and the BMW of Michael Symons in 3rd. Just behind them was one of the best scraps of the weekend with Alex Martin and Henry Firman. ... Alex eventually prevailed by a mere 0.189 secs, not bad after 25 minutes of real racing!

Group Four belonged to Will Goff, keeping his 100% record of wins intact. If there was an award for courage in the face of adversity it would probably have gone to David Botterill and his Porsche 944 Turbo. David is one of our ‘single handers' who look after everything on their own and Dave had a busy weekend.  However it all paid off and brought his ailing machine home second ahead of the Ferrari 360 Challenge car of David Hathaway who came 3rd and picked up his first podium position.