The 2017 season is now drawing to its close, and in a return to tradition, the penultimate round of this season took place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, which is a fantastic venue for sports car racing of almost any kind. British GT knows how to put on a show here for better or worse, and with titles on the line by now, everyone was gunning hard for a shot at glory.

Going into the round, in GT3, Minshaw & Keen held the standings lead over Parfitt & Morris. Neither team had scored perfectly at Spa last time out, although the Barwell Lamborghini did take one race win away from the Ardennes. The gauntlet was laid down to the Team Parker Racing Bentley boys: “catch us if you dare”.

GT4 is no less challenging, with even the Optimum crew in with a mathematical but unlikely shot at the 2017 honours, however the strength of the two Silver driver pairings of Middleton/Tregurtha and Pittard/Reed in the HHC & Lanan Ginettas has meant that the fight stayed between them as Brands arrived.

Saturday morning dawned with cloudy spells, and rather sadly, in the first Free Practice session the #19 GT3 Ginetta G55 of Century Motorsport, this weekend piloted by Tom Hibbert and Ben Tuck, found the bare Armco at the exit of Stirlings Bend and damaged itself beyond a feasibly safe repair. Century are a fantastically well run team, but Nathan Freke has struggled with misfortune in ways that scriptwriters could not manage. On the plus side, they had hired Niall Murray, a Formula Ford hot shot to partner Jacob Mathaissen for the weekend in the #43 GT4 car, and Murray took to it like the proverbial duck to water.

Meanwhile, things looked rosy at the front for both GT3 championship leading crews, as the Bentley took the first free practice session, and Phil Keen’s hot lap put the #33 Lamborghini second behind Jonny Adam, who showed that he was hardly fatigued from his recent title winning exploits at the 24 Hours of Spa the previous weekend.

With everything settling in well, the fickle gods of weather cast their hand. A rather dramatically timed short and sharp thunderstorm settled in on Brands Hatch. It came and laid a lot of water over the Kent countryside, making a mess of everyone’s hard work in setting up the cars, and instantly changing the face of qualifying.

With the Pro-Am qualifying format taking place this weekend, with aggregate times deciding the grid for the 2 hour race, it was clear that the turbocharged teams would suddenly be at a disadvantage. Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Mercedes cars were the ones to have. Sure enough, Minshaw and Keen put their experience of low grip to good use and bagged the overall pole, with the MacMillan AMR #24 Aston with its Silver pairing of Jack Mitchell and James Littlejohn occupying second place on the grid. Not far behind were the #11 TF Sport Aston of Mark Farmer and Jon Barnes, with the #6 Lamborghini of Griffin & Tordoff also up high. But, for the Bentley, rain is the great enemy. As the big machine pulled out of the pit lane its traction control kicked in, it’s handling went to pot and the two Team Parker cars were nowhere near where they wanted to be for the Sunday afternoon start. Wet tracks, wet settings and the Bentley do not mix in any way, and the hope was that Sunday would be much improved. The #7 Bentley was already suffering this weekend as it was, after Callum MacLeod found the front brakes not working as he wished in free practice, narrowly avoiding a monster shunt at the fastest part of Brands.

By the time GT4 qualifying started, the rain had truly stopped, and a dry line began to appear. Pole in class went to the #62 Academy Motorsport car of Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones, whose slick tyre strategy decision in the second part of GT4 qualifying put them forward. Things were not so rosy however at Lanan, after David Pittard suffered the ignominy of falling off the road on the Grand Prix loop, and leaving Alex Reed a nervous wait to see that their #51 Ginetta would be allowed out for him to drive. The format of qualifying for GT4 showed the gap in quality between the Silver pairings and the Pro-Am ones. Joe Osborne’s time of 1:35 in the second half of the session was an excellent time, however the aggregate with his Bronze graded teammate David Pattison sadly wouldn’t see the Tolman car as high up as it could have been.

To the rescue of many teams, the sun came out on Sunday morning, and stayed out. Warm up went off without a hitch, and some teams even had the confidence to complete only one lap of the circuit. The sun beat down hotter, and everything was set.

As the lights changed, James Littlejohn sent out a warning shot to Jon Minshaw by attempting an audacious pass round the outside at the first entry to Paddock Bend, and Minshaw defended for his life. The game was afoot. Minshaw needed to break the field to extend his title lead, and having the hot pace of a Silver grade driver around wasn’t going to make matters easier. The big issue though wasn’t what was immediately behind him. Rick Parfitt had pushed the “go faster” button in the #31 Bentley, and he was making moves through the field. A dry track, a hot day and a point to prove, and Parfitt was off to prove it. He despatched Derek Johnston, Liam Griffin, Mark Farmer and eventually Jon Minshaw and set off in pursuit of the now leading James Littlejohn, who had cleared the Lamborghini and was trying to get away, knowing a pit stop penalty was coming for the #24 Aston for a podium finish in the last race at Spa.

Fate though, would intervene with plans once more. The fast starting Will Moore in the #62 GT4 Aston had done his best to hold the lead in class, before eventually Sandy Mitchell in the #100 Garage 59 McLaren had given the Aston a lesson in overtaking. But as Moore exited Surtees with about 25 minutes elapsed, the Aston suddenly slowed, rattled a little and ground to a halt. The black Aston was abandoned and retired necessitating a Safety Car period to rescue the Academy car.

A small respite ensued, and gave everyone a chance to take stock. GT4 was now back to its usual squabble between the #100 McLaren of Mitchell/Haggety, the #55 HHC Ginetta of Tregurtha/Middleton and the #51 Lanan Ginetta of Pittard/Reed. Nobody though, expected what was coming. What infact was coming was the #42 MacMillan Aston of Will Phillips and Jan Jønck. The Aston is usually a decent bet around Brands Hatch, and for whatever reason, it was all coming together for Will Phillips, who was having his best race of the year so far.

The theme of Brands Hatch was contrasts in fortune. Whilst one car was pushing up, another was struggling. Jon Minshaw had used up whatever the #33 Lamborghini had to give, and was now languishing in 6th place as the pit window approached. He was pushing no less hard than usual, but things wouldn’t work for him. He could see the Bentley disappearing, and could do little about it.

Just as the time ticked over for the pit window to open, the Bentley roared under the bridge at Clearways in what looked like a commanding lead. What had befallen James Littlejohn and the #24 MacMillan Aston which had led for so long? In it came to the pits, up it went onto the jacks. Back into the garage, and out of the race. A sticking throttle is a bad thing in itself, and sticking wide open is nothing short of terrifying. It was a sad end to a very commendable effort, and the Bentley was unchained to go on its way unopposed.

This is more or less what it did now. The pit stops saw Sam Tordoff, Jon Barnes, Jonny Adam and Phil Keen step into their respective cars behind Seb Morris in the Bentley, and this was the order to the finish of the race, with little hiccup or error. Tordoff put in a very solid drive holding off a pack which was little more than a couple of seconds away from his tail at any given time.

GT4 however, was still in the process of sorting itself out properly. David Pittard’s Ginetta suddenly found itself lacking the right kind of steering movement, and Alex Reed was not going to be taking over a fully fast machine. Sure enough, they fell by the wayside, and it was Will Tregurtha’s time to make hay while the sun shone. What he didn’t count on though, were three things. One was Ciaran Haggerty in the driver’s seat of the #100 McLaren. The second was Jan Jønck in the #42 Aston. And the third was Joe Osborne, in the #56 McLaren. Each one of them was on a real charge. Jønck had picked up where Phillips left off, and he began hassling Haggerty for all he was worth. Eventually, the pressure told, and the Aston went by. Haggerty then had Joe Osborne for company, and Joe went by as well, making the most of perfect conditions to push the #56 Tolman car harder and faster. Osborne would eventually get closest to the young Dane, but nobody would prevent MacMillan taking their first ever race win in British GT. Behind, Tregurtha had now got to Haggerty, whose tyres were suffering.

As the final lap approached, Tregurtha got a better run out of Stirlings, and passed Haggerty into Clearways. Haggerty wasn’t going to stand for this, and out came a flying dive up the inside at Paddock. The McLaren didn’t like this. The asphalt didn’t. The gravel trap at Paddock and the tyre wall did though, and they welcomed the unfortunate Scot with open arms. So close to a podium, and one moment changed it all. Tregurtha came home to extend a championship lead that will give him and Stuart Middleton a brief amount of breathing space going into Donington.

But even more elated were the Bentley boys. An unpromising start on Saturday had become a charge through the pack and a victory, and more significantly, a 10.5 point lead going into the final race at Donington, where titles are won and lost. It’s advantage to the Team Parker squad, but will fate be as kind to them this time round.

 

A few thoughts on the future of the British GT:

Whilst LITP took their summer holiday to Spa, the SRO announced its plans to separate the GT3 and GT4 classes of British GT. The GT4 class will now become the British GT4 Cup, and will have races at the usual GT rounds of the season, and an additional standalone race at Thruxton, which will see a return to GT racing for the first time in a long while after the horror shunt for Bradley Ellis on the approach to the chicane. GT3 would run its own races as well, encompassing the usual rounds, but with the addition of entries from one-make GT racing series such as the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup and Ferrari Challenge to bolster grid numbers.

Those dreaded words. “Bolster grid numbers”. It really doesn’t take a mathematician to see that GT4 is the most popular class in the series at the moment, and to separate GT3 and GT4 will mean that teams will have to choose their destiny for the season ahead. At Brands Hatch, there were 10 GT3 entries. One of these was not a regular season entry. One of the regular teams, AmD were missing due to an accident in a different series that left their Mercedes bent and broken. A race cannot be appealing to spectators, or teams when there’s potential for the starting number to be only in the single figures.

GT4 Cup will be the most popular option next year. More races, more competitors, a more appealing entry for Bronze graded drivers. More manufacturers making more new cars. More options. More and more and more, compared to the rather uncertain and unsure footing provided by the future of GT3 racing.

The general feeling according to many in the paddock over the last few seasons was that SRO were looking to promote GT4 harder than GT3, and that the trend was showing that the class was growing. While there is the message that “16 to 18 cars are expected for GT3 in 2018” the reality is that the teams are not able to commit to that number now. So where does that leave it all?

Part of the appeal of the series for the spectator is the noise, size and power of the GT3 class. The class is popular for its variety, the talent of the drivers, and the fact that the SRO BoP has made the racing very very watchable. This isn’t to say the racing is bad in GT4, or that the category is uninteresting or undersubscribed. It just lacks that extra appeal that GT3 has to myself, and to many others.

From what I have heard inside the paddock, it is going to take a lot of effort to save GT3 in Britain now. Teams will look elsewhere to establish true competition. There are very successful series in other countries, which run full GT3 grids. Admittedly, these are run outside the full control of SRO, but nonetheless they are very well subscribed and popular for it. It may be too late to bring in a similar set of regulations to those series to make it work in Britain.

Time will tell. My gut feeling is that Donington Park will be the last time we see a dedicated GT3 class race in a UK national series. Come 2018, if the GT4 Cup is the premier event of a British GT weekend, it will be the acid test for the true future. We lost GT1, GT2, and GT3 is looking ominously close to loss now as well. It is my hope that the series cannot, and does not go into a state of ever decreasing spectacle.

Hardest efforts affected

When the history books look back at this race weekend at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, they will show the eventual result of Sunday’s race. But a race result can only tell part of a story and the story from this weekend is one that will take some time to tell, and we as observers may not be able to explain everything that has occurred, for better or for worse.

Going into the racetrack there had been a couple of changes to personnel. Firstly at Century, where GT4 Supercup star George Gamble had taken Mike Simpson’s seat in the #111 University of Bolton liveried car alongside Anna Walewska. At TeamHARD/RCIB Racing, Jordan Stilp returned alongside Britcar racer Simon Rudd in the #36 machine, as Mike Newbould and Michael Caine were unable to attend.

Saturday dawned under a layer of cloud and the first gusts of the ripping wind which blasts and circles around the big banked oval expanses of Rockingham. By the end of Free Practice 1, there had already been a mechanical casualty, as the #33 Minshaw/Keen machine expired rather graunchingly on the apron of the banking approaching Turn One. Barwell carry plenty of spare Lamborghini Huracan parts, and they were able to repair the green and red machine in time for qualifying later in the day, well worthy of praise.  The session ended in their favour, with the fellow Italian machine of the Spirit of Race taking second fastest for #21 Cameron/Griffin. Rockingham, traditionally, has favoured Maranello machinery, and the Ferrari 488 looked like it picked up where the 458 left off.

Free Practice 2 saw the end of one half of the In2Racing squad as the #29 McLaren 570S of Marcus Hoggarth and Matty Graham came to grief and was unrepairable for the remainder of the weekend. A pity on two drivers who have come to terms with a change of car well, and were not slacking on the timesheets. With the #33 car missing, Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam hit the top of the timing sheets for the first time in the #1 TF Sport Aston, and looked at carrying on where they left off in 2016 with a win under their belts. In GT4, Lanan took the #51 Ginetta G55 of David Pittard and Alex Reed to P1, showing their consistency after the race 2 win at Oulton.

Qualifying followed, and a nearly full field sat in pit lane to await the aggregate qualifying for Am and Pro drivers. 10 minutes for each driver is plenty of time to get a solid lap in, although some would argue at Rockingham’s 1.94 mile lap length, space on the track is at a premium.

In GT3 Am, the barometer swung towards the Aston Martin side of the paddock, as Mark Farmer (#11 TF Sport), Jack Mitchell (#24 MacMillan) and Derek Johnston (#1 TF Sport) took the top 3 spots on the timing screens with Jon Minshaw (#33 Barwell Lamborghini) falling foul of the strict track limits rules and having his 2 fastest times disallowed.

Then, out rolled the Pro drivers, and the consistency lay with the #1 car, as Jonny Adam showed no cobwebs from his Monza trip (despite a headcold caught on Italian shores) to set aggregate pole. Jon Barnes in #11 backed up his TF Sport team mate and made it an all Aston front row. The second row was all Lamborghini as Phil Keen in #33 and Sam Tordoff in #6 put in some excellent laptimes to promote their machines up the order. Charlie Robertson in the #19 Century Ginetta and Matt Griffin in the #21 Spirit of Race Ferrari now fell foul of the track limits and saw their grid charges dented severely.

GT4 qualifying begun with the Silver graded drivers showing their hands early, and the #55 HHC Motorsport Ginetta G55 of Will Tregurtha was the fastest out of the blocks, with David Pittard going all out behind him for second in the Am session. With the top 5 covered by less than a second, it was always going to be nip and tuck when the Pros came out for their 10 minutes.

Despite the size of the GT4 grid there were no dramas for the returning drivers into the pit lane as they swapped over. Professional drivers Mike Robinson (#501 Optimum Ginetta), Joe Osborne, (#56 Tolman McLaren) and Martin Plowman (#53 UltraTek Nissan) put their cars through their paces in this session, although it would eventually be an all Silver front row as the #55 HHC Ginetta of Tregurtha/Middleton and the #51 Lanan Ginetta of Pittard/Reed locked out the top two spots.

Raceday begun relatively drama free. The only blotch on the record card for the warm up was the sudden stop of Liam Griffin’s #6 Barwell Lamborghini on the exit of the final corner, which thankfully did not curtail the warm up session. TF Sport again held the top two spots on the timesheets, whilst the #72 track-club McLaren of Adam Balon and Adam Mackay popped in a neat time to head GT4 warmup standings and throw doubt on whether Ginetta would be able to maintain pace, although the predominantly white machine would pull back to its garage with a technical issue in pit lane.

If there was one thing that made Rockingham an improvement on Oulton Park it was the lack of moisture on the racing surface. In fact, the only issue facing the drivers would be the traditional blast of wind across the circuit from north to south. There was some spring warmth in the air at least, and this meant that the Bentley could come into play by the closing stages of the race, as dry asphalt plays less havoc with the two Team Parker Racing machines of Loggie/MacLeod (#7) and Parfitt/Morris (#31).

The first two hour race of the year also brought the first success penalties of 20 seconds which would be served by #33 and #51 in each class. The #1 TF Sport Aston would have the advantage of pole but a 15 second pit stop penalty, whilst the #11 TF Sport Aston and the #501 Century Ginetta were to take an extra ten seconds at their pit stops. At Rockingham, the safety car is a frequent runner though, and with that, the opportunity for making up the time lost with these penalties is there to be taken.

The field set off on the pace lap in good order, and came round quickly to take the rolling start, and Derek Johnston put down his foot firmly in the #1 Aston, followed swiftly by Jon Minshaw in #33 who capitalised on a sloppy, slow getaway for Mark Farmer in the #11 Aston Martin. Within a few laps the race had its first and only retiree, as the #72 track-club McLaren of Adam Balon pulled into the pit lane and withdrew despite the best efforts of the team mechanics.

The GT4 lead went to David Pittard in the #51 Lanan Ginetta, but he had the determined Scot Ciaran Haggerty in the #100 Garage 59 McLaren on his tail, looking to make amends for a lost result in race 2 at Oulton by storming around after the red and white machine. Will Tregurtha dropped back to third but kept in touch with the leading two in class.

The first safety car was called when the #69 Century Ginetta GT3 machine of Harry Gottsacker found the gravel trap at the tricky Yentwood corner on the infield. The incident was not too serious thankfully, and the young American brought the car back to his team to review the car and get it back out on track to make the most of some dry track time and gain a few points. As the green flag went out again to restart, it became clear there’d been a big change in GT3 as James Littlejohn in the #24 MacMillan Aston now followed Johnston and Minshaw in 3rd place, and looked hungry to go further.

We shall come back to GT3, because the GT4 lead had changed, and Haggerty took the #100 McLaren to the front of the pack and began one of the best battles of the race as the #55 HHC Ginetta with Tregurtha at the wheel was pursued by #51 (Pittard, Lanan Ginetta), #501 (Johnson, Optimum Ginetta) and then the impressive #63 (Webster, RCIB Racing Ginetta). This quintet were dodging, ducking, weaving and nosing about the twisty infield before Haggerty would sprint round the oval with a pack of snarling Yorkshire built machinery at his tail threatening to consume the McLaren, which Haggerty admitted wasn’t working as well as he’d wanted. The McLaren held on gamely as the 4 Ginettas swapped positions behind him to try and snap at its heels on the torturous and undulating road portion of the course. This is one of the great moments of racing, when a driver and car can be well in tune enough to maintain a lead despite a disadvantage, and it kept the pack close and the intrigue high.

Meanwhile at the top of GT3, Derek Johnston started testing the patience of the race director and dropped over the track limits to receive a 5 second time penalty. Suddenly, the #1 Aston started to roll back down the order. This let the #33 Lamborghini of Minshaw into the lead, but behind him, snappy Scot James Littlejohn could sent bull’s blood, and the #24 MacMillan Aston dived past to lead the race over all. Behind these two, the #31 Team Parker Racing Bentley of Rick Parfitt was making up for lost dry race time as he headed the #21 Ferrari with Duncan Cameron at the wheel. Soon enough, the Ferrari was passed too, and the first strong showing from Mercedes this weekend came from AmD Tuning’s Lee Mowle, who was looking calm, confident and pacy in the #30 red Mercedes.

The safety car was scrambled again when the #43 Century Ginetta G55 GT4 of Steve Fresle “missed” Gracelands and beached itself conveniently in the gravel at the downhill left, necessitating a snatch recovery. The field bunched again, but at the green flag, Littlejohn kept his advantage as the field neared the pitstop window for a change of driver and tyres, and a big glug of fuel.

At the Tarzan hairpin (which I feel is rather a shadow of its Zandvoort precedent), Nick Jones in the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche came into contact with the #54 Nissan of UltraTek Racing’s Tim Eakin, who had given a good account of himself in the first half of the race, bagging a drive through for the Porsche, and rather denting any hopes of a podium charge later on.

Also suffering from the wrath of the race director was Harry Gottsacker, who was aiming to press on in the #69 Ginetta, however in his haste he exceeded the track limit one too many times and copped successive penalties for time. A shame for the team and driver, as the new Ginetta GT3 had barely had enough running time at Oulton. The #19 stablemate driven by Parker Chase and Charlie Robertson soon pitted too and had the bonnet lifted for running repairs. Both cars eventually took the flag through trials and tribulations. Not the finest hour for either car, but with a new specification, there were always going to be teething troubles for the GT3 G55.

Littlejohn, Minshaw, Parfitt et al all pitted at around 60 minutes having completed their required minimum driving times, and whilst the #33 Lamborghini suffered its interminable wait to rejoin the circuit. James Littlejohn handed the #24 Aston over to Jack Mitchell, whilst Rick Parfitt accidentally overshot his pit spot as he handed the big #31 Bentley to Seb Morris, who would have the bit between his teeth ready to chase the Hesketh liveried Aston down for the lead. Also joining the leading trio would be the #21 Ferrari, now with the solidly fast Matt Griffin at the wheel.

In GT4, the lead would change now at the pit stops as the #51 Lanan Ginetta paid the success penalty, and the #55 HHC Ginetta would benefit best from the pit stops as Stuart Middleton leapt past Sandy Mitchell who was now piloting the #100 McLaren. Behind them, Matt Chapman was now at the wheel of the #63 RCIB Racing Ginetta, and the reigning team champions held 3rd place in class.

At the front of GT3, Jack Mitchell was managing his race with aplomb. The Kent youngster is a very talented racer, and the #24 Aston was paying for its Silver Cup ballast as it fell backwards towards the charging Morris and Griffin behind. Mitchell wasn’t going to bow out easily though, and suddenly a thrilling trio of cars began to fight through the lapped GT4 traffic and amongst each other, taking little nibbles at different parts of the course. The Bentley and Ferrari did beautifully well on the twists of the infield whilst the Aston ran the length of the oval with its powerful V12 singing shrilly at the very nose of this high speed train, pulling a little back over the cars behind it. The watching spectators were goggle-eyed with anticipation of a tight switchback for the lead time and time again. Every time Morris made moves to take the Aston, he would be at the mercy of Griffin’s Ferrari, and the racecraft on show here was excellent to watch.

Now, sadly, once again, things began to turn sour from a racing point of view. Firstly, we must note that Griffin at some point, made contact with the #31 Bentley driven by Morris, and the stewards reviewed the contact and placed a 5 second penalty on the #21 Ferrari to be added to its overall race time. So, when eventually Griffin passed Morris, who in turn passed Mitchell and left the Ferrari and the Bentley leading. Griffin would have to stretch his legs and make a gap over the Bentley pushing him hard for position.

Unfortunately, the safety car would appear again as Matt Chapman fell victim to the inviting gravel trap of Yentwood corner, and ruin a podium chase for him. Whilst the #63 Ginetta was recovered, something unexplainable happened. The safety car allowed the #21 Ferrari of Matt Griffin to pass, while it held up the chasing #31 Bentley of Seb Morris in 2nd place. Cue utter consternation from teams, drivers and spectators. Suddenly the race leader had a lead of about half a lap from the pursuing pack as they were stuck behind the Safety Car. Nobody quite understood what was occurring. The timing screen showed Griffin as the leader, and the 5 second penalty remained on screen, but he now had clear daylight infront and behind him. The order remained until the flag fell on the race.

Confused and disbelieving teams and drivers bundled around the podium at Rockingham. Happily, the GT4 win had been finely contested and Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton proved they had earned their Ginetta Junior graduation. Haggerty and Mitchell held onto 2nd place and a fine rostrum finish in the #100 McLaren, whilst the #501 Optimum Ginetta took another 3rd place finish.

The GT3 podium felt less harmonious, as Parfitt and Morris did not celebrate their 2nd place finish in the #31 Bentley. The champagne flowed for the #21 Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, and for the 3rd placed MacMillan Aston of Littlejohn and Mitchell, who had proven that the Silver Cup weight disadvantage did not hinder determination at least. But, there was a figurative dark cloud over the pits, paddock and grandstand, as the result felt rather unbalanced with the release of the Ferrari from its berth behind the safety car in what seemed a rather farcical situation.

A few hours later, the race stewards came to their final decision. The #21 Spirit of Race Ferrari would be given a penalty of 26 seconds to be added to their final total race time, putting them behind the #31 Bentley of Rick Parfitt and Seb Morris. Suddenly, the Ferrari team and drivers felt robbed of victory. A mistake which they had not made had penalised their team. Bentley felt that Ferrari gained an unfair advantage, which denied them an on track victory, which was unfair.

Unfair and unfair do not make fair, as much as two wrongs do not make a right. The series suffered today for the fact that one mistake turned the outcome of the race on its head. Drivers complained of a penalty system that robs them of a sensible racing outcome. Fans left the circuit not knowing the exact circumstance of a racing finish. It is a shame to not see the racing on track at Rockingham reflected in the results, as they only tell a tale of confusion, and a waste of hard effort from several drivers.

Rockingham rows and rambles:

A lot of people are now dissatisfied with the management of mid-race and post-race penalties, and there is certainly a worry, from me if from nobody else, that the series will suffer as a result. Teams, drivers and judicial teams should meet and discuss a suitable arrangement for the penalty system. The MSA will have watched this and been considering what to set up in the Yearbook of Sporting Regulations in the event that the Safety Car allows the leader by in error. Perhaps there is no easy way to settle this.

In addition to the point raised above, Track Limit penalties applied to no less than 6 cars during the race. A lot of drivers are in disagreement over these penalties. Many will probably tell you “there’s road there, use it” so long as it is to their advantage in helping the car go faster. Stewards would probably take a dim view of this on safety grounds, as one slip of wheel could see a potentially damaging accident occur. Again, there is no simple settlement to this, as you can argue both sides. Based on the number of penalties issued at Rockingham, more people would probably side with the drivers at the current point in time! We cannot know how to settle this without sensible and measured discussion.

In spite of all the penalties, controversy and aftermath, the race at Rockingham showed what the true capability of a battling batch of drivers and cars could do. 5 drivers battling for the GT4 lead? 3 drivers battling for the GT3 lead? It is the dream of any spectator to see a train of cars all with an equal chance of success. And that for the most part is what we got as observers and spectators. There were a lot of people on edge as the two lead battles had people glued to the short but twisty course and the racecraft of skilful and capable racing drivers in exciting and captivating racing cars. Snetterton has a lot to live up to in Round 3.

 

Pete Richardson

First blood to almost unstoppable Barwell

The first races of the British GT season have now been done and dusted, and with the Easter weekend now a firm memory, the championship battle has already had its first onslaughts.

With Oulton Park returning to its traditional season opening slot, it meant that the weather for raceday would almost be guaranteed to be a little bit on the inclement side, however, practice and qualifying on the Saturday was a largely dry affair.

Missing from the Saturday proceedings were Spirit of Race with their Ferrari 488, and Jonny Adam, who had foregone Cheshire to take part in the European Le Mans Series and World Endurance Championship races further down the road at Silverstone this weekend. This would result in both cars starting from the back of the GT3 grid, but with the driver calibre to make some movement in the order.

Free practice 1 was brought to a halt with barely any relevant times completed as a collision between the #43 Century Ginetta and the #36 Team HARD/RCIB Ginetta at Druids sadly ruined both cars and a portion of the Armco barrier. Thankfully, neither Steve Fresle nor Mike Newbould were injured, but a precautionary trip to hospital was made for safety’s sake, and the cars were withdrawn from the weekend. The opening session was topped by Sam Tordoff in the Barwell Lamborghini, showing that he was more than ready for his new challenge this year.

The second free practice session went the way of the #33 Demon Tweeks Lamborghini piloted by Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, who were looking to make an early kick in the championship challenge having fallen just short after an awesome closing run to the 2016 season. The leading GT4 car was the #100 McLaren of Haggerty/Sandy Mitchell, who like Minshaw and Keen were making continued progress from their late 2016 pushes.

However, when the qualifying sessions came around, the lead changed, and much to the happiness of the locals from Crewe when the #31 Bentley of Rick Parfitt and Seb Morris claimed overall pole position for both of the weekend’s races. Team Parker Racing took their debut win at the circuit in 2016, and with an unchanged driver line up Parfitt and Morris held the advantage of confidence long enough in the two qualifying sessions to take the top spot, followed by Minshaw and Keen. For race one they would be tailed by Jack Mitchell/James Littlejohn in the #24 MacMillan Racing Aston and the #6 Lamborghini piloted by Liam Griffin/Sam Tordoff. Race 2 would see #6 starting third with the second Team Parker Racing Bentley #7 of Ian Loggie and Callum MacLeod taking a strong 4th spot. Hard luck fell on Derek Johnston in the qualifying session for race 1 as a collision with Lee Mowle’s AMD Tuning Mercedes saw the reigning champion knocked to the back of the grid.

GT4 qualifying saw the start of the anticipated battle between the McLaren 570S and the Ginetta G55, and the end results saw the #100 McLaren take pole for race 1 with a fine lap from Sandy Mitchell, whereas race 2 would see Ginetta factory ace Mike Simpson put the #111 Century Ginetta on pole, with Anna Walewska due to share the car in the race. It’s worth noting though, that the GT4 grid for race 2 saw a fine variation amongst manufacturers as the #53 UltraTek Nissan of Richard Taffinder/Martin Plowman and the #66 Team Parker Racing Porsche of Nick Jones/Scott Malvern made a push for a good starting position. This was encouraging to see, and would pan out to be one of the sights of the second race of the weekend as the varied pack hurtled round the circuit.

Warm up on Easter Monday was regrettably more of a “cold up” as overnight rain became morning gloom and dampness, and Oulton Park had a layer of water on the asphalt that made teams unsure how to play things for the first race of the day. The only thing taken away from it was a sense of foreboding from the Team Parker garage, where there was concern over the ability of the Bentleys in wet conditions. The big cars certainly catch the eye, but in damp or wet conditions they struggle, and the hope was that things would improve as the day went on.

The first race hadn’t even gotten away from the dummy grid when the first drama occurred. The #24 MacMillan AMR Aston of Jack Mitchell was parked in its grid slot when with just over 30 seconds to go, steam began to pour out of the front end of the V12 Vantage leaving fans and mechanics concerned. Quick work from the marshalling team meant the race would get away without a hitch, however, a broken coolant hose had severely dented MacMillan’s hopes of a top end finish in GT3.

As the start was given, the Bentley slipped a little and Jon Minshaw put the power firmly down in the #33 Lamborghini. Save for a slight slip at the Hislop Chicane and a brief loss of time at the pit stop when Minshaw handed over to Keen the green and red machine was utterly relentless in its pursuit of the chequered flag and race win honours. As the track dried out, Keen also got faster and faster, making any attempt to catch the Barwell machine rather fruitless from the competitors point of view. Behind, Sam Tordoff in the sister #6 car did his best to make the most of the conditions and set a strong consistent pace in his first race in British GT. Behind the Lamborghinis, who should appear into view but the reigning champions in the #1 TF Sport Aston Martin. Freshly returned from Silverstone, Jonny Adam made the most of a steady climb up the order from Derek Johnston to capture a podium finish, and this was well deserved. Another excellent drive came from the other non-qualifiers Spirit of Race, and the British racing green and white Ferrari was being driven with vigour and excitement by Matt Griffin who looked like not having the bit between his teeth, but the whole bridle and most of the bumpers of the cars infront of him as the Maranello machine rose up the field passing the many competitors infront of him.

It’s not often in motorsport you get a big but pleasant shock, and GT4 in race 1 was just that. Sandy Mitchell had made the most of his pole position and was calmly shifting the #100 Garage 59 McLaren round Oulton, until the pit stop where a jammed wheel nut made life hellish for the two young Scots at the wheel. Cue another car to the front, and this time it was the Academy Motorsport Aston Martin piloted by Will Moore, who with Matt Nicoll-Jones had made progress through the field to lead. Then, as is custom in the championship, out came the stop-go penalties and Moore had to come in and serve time for a pit stop infringement. 18 seconds of time, to be precise, and the lead changed again. Cue the newcomers. Adam Balon and Adam Mackay are new to the championship this year. As is track-club who are running their #72 McLaren 570S. The two ex-Lotus Cup drivers looked to be rather comfortable in the Woking built machine, which falls very close to the mark of their former Lotus machinery. The car was not involved in any collisions, and just made the tortoise affair of the “tortoise vs hare” style racing look simple. Even when they were hit with a very brief 1.4 second stop go penalty, Mackay cruised in, and cruised out with time to spare over the #55 HHC Motorsport Ginetta G55 of young newcomers Stuart Middleton and Will Tregurtha. Water on asphalt is a great equaliser in racing, but nobody had expected two new teams to stand on the top steps of the race 1 rostrum. Taking a very creditable third were the 2016 GT4 champions Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson in their #501 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta. This was a welcome and well celebrated result.

Between races 1 and 2, the hammer of justice is once again swung by the Clerk of the Course, and penalties for racing indiscretions of all kinds are applied to the race 2 grid. For Academy Motorsport, the penalty for pushing the limits in race 1 was a disqualification for driving outside of the required safety levels expected of the drivers, and a back of grid start.

In addition to the Clerk of the Course making his decisions, fate had also claimed the engine of the #19 Ginetta G55 of Parker Chase and Charlie Robertson, and the new GT3 Ginetta would no longer take any part in the race weekend, leaving only its #69 counterpart driven by Harry Gottsacker (who incidentally looked quite feisty in the opening stages of the first race) and Nathan Freke remaining.

Race 2 was already looking a little brighter all round, but when the lights changed again the Bentley squirrelled and Phil Keen took the advantage on the first lap. The 10 second success penalty that affected the #33 car was obviously pinging around Keen’s mind, and before the halfway mark, his lead was up to 13 seconds, and quite frankly, at that point only a failure would have kept him and Minshaw from a second race win. Sadly, the failure of the Lamborghini fell solidly in the lap of Sam Tordoff, when the normally V10 Lamborghini began sounding more like a V8, and then dropping time before Tordoff parked up the car on Lakeside to rue a DNF.

In GT4 though, the red lights were like a red rag to a bull, as Mike Simpson and Ciaran Haggerty clashed off the line, causing Simpson’s car to lose its front left headlight, Haggerty’s McLaren to lose its ignition, and Joe Osborne’s #56 Tolman Motorsport McLaren to shear its bonnet fastenings, leaving Osborne with only clairvoyance to guide himself round more than half a lap of Oulton back to the pits, only for the tried and tested duct tape to fail 2 laps later, leaving him blind to all obstacles.

This didn’t stop Simpson though, as the battle for GT4 lead switched places between him, Martin Plowman and Scott Malvern, before the inevitable contact occurred once more between Malvern and Simpson at Cascades, putting both drivers into the grass, which at that point still being slippery regrettably made recovery a tough job for the eager racing driver. Both cars would go on to finish the race, but nowhere near where they aimed for. Plowman was in inspired form in the Nissan though, and he would charge on at the front until the pit stops.

By the pit stops, Haggerty had made progress from back to front and the McLaren now led, only for the Sword of Pit Stop Damocles to fall from its hair and grant the #100 car a 30 second post-race penalty. When you consider that the actual timing offense in pit lane was for the stop to be less than 2 seconds under the minimum limit, the punishment seems unduly harsh, and the Garage 59 team were left feeling rather philosophical about their weekend. The same time penalty would also be applied to Will Phillips and Jan Jonck in the #42 MacMillan AMR GT4 Aston.

Then we come to a slightly more unsavoury moment. In the opening stages of the race, Seb Morris had punted his team-mate round at the Hislop Chicane, leaving a briefly dizzy Callum MacLeod, and Morris and Parfitt in arrears with the clerk of the course, who summoned Morris through for a drive through penalty. Their charge had been dampened by this, and eyes now fell on the progress of the #7 Team Parker car, although a trip down the road at Cascades suddenly blunted their efforts as MacLeod fell victim to the wet and ice-like grass. He handed over to Ian Loggie at the pit stop who tried to make best of the situation.

Loggie was making pursuit of Richard Neary, who had taken over from Martin Short in the #88 Abba Rollcentre Mercedes, as the cars came to pass Sam Webster in the #63 Team HARD RCIB Ginetta. Unfortunately, the narrow width of the circuit was not made for 3 cars to come in close proximity, and at Hill Top, just after the first chicane, contact was made between the Bentley and the Mercedes, destroying both cars and a large section of tyre wall, as well as putting the unfortunate Webster off the road through a series of disorientating spins. The safety car came out, and as there was little time left on the clock, the race finished in a neutralised state. Loggie and Neary however, were summoned to appear before the racing stewards. The eventual decision was to disqualify Loggie from the weekend, censuring his licence and fining him for his part in the incident and the immediate aftermath. The official wording says “driving in a manner incompatible with safety”, and Loggie will in addition take a 5 place grid penalty for this judgement at the next round.

The final order under the safety car was Minshaw and Keen again from the two TF Sport cars of Johnston/Adam and Mark Farmer/Jon Barnes taking their first podium of the season. In GT4 Lanan Racing’s David Pittard and Alex Reed took their first win of 2017, ahead of In2Racing’s Marcus Hoggarth and Matty Graham with the #501 Ginetta of Johnson/Robinson taking another third spot.

The gloom of the day eventually cleared, but with the incident in the second race, a much greyer metaphorical cloud had descended over the track, and the teams now look forward to the first 2 hour race of the year at Rockingham, where we hope bygones will be bygones and that the racing suffers little for events on track in Cheshire.

Otherwise at Oulton Park:

A number of teams this weekend fell afoul of pit stop regulations during the races on Monday. Academy, MacMillan, Garage 59, track-club all suffered penalties for short stops, in varying degrees, leaving a few drivers and team managers and owners rueing the minimum time regulations. In addition, there were penalties for unsafe driving for Scott Malvern and Academy, showing that there is no mercy from the stewards as has come to be the norm in this series.

The “Silver” class in British GT sees two non-amateur drivers share a car in exchange for a small penalty on the cars performance, notably ballast. This was the penalty applied to the Optimum Audi in GT3 last year, which hampered the car enough to render it regrettably uncompetitive. If the Silver class is to be successful, there would need to be a reduction in ballast to make the combination of car and driver successful, as the Gold rated drivers carry a much higher speed advantage in the Pro stages of the race.

It might just be my own personal opinion, but the opening round of the series feels much better for having taken place at Oulton Park this season as opposed to Brands Hatch, as the Easter weekend plays out in a more flexible fashion for drivers, teams and most critically spectators interested in the racing at both WEC/ELMS and British GT events. The crowd at Oulton was a good size, and the banks were packed with people keen to see the new season begin.  

 

Pete Richardson