Snetterton GT CUP: July 2008

Serverware Racing was invited to enter the GT Cup 2008 series within 'invitational' class for a double-header over the weekend of July 19th/20th at Snetterton.

 

The series is run under MSVR organising club, designed for production GT cars below FIA GT3 specification.  There's a mix of Porsche 997 Cup, Ferrari 430 Challenge, Nobles, Marco Mantis, Aston Martins and TVRs racing. 

Race 1

It was quickly seen that there were many drivers still on the learning curve within GT Cup and race 1 had a slightly farcical rolling start whereby the leaders, instead of maintaining a steady 50mph to the line until the lights went out, roared off into the distance as soon as they hit the main straight.  Starting 5th on the grid, Peter was left behind, but quickly caught up the leaders after the first lap.  Having passed Peter Morris for 4th position he suddenly found himself in 2nd after the top two hit oil and water and took a brief excursion off the circuit. 

A few laps later and Peter took first position and comfortable win.

Race 2 

Matt took over the car for the second race sitting on pole position thanks to the earlier win by Peter.  The Clerk of the Course met with the drivers after the first race start, making it clear no repeat of race 1 was to happen.  So it was up to Matt to keep the pack together until the lights went out.  As the field approached the line and the lights turned green, Matt had the inside line for Richies, a little sideways mid-corner due to the rear tyres not being up to temperature, but held on to the lead round onto the pit straight for the for lap 2.  But flags were waving and everyone on the pitwall desperately gesturing the drivers to slow down.  The track was littered with debris and 4 cars were strewn across the track.

It seemed as though some-way back down the field one car had clipped another at the start a triggered impacts that had wiped out 4 cars. 

So the race was stopped and the cars sat on the line patiently whilst the marshals and medics attended the scene.  The race was now cut to just 15 minutes and on the restart the second position driver, Mike Leonard, in his Porsche 997 Cup car, got the jump on Matt but still on the inside for Richies (and another sideways moment) Matt lead onto the second lap, with no incidents this time around. 

Easily pulling out on the rest of the field, Matt and Mike surged off into the distance.  A few laps into the race and a small moment at Russell chicane, along with a missed gear, meant that Mike roared past down the pit straight and into the lead.  For a couple of laps he stayed there until running wide into the first corner, Richies, and not defending too heavily, Matt was able to sneak down the inside into Sears corner. 

All seemed quite settled again until the final 3 or 4 laps when backmarkers came into play, these guys not paying too much attention to the blue flags meant it was hard work getting past whilst still keeping Mike Leonard behind.  It was close stuff.

On the final lap they were nose-to-tail through the final chicane, but Matt won the race by 0.4 seconds.