PODIUM FOR MICHAEL BENTWOOD

Although the weather was kinder to the British GT teams than those who took to the track on Saturday afternoon for the latest round of the Le Mans Endurance Series, wet conditions again played a major part in the latest round of the British GT Championship as Ben Collins and Neil Cunningham took a dramatic victory for the Embassy Racing team.

 Overcoming a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit-lane and being too quick during the driver change and pit-stop – series regulations stating pit-stops must be a minimum of 90 seconds – Cunningham hunted down the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari of championship leader Nathan Kinch to steal victory on the very last lap of the two hour race to give Jonathan France and his team a second win of the year.

An onslaught of rain would be prove to be key as Niarchos spun off – losing two laps in the process – and making the tyre decision following the driver changes and pit-stops more important than ever.

It appeared that the leading trio would hold the advantage over the Scuderia Ecosse car when the stops were made, and Collins was the first to pit in, Cunningham rejoining the track ahead of Kinch before the team was informed that the Kiwi would have to serve a drive through penalty. Keen and Caine both made their stops, with Steve Hyde rejoining in the lead in the Mosler ahead of Kinch, but with the Mosler on slick tyres, Kinch was soon able to take the lead as Hyde acclimatised to the conditions. Two spins at Luffield would ultimately contribute to the Eclipse car eventually finishing down in sixth place.

With the Mosler out of the way, second place went to the Nissan of Bentwood who was charging and closing in rapidly on the Ferrari as the watching crowd wondered whether the former BTCC racer had enough time to catch the Ferrari and challenge for victory.

However, behind Bentwood, a charging Cunningham was lapping even quicker and as the clock ticked down had moved into second. Despite being almost seven seconds behind entering the final lap, the decision to send Cunningham out on slicks was proving to be inspired as he rapidly caught Kinch and swept into the lead with just four corners remaining to the delight of the Embassy squad. It left Kinch to settle for second – although with team-mate and closest title challenger Tim Mullen only able to fight back up to tenth despite a stunning performance behind the wheel of the sister Ferrari which saw him claw back a lap, Kinch and Kirkaldy took another step towards the British GT title.

Michael Butler, Dunlop Motorsport: “We had everything – from slicks, to intermediates, then wets. By the end we had a bit of everything out there! It was an exciting finish and showed how drivers are the ones to judge the conditions and choose the right tyre for the conditions through the whole circuit. We had no dramas – the tyres performed just as they should in whatever circumstances the drivers put them through.”

Race  ResultPOS -  CL -  DRIVERS -  CAR -  TIME -  LAPS - GAP

1 GT2    Collins/Cunningham Porsche RSR 2:00:48.603 50 2 GT2    Kinch/Kirkaldy Ferrari 360 GTC 2:00:51.414 50 2.811 3 GT2    Bentwood/Reid Nissan 350 Z 2:01:01.094 50 12.491 4 GT2    Whight/Kershaw Mosler MT900R 2:01:52.957 50 1:04.354 5 GT2    Jordan/Caine Porsche RS 2:01:58.782 50 1:10.179 6 GT2    Keen/Hyde Mosler MT900R 2:01:59.458 50 1:10.855 7 INV   Warburton/Edwards Porsche 996 GT3 Cup 2:01:19.669 49 1 LAP 8 GT2    Jones/Jones Porsche GT3 2:01:37.132 49 1 LAP 9 GT3    Britnell/Stockton Porsche GT3 2:01:55.141 49 1 LAP 10 GT2    Mullen/Niarchos Ferrari 360 GTC 2:02:12.754 49 1 LAP