MIXED FORTUNES FOR ELLIS IN IRELAND
Croydon’s Bradley Ellis had a challenging weekend in rounds six and seven of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Mondello Park in Ireland on 24&25 June. Following the 19-year-old’s first GTC class victory in round five on the Pau street circuit in France, Ellis together with team-mate Alex Mortimer clinched a solid second place on Saturday. A damaged radiator, however, prevented the dynamic duo from scoring another points finishing position on Sunday.
Fresh from his first taste of British GT victory, Ellis put in another good performance to qualify seventh overall and fourth in class during a damp session on Saturday morning, despite just two flying laps due to a late tyre choice. With the track dried, Ellis made a good start when he steered clear of the water spillage from the warm up lap, and was up to third in class and fifth overall by the exit of the Stena Line corner.
Sandwiched between the two Trackspeed Porsche 996s, Ellis did well to stave off the advances of Matt Harris in the second Trackspeed car until one lap before the pit-stop window. Loosing the place, Ellis handed the wheel to Mortimer sixth overall and fourth in class.
After a slick stop and some set-up changes to the Team RPM Porsche, Mortimer rejoined the race without loosing position. The adjustments proved worthwhile and Mortimer pushed hard to close the 17-second gap to catch the Trackspeed Porsche, driven by Miles Hulford, and passed it with just two laps to go. With the retirement of the Morgan Aero 8 GT, Mortimer took the chequered flag second in class, fourth overall.
The result saw Ellis and Mortimer top the GTC Drivers’ Championship whilst Team RPM was second in the Team standings.
Dry conditions greeted the British GT field on Sunday with Mortimer starting from 10th on the grid and sixth in class. A tricky start, however, dropped Mortimer four or so places off the line and down to the Honda corner. Mortimer immediately recovered and set about making up for lost time and soon regained the places up to 10th overall by halfway through the 30-minute stint.
Making strong progress, Mortimer was soon in close contention with Hulford but just after the 15-minute marker, contact was made through the Dunlop corner, puncturing Mortimer’s radiator. Now leaking water, Mortimer held on to pit and passed the wheel to Ellis still sixth in class.
A safety car period just two laps prior to the pit-stop window meant the majority of the field pitted all at once and consequently Ellis was able to rejoin without loosing position. Still leaking water from the radiator, Ellis gently pushed the Team RPM Porsche to build a comfortable cushion from Andy Greensall in the Ferrari 360 Modena before he eased off the pace to conserve the car.
Despite Ellis’ efforts, the Porsche’s temperature continued to soar higher and higher until Ellis made the sensible decision to save the engine and pull off of the track with just two laps to go.
Ellis commented: “This has been a bit of a mixed weekend. We did well on Saturday and brought home a good result. Obviously it was really disappointing not to finish the second race, but that’s racing and we all get a bit of bad luck. The main thing is that we conserved the engine and any damage can be repaired. We’ll definitely be back on track for the next two rounds at Snetterton.”
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship returns to England for rounds eight and nine at Snetterton on 16 July.
For full race results and photography visit www.britishgt.com
